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This week, we continue looking at five biblical reasons why God may allow evil to exist. As part of our survey to better understand the Christian perspective on suffering, we began last week to look at the biblical concept of suffering and evil as punishment for sin. Undoubtedly, suffering and evil as punishment for sin is far and away the most common reason given for God allowing evil and suffering presented in the Bible.
In fact, it appears throughout the Bible, from Torah to the prophets, the wisdom to the Gospels, and the epistles to Revelation. Over and again, the Bible presents two paths down which man makes their own free will choice to travel. There is no coercion to the left or to the right. God tells the Israelites, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing” (Deut 30:19). Therefore, the choice is simple: “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Josh 24:15). It is truly a free will choice.
Even so, the Bible also speaks of evil and suffering that comes about as the consequence of other people’s sin. In our daily lives, much of the evil and suffering we experience is of this tribe, both direct and trickle-down evil perpetrated by others. Just recently, it was reported that a US retailer lost $45 billion due to shoplifting.
The consequence of this evil is that the innocent has to make up for this loss through higher prices. That is evil suffered as a consequence of other people’s sins. The young mother killed by the drunk driver, the man mugged by the drug addict, the innocent child shot at school by a classmate. What about the rape, murder, and torture of Ukrainians in their own land. The list is at once horrific, and extensive.
The story of Cain and Abel is the first biblical account of evil suffered as a consequence of another’s sin. As the story goes on, Cain becomes jealous of his brother because Abel “found favor with God,” while Cain does not. As a result, Cain kills innocent Abel, who suffers as a consequence of another’s sin. But this barely touches the hem of the garment; the biblical text is full of examples of sinful people hurting innocent people.
Perhaps it is because of the sheer volume of human suffering caused by the sins of others that how people treat one another is one of the most critical topics in the New Testament. In fact, according to Scripture, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and body, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37ff).
Make no mistake, how people treat one another ranks so high in God’s economy. It should come with little surprise that the first code of conduct handed down by God, The Ten Commandments, explicitly describes man’s relationship horizontally among fellow men in six of the ten commandments.
Within the Christian motif, it is well understood that dishonoring one’s parents, committing murder, committing adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting incorporate, in some form or fashion, every evil that one man can commit against another, including the crucifixion of an innocent man. And yet, the Bible testifies that this is what human beings do.
And it is not just the Bible; secular law across the board criminalizes most all of these commandment violations as well. These are, it would seem, universal laws written upon the heart of mankind regardless of religious belief.
Perhaps there is no greater case of one suffering as a consequence of the sins of others than the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross. The Bible clearly testifies that “Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him to share our sin so that in union with him we might share in the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). The implications are astounding! If there were no such thing as suffering as a consequence for the sin of others, there would not be, nor could be, any transference of righteousness from the truly sinless One to the multitude of sinful men who instigate suffering and evil in the first place, including the suffering of the Cross itself.
After the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus recorded in the Gospel accounts, the apostles, as ambassadors of Christ, succeeded Him in suffering great evil as a consequence of others’ sins. The disciple Steven is soon after stoned to death simply for his belief in the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 7). Peter and John are imprisoned and beaten (Acts 4). Paul recounts in, “Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea” (2 Cor 11:25). Christian doctrine holds that Peter, James, and Paul were each put to death, not for evil they had done, but as a consequence of other people’s sins.
At any rate, and once again, human suffering and evil are the result of the exercise of human free will, not the agency of God. At least in the case of the sacrificial death of Jesus, God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil to exist in the world as a means to His ends. In that, the resurrection of Jesus is nothing less than the intersection of both the existence of evil in the world and God’s primary reason for allowing it to exist.
Join us next week as we continue this miniseries on five biblical reasons why God may allow evil to exist. Until then, the question remains: is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife, Vicki, are members of the Waurika church of Christ and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at dr.kerley@ isGoddead.com.
