Cross Defense: we’re firing up your theological imagination with the comfort of the Gospel and the wisdom of God’s Law.
Pastor Brian Flamme joins Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller for the entire episode to continue their discussion on common objections to the Christian faith. This episode focuses on the problem of evil in the world, how we face it as Christians, and how we think about it as Christians with the trouble in our own lives. Pastor Flamme presents three ways to break down the problem of evil:
Logical problem
Evidential problem
Problem of God’s hiddenness
Guest Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, New Mexico, joins host Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas, and author of the book Has American Christianity Failed?, to talk about curious topics to excite the imagination, equip the mind, and comfort the soul with God’s ordering of the world in the Law and Gospel. Tweet your questions to @bwolfmueller, or send questions and find curious resources at wolfmueller.co, and find playlists of interesting videos at youtube.com/user/Wolfmueller1.
from Cross Defense from KFUO Radio
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Notes:
Episode on 9/16/19 – The Problem of Evil
It can be split up in three different ways…
The Logical Problem
The Evidential Problem
The Problem of God’s Hiddenness
An answer or rebuttal to the logical and evidential problems is called a “defense.”
“Theodicy,” on the other hand, tries to justify God’s actions that allow evil.
“Theodicy” tries to explain what’s happening.
There are two kinds of theodicy…
Augustinian Explanation – Evil, which is privation, entered through creatures’ free choice against God and the goodness of his creation.
Human evil is caused by the effects of the fall.
Natural evil is God’s judgment against the earth.
Justice is revealed and God is vindicated at the end of time.
Explains evil among moral creatures, but does it suffice for natural evils?
John Hick’s Soul Making Theodicy – The world, with evil, is the best way to make spiritually complete creatures.
The world is developing from primitate to sophisticated – meshes with evolution.
Reflects moral progress in the world/society.
Evil comes from human choice and the “soul making environment.”
Universalist in that everyone, at some point after the refining, will come to moral and spiritual enlightenment.
An objection is that it’s hard to see this working out in experience.
Much of the evil we witness seems to be pointless and often results in the diminishing of a person rather than in their improvement.
The Logical Problem
The history apparently goes all the way back to Epicurus.
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God is omnipotent
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God is omniscient
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God is omnibenevolent
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Evil exists
As a set, statements 1-3 appear to contradict 4. Since 4 is demonstrably and undeniably true, then atheists deny premises 1-3.
Are they really contradictory, or only apparently so?
Rabbi Harold Kushner in his work weakens the first premise.
Sometimes a bit of “evil” now results in something better. Disciplining kids, e.g.
Plantinga responds with a “free will” defense. Here’s his morally sufficient reason:
“God’s creation of persons with morally significant free will is something of tremendous value. God could not eliminate much of the evil and suffering in this world without thereby eliminating the greater good of having created persons with free will with whom he could have relationships and who are able to love one another and do good works.”
Evil, therefore, doesn’t impugn God’s attributes, but is laid at men’s feet because of the misuse of their free-will.
Does this work? Can we follow Plantinga down this road? (Bondage of the Will)
The Evidential Problem
The collective instances and experiences of evil in the world add up to a convincing argument that God probably doesn’t exist. Given all the evil, it seems more reasonable to doubt his existence than to believe in it.
This approach dwells on the prevalence of pointless and gratuitous evil.
You could respond that the instances of evil are only apparently pointless. God doesn’t explain himself and we have to be content with that.
The Hiddenness of God
If God exists, why doesn’t he show himself in such a way that it’s clear that he exists and allows things to happen which happen? Given that God, apparently, doesn’t reveal himself, then God’s hiddenness counts against the belief that God exists. People who don’t believe in God because they don’t feel or are otherwise aware of his presence are justified in their doubt.
An example of the fool’s argument:
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If there is a God, he is perfectly loving.
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If a perfectly loving God exists, reasonable nonbelief does not occur.
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Reasonable nonbelief occurs.
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So no perfectly loving God exists.
This assumes that unbelief is perfectly rational given the above reasons.
Premises 2 and 3 are ripe for challenge.
This assumes that God is in fact, hidden.
This begs the question as to what might count as God revealing himself.
How might a Lutheran use this argument given our own nuance in discussing God’s hiddenness?
Concerning Theodicy/The Problem of Evil and the First Commandment
In order to engage seriously in the question, you have to suspend the first commandment or act as if God had never spoken it in the first place.
To assert the problem of evil, you ascend into the judges chair and force God into the defendants place.
The justification of the sinner is flipped on its head and now we presume to justify God from the vantage of the judge.
Engaging in the problem of evil is, therefore, spiritually dangerous and while someone is seriously considering it, he cannot hear/understand the justification of the sinner in God’s sight for Christ’s sake.
An answer must be made when the logical and evidential problems are brought forth, but we must acknowledge those attacks as sins against the first commandment, fundamental acts of unbelief. This isn’t something we want to encourage our children to take lightly since it deadens the fear of God.
Christians do not engage in theodicy. Theodicy is a given. Our sin is the problem.
The doomed state of creation must be explained. The state of men’s souls must not be explained in blameless or neutral terms, but according to Jesus’ assertion that from them come all wickedness and sin.
If we want to see God’s justice, how he vindicates and proves his love, the only answer God will give on this side of the last day is the cross.
Either the folly of the cross is sufficient, or nothing will ultimately satisfy the man who insists on judging God according to his more perfect standards of righteousness.
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