Atheists are Wrong - The Problem of Evil

You may have seen this quote floating around the web:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?


One of the things New Atheists love to do is moralise about different topics including the suffering in the world. They themselves don't have any real answers, but they attack that provided by a Christian world view of a good God. This quote seems to be a favourite of theirs.

This quote is typically seen as a knock down argument, for which there is no objections. But that is really only true if God must conform to the atheist expectation, which tends to lean towards humanism. If God is good then he would act according to humanist principals. But there is a short-sightedness to this view.

Their objections seem to ignore that Christianity answers the problem of evil in the first few chapters of the bible.They also ignore the fact that Christians believe in eternity of the soul, which puts things in a different perspective. To atheists death is the ultimate offence, especially that of one seen to be innocent or undeserving, nevermind the fact that the atheists worldview doesn't really have an objective basis for their moral outrage.

Take the biblical account of the flood for example. The atheists would deny God has any right to take life, especially not if he is to be considered 'good'. But this is merely an assertion appealing to an objective morality in which the taking of life is always wrong. The atheist also denies the right of God to judge sin, which if you ask me is mighty presumptuous.

Here is a question I would like to pose:

-Do you believe in the dealth penalty as a punishment?
-Would you say that there is 'evil' in the world?
-Would you shoot someone dead if they broke into your house and threatened your family?
-Should God intervene to stop evil?

See there seems to be a double standard at play here: The atheist objects to Gods intervention in the bible for example sending the flood, but then they ask where was God when insert bad event here happened.

Do you want God to judge evil or not? The world was full of evil so God sent the flood. He saved - as an act of Grace Noah and his family.

He has also saved the nation of Israel and sent his son to die on the cross to overcome evil. But Gods direct intervention has been limited since he gives us free will. In order to prevent the evil that man does to one another then he would have to take away our free will. He did however show us the way through his word. The principles Jesus gave us to live by are truly beautiful and transforming.

Free will has a big upside: we are free to live and love, and express. We aren't just God worshipping automatons.

Is it good that people experience suffering at the hands of others they do not deserve. Absolutely not, but suffering in this world will fade in the grand scheme of eternity; an eternity free from suffering.