7.3 The Trouble with God

Now we come to the problem of 'evil'.. More to come later but here we must deal with God's culpability! Is God responsible for evil? The short answer has to be yes..! since God is responsible for everything.. but there are some qualifiers. Lets start with what is evil?


Pain, you may know is a vital part of our body's neural response to stimuli. It will save your life but it hurts.. as such it may be considered good.. even a gift. If however you are being bound and tortured.. thats not just bad.. its evil. Note the corruption or misuse of something good. Hell is described in vivid terms as a place of 'eternal torture'.. did God make it.. yes.. is that a confronting thought for anyone who believes in the 'love of God'.. very! So what's going on?

The full picture on that is not going to make much sense until we get closer to the identity of God himself. For now its back to the difference between our view and Gods view.. (frame of reference). The most significant point here is our 'childish' ignorance.. we have a very superficial view of evil.. compared to God. I would say one major purpose of the bible is to inform us of this difference. We have an innate sense of justice.. just look at a few kids playing together.. we are very quick to defend ourselves and assert our rights. Stop right there..

God didn't just invent truth and justice.. doesn't just know all truth and justice.. he is truth and justice! This fact has a corollary.. you don't fight, argue, oppose or question God and win! The best you can hope for is to be told where you are wrong.. (Job). That's why he calls those who do.. fools.

Ps 14:1 "The fool says in his heart 'there is no God'"

Rom 1:22 "Having become wise they became fools"

Surely all I have done is avoid the question by tossing quotes from the bible at it.. Well there is another corollary.. God is absolute.. corresponding to his scope 'infinite' and position 'outside' the universe.

Physical absolutes exist.. temperature has one.. velocity has one.. the proof that God exists is based on one.. Boltzman absolute entropy of information.. moral absolutes are indicated - (universal values), (bill of rights).. spiritual absolutes follow for God who created it all.. is by definition spirit.

I need a break