Monday, December 15, 2008

Too Much Evil

A common argument for our atheist or agnostic brothers who wish to make our faith seem foolish is that if their was a God, why would he allow such evil and suffering to be in the world. The agnostic of course makes their case for the detached non-caring God through this same argument. I realize that for the average Christian this argument brings several moments of confusion followed by a white flag. Here is a good argument that I have heard presented by C.S. Lewis, and Ravi Zacharias. It made complete sense to me and I believe if presented properly to the hardcore skeptic it would at the very least reveal some weaknesses in their belief system. At the best, it would cause them to begin the path of conversion. First off, God is not evil and cannot have evil in his presence. God would not cause evil. Secondly, we were created with free will so that love could be perfected and true communion between God and man could be established. True evil is generated within the heart of man. The fallen angels are nothing more than stimulants of a free will. With free will man has the capacity of good and evil. Demons simply push man in the wrong direction. Only use this line of argument if they try to use the devil in their argument. Most don't believe in angels, but wish to test your personal knowledge of your faith. I hope you are following the core line of debate here. God cannot cause evil, because evil is imperfect behavior. Man's  dedication to Godlessness has lasted for thousands of years. The statement of action is, "instead of worrying about the evil around you, don't you think that you should be worrying about the evil in your own heart. They are so concerned with blaming God that they fail to realize that the solution is worked through us and He gave it to us. God made it possible for us to fix our own mistakes and renewed to him. Our working is one at a time. You want there to be less evil? Do your part, and start with yourself.