"THE CONDITION OF EVIL"

Read John 9:1 and following.


   The disciples asked Jesus about the man born blind in John 9:1-2, "Who did sin, this man or his parents?" They presented Him with a problem that has troubled many philosophers and theologians for years...the problem of evil.

   By the term 'Evil' we do not mean sin so much as suffering, sickness and sorrow. Why is this sort of evil in the world? "Why did this happen to me?" is a question many have asked since time began. Why do some have to go through life under the burden of terrible pain? Why is the innocent child afflicted because of the wrong done by someone else?

   Jesus gave the answer when He told the disciples that the blind man's affliction was "in order that the works of God might be made manifest in him." Of course, His statement had a specific application in that context; He would heal that man and God's works would be demonstrated through Christ on his affliction.

   However, Jesus' statement can have a universal application. All evil somehow relates to a manifestation of the works of God. There is actually no evil in the world that is not in some way a result of God's goodness; therefore, the very presence of evil is a glorification of God.

   This is not to say that God is the author evil, but rather that all evil comes from a misuse of these blessings or goods given to us by God. We should not, therefore, curse God for the evil, but rather thank Him for the good and seek to adjust our lives to those blessings so that we can gain the best possible good from them with the least possible evil.

FREEWILL...

   A blessing given to man in the very act of creation was the right of choice. To freedom loving people this is the greatest good of all. None of us would want to forfeit this right.

   It is true that Thomas Henry Huxley once said, "If some great power would agree to make me think what is true and do always what is right on the condition of being turned into sort of a clock, I should instantly close the bargain. The only freedom I want is the freedom to do right; the freedom to do wrong I can part with."

   However, most of us would not make such a bargain, for we do not want to be clocks; we do not want to be pieces of machinery with an outside force doing the guiding.

   The fallacy of Huxley's remark is that you can't have the freedom to do right without the freedom to do wrong. If you are always controlled by an outside force to do right, it is not freedom. In such a situation man could have neither intellect, opinion, or will; he would be a sort of puppet with God pulling the strings.       

   No, the right of choice, coming as it does from the ability to reason, feel, and purpose, is a necessary blessing of life and one we ought constantly to thank our Creator for giving us.

   The very existence of the right of choice, however, implies the possibility of evil. We do not have to choose evil, but some have always done so. Their wrong choices have results in evil to others. The sins of the drunkard, the adulterer, and the murderer bring inevitable and necessary retribution to the third and fourth generation. Even the less heinous sins of envy, jealousy, pride, arrogance, and selfishness contaminate society with their terrible results.

Human companionship...

   You might well ask, "But what about this suffering of the innocent who have done no wrong? The right of choice explains evil for the wicked, but not for the righteous."

   At first glance this may seem to be inexplicable, and yet this, too, can be traced to a blessing from God...The fellowship of humanity.

   Man is gregarious by nature. No one wants to live alone. The hermit or the recluse is a psychological abnormality. As long as this is true the innocent will have to suffer for the evil choices of the wicked.

   A child is run over and crippled for life by a drunk driver. Why did God let this happen to the innocent life? Because we are living in a world of social beings where we cannot live to ourselves or die to ourselves. If the child had been living alone on a desert island it would not have happened; but who wants to live alone? If you are thankful to God for the blessing of human companionship, for family and friends, then don't curse God for evil which necessarily results from human interaction.

An orderly world...

   There are evils they cannot be traced either to the choice of wickedness or to human fellowship. A plane crashes and kills dozens of people; a fire destroys a home and several lives; tornadoes and earthquakes bring disaster.

   This type of evil can be attributed, at least in part, to an orderly world, another great blessing of God.

   The material world is created and governed by certain physical laws. These laws are necessary for the blessings we enjoy. Without summer and winter there is no seed time and harvest, with the bountiful food for which we rejoice. Without gravity we could not maintain existence on the earth. Without fire and water regulated by set principles there could be no heat and refreshment. If, then, because of man's failure to know or to maintain himself in right relationship to these laws, evil results, why should we blame God? Rather, we ought to be thankful for His goodness and providing us with such a world.

   This principle can be seen in our own civil life. To have society without chaos and anarchy we must have government with laws to control it. One of us may, then, inadvertently break a traffic law and be arrested. The fine or imprisonment we consider a personal evil, but the laws are a great blessing for all of us.

   The principles of aerodynamics and gravity involved in airplane travel must be maintained if we are to enjoy these blessings. Human weakness violates some of these principles and tragedy results. It is not God's fault, but ours. The goodness of God is really made known in the evil.

Sensitivity...

   A final blessing from God which can be discerned in evil is the sensitiveness of the human soul. Evil would not be evil if we could not feel pain. But man's very ability to feel pain is one of God's richest blessings, evidently not vouchsafed in its highest degree to lower forms of life.

   We're speaking of spiritual sensitivity as well as physical. If we were not sensitive to the pains of others, tragedy would not affect us so deeply.

   Pain, like pleasure, isn't an independent affair, but is bound up with the virtue of sensitivity. It helps build a better life. 

Helen Keller, who has known what pain and suffering is, and has fought her way through utter silence and darkness since childhood, said, "The struggle which evil necessitates is one of the greatest blessings of humanity. It makes strong, patient, helpful men and women. It lets us into the soul of things."

   Yes, all evil can, if rightly understood, let us into the soul of God. 

God bless...Bless God by going to 'The Church of HIS choice'.