The problem of evil... for atheists

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:18-22)

The front page of the Hartford Courant this morning displayed two tragic stories. The headline story detailed the police investigation concerning last December’s mass murder in Newtown. The second was the story of Monday’s lockdown at Yale, which was due to reports of an armed man on campus. Both stories are frightening reminders of the fragile world we live in, and how one terrible decision can lead to a lifetime of heartache for so many innocent people.

Events like the shooting in Newtown, of course, often cause people to ask questions. Among them is the common question, “Why would God allow this to happen?” For many people, the problem of evil is a big problem for Christians, who believe in a loving and good God who, by the looks of things, seems to be incapable of preventing chaos in His world. Rather than fully address that legitimate question, I would like to suggest that the problem of evil, as displayed at Newtown and countless other places around the world, is an even bigger problem for those who do not believe in God.

You see, if there is no God, then we are all the products of a godless evolutionary process, with one of the central realities being natural selection, the survival of the fittest. The strong adapt and survive, and the weak die. And all around us today, the animal kingdom continues to function according to those rules: the strong adapt and survive, and the weak die. Which leads me to a natural question: if we are solely the product of a godless evolution, why do we have a problem with what happened at Newtown? Why would we shed a tear over the Holocaust? Even further, why would we care for the disabled, feed the poor, or fight for justice for the oppressed? If we truly have arrived at where we are by survival of the fittest, then we should not blink an eye at human violence or genocide, but rather celebrate those who are strong enough to adapt and survive. After all, no one occupies themselves campaigning for the rights of countless helpless animals who are tortured and slaughtered by other members of the animal kingdom every day. If all we are is just highly evolved animals, it would be inconsistent to see human violence differently. And those who cry out for justice apart from belief in a transcendent God have no basis for what they call “justice” or “injustice,” let alone “moral” or “immoral.”

But the reality is that our deep belief in justice reveals something about ourselves, namely that we have been made in the image of a just God, with a sense of right and wrong. We know that it is wrong for a gunman to kill children, not just another amoral example of natural selection. We know deep down that the extermination of countless Jews in the Holocaust is immoral, not a moral display of natural selection, as the Nazis would have had us believe. The fact that we long for justice, even imperfectly, points to the reality that we are not like animals, that we are not simply a more highly evolved species, but that we are created in the image of God.

And because of God’s revelation in the Bible, we know that the chaos in our world is a product of our rebellion against the God who created us. Despite His good commands, we have all sinned and gone our own way. Even though He said “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), some people still choose to kill. Even though He tells us over and over to share with those in need (Luke 12:33), we still hoard for ourselves, allowing others to live in poverty. And even though God loves justice (Isaiah 61:8), we often act unjustly. That is why there is evil in this world.

But the good news is that death is not the end. Jesus died to take the penalty we deserved for our sinful rebellion, and all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus will be forgiven and have eternal life (John 3:16), living forever with God in a place where there is no more suffering or evil (Revelation 21:4). In the end, God has provided an answer to the problem of evil. And so, in the final analysis, the problem of evil is a greater problem for the atheist, who has no logical grounds on which to base their feelings of justice, morality, or outrage against murderers like the Newton gunman.