A Biblical Understanding of Evil

Responding to David Hume's Argument -- The Problem of Evil

What is a biblical understanding of evil? David Hume argued that since the attributes of God – such as justice, benevolence, wisdom, mercy, and rectitude – are not seen in the world and His creation, thus, he is either impotent, malevolent, or evil. I will address three faults in this argumentation.

First, David Hume uses an inappropriate either/or fallacy here. He said,“Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willling? whence he is evil?”

In actuality, the truth is not contained in the options he gives, but instead, it is in between the boards of his argument. This leads to the second point, which is if there is no God, then there is no genuine evil to talk about. In a naturalistic world, there is no ultimate reason to “be good.”

But third and finally, God is able to do the things to prevent evil, but unable because of His own character, as He chose to give us free will. He gave us the ability, the gift, to obey or disobey, to “make our own decisions,” and furthermore, to suffer from the consequences of those decisions. In other words, He chose it to be better for us to have the option of obeying or rebelling against Him. And mankind has chosen to rebel against Him.

But despite this, He sent His Son to die for those who those who believe in Him. God Himself, Jesus Christ, took the consequences of our sin, so every person can have access to forgiveness and salvation. Furthermore, for the believer, Jesus took the consequences of our sin, so every person can have access to forgiveness and salvation. All things work together for the good of those who love Him. Not because its something they deserve, but rather as the free gift of God.

In other words, “the Bible describes evil as something God allowed, but never condoned, for the sake of our free will.” I would ask Hume the following question

If God is good, then why would he show any mercy to bad and sinful people?

At the end of the day, the argument boils down to if you believe in free will & the providence of God simultaneously, realizing that we cannot understand how God created us with the ability to make decisions, while also divinely choosing everything to work together for good and the glory of God. But really, if you believe God is infinite and outside of time, it would make sense that His knowledge and ways are infinitely higher and wiser than ours.

For more on this topic, see the below video and button:

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