If you study the arguments of atheists and critics of God and the Bible, you quickly learn that one of their primary criticisms of the God described by the Bible is the evil and suffering that is present in the world.
The critical argument is as follows:
- If God is willing to prevent evil and suffering, but not able, then he is not omnipotent.
- If God is able to prevent evil and suffering, but not willing, then he is malevolent.
- If God is both willing and able, then why do evil and suffering exist? God must not exist
This argument fails due to its premise: The inaction of God.
- First and from the beginning, God has always hated evil.
- Second God created the world perfect—there was no evil, sickness, suffering, or death.
- Third the introduction of sin by Adam into the world (Romans 5) caused evil, sickness, suffering, and death upon human life.
- Fourth God sent His Son to save the world and to later judge evil and destroy it—resulting in no more evil, suffering, sickness, and death.
- Fifth In order to give the people of earth time to hear what Jesus has done and make a decision to turn from evil to Jesus—God has given us time (2K years so far).
- Sixth God instituted His laws to prevent evil in the world; God instituted human government to prevent and judge evil (Romans 13).
- Seventh After a period of grace in which God gives the world time to turn from sin, and evil, Jesus will come again to judge the world, place all evil persons in the prison of Hell, and set up a righteous kingdom on earth that will never end.
The arguments of critics fail when placed alongside the seven facts of God, above, expounded as follows:
- God was willing that human beings never experience evil and suffering, human beings chose evil and the resulting suffering by not obeying God’s Law.
- God is omnipotent by His power that created the universe and human life.
- God’s omnipotence is exhibited by having the power to force us to do His will but using His great power instead, to let us decide whether we will do His will.
- God could have prevented human beings from making the choice to rebel against His law and bring evil, sickness, suffering, or death, but the cost of doing so would deprive us of our choice.
- It was the love of God for us that caused Him to determine that we would have the same choice to choose our own destiny that He has. He decided this when He determined to make us in His Image, or in common terms, like Him—have the ability to choose.
- It was the wisdom of God that knew some people would reject His attempts to reach them and give them an opportunity for redemption.
- It was the wisdom of God that knew that some people would accept His attempts to reach them and they would be redeemed.
- It was the wisdom of God that understood that genuine love and relationships are only possible when people are given a choice.
- It was the wisdom of God that understood that forcing people to do His will would not achieve a family of people who genuinely loved Him and wanted to live in a perfect world.
- It was the wisdom of God, and in His great power, that withheld final judgment against sin and evil after Jesus came to die for the sins of the world.
- It was the wisdom of God that chose to delay final judgment against sin and evil so that everyone on earth could be saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
- It is the great power of God that will hold all evil persons accountable for the evil, suffering, and death they caused on earth.
- It is the great power of God that will assign all evil persons who have rebelled against the Law of God, committed evil, suffering, and death, to the prison of Hell. Their sentence will be eternal, even and the acquittal from sins brings eternal forgiveness and life.
- The critical error that has been made is the assumption that God is either incapable or unwilling to end evil and suffering. In fact, God is both capable and willing and has acted to end both. It is the delay in judgment that critics ignore or don’t understand.
While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care
Psalms 50:16-22: “But God says to the wicked: “Why bother reciting my decrees and pretending to obey my covenant? For you refuse my discipline and treat my words like trash. When you see thieves, you approve of them, and you spend your time with adulterers. Your mouth is filled with wickedness, and your tongue is full of lies. You sit around and slander your brother—your own mother’s son. While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you. Repent, all of you who forget me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.”
All of us have time now to change our minds, repent, and trust in Jesus—before He returns and brings judgment
Isaiah 55:6-11: “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Hebrews 10:35-38: “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”
Romans 11:33-34 “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the LORD’s thoughts?”
See Rob’s New Book: “These Things Were Written: An Expositional Treatise of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus,” Now at Amazon
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Categories: Agnostics and Skeptics, Common errors of Atheists, Common objections by Atheists, Expecting Jesus Return, Forgiveness of Sin, God is Eternal, God Is Holy, God knows all things, God's Sovereignty, He Is Risen, Historical Validity of the New Testament, How Salvation Occurs, Justification, Living For Jesus, Mercy, Must Be Born Again, New Testament Apologetics, Omnipotence Paradox, Religion vs. Relationship, Repentance Necessary, Resurrection Proven by Secular Sources, Robert Clifton Robinson, Salvation is a free gift, Salvation through Jesus, Sickness and Suffering, The earth is the Lord's, The Existence of God, The Historical Jesus, The Last Days, The Laws of God, The only way to heaven, The Wrath of God, Those who stop believing, Watching for Jesus return, We must see our need, What happened at the Cross, What happens after death?, What is required for Heaven?, Where Evil Men Are Tormented
Robert Clifton Robinson 
How can God have created a perfect world (claim 2) if it had an imperfect Adam who could open the door to evil (claim 3)? What kind of perfect world was that?!
God knows how to make a perfect world—it’s called “heaven.” Why then not just create heaven rather than this very imperfect earth?
God has given the world time to turn from sin (claim 7), but why then has he assigned people like you to spread the word? Good Christians are the first to admit their imperfection. Why instead doesn’t some person of the Trinity come down and show us that he exists and give a clear, unambiguous, and believable summary of his wishes?
And why should Jesus judge the world (claim 7) when Rom. 5:18-19 makes clear that Jesus has already saved us all?
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Hi, Bob. Nice to see you again. You make some very important and relevant points:
If you read the texts in Genesis 3, we notice that when God created Adam he was perfect, without sin. If he had continued in obedience to God, he would have lived forever. It was Adam’s decision to rebel against the one law that God gave him, that caused him to begin the process of dying.
The Hebrew in this case is instructive. God told Adam that “on the day that you eat it, you will die…”
The literal Hebrew defined this event as the process of death as both immediate and progressive.
1. Adam died spiritually, immediately, separated from God.
2. Adam began to die physically and this progressively continued until his body was fully dead.
Hebrew scholar, Paul, said in Romans 5 that it was Adam’s sin that brought sin to all humans after him, so that we all also died.
Then Paul states that just as Adam’s one act of obedience caused death to come to all humans; Jesus’ one act of obedience in willingly going to the cross to die for all sins, saves all who believe this is true.
Regarding heaven, it already existed, it is the dwelling place of God.
After Jesus died, all sins were forgiven, but forgiveness was not automatically applied to all. God will not force us to have our sins removed by Jesus’ death. As with you, God loves you and respects your right to say no to Jesus. This is what genuine love does; it uses no force on anyone. We must individually, and personally, invite Jesus to come into our life and take away our sins.
In Acts 1:8, after Jesus had risen from the dead, He called His disciples together and told them that He was appointing them to be His witnesses. They were to write their testimony and send it out by letters to the local churches, as in Revelation 1:11, and these churches after they read the letter to the believers, would send their testimony to other places, who would continue to send this testimony until it reached the known world.
The New Testament is God’s declaration and record of sending Jesus to the world, God in human flesh, to die for us and make salvation available to everyone, no matter who they are or what they have done.
In Romans 1 and Colossians 1, Paul stated that by the date of those letters, the known world had already heard about Jesus.
God chose us–redeemed sinners–to be His messengers. To tell people the Good News that God loves sinners and He sent His Son to die and take away our sins, so that we can all live in the perfect world God intended for us all along.
You are invited to join us, Bob. I hope someday I see you there…
Judgment is still forthcoming for all those whom God is giving time, now: the unbeliever, and those like yourself, who have so far, rejected Christ. The Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20, is this judgment. All those who appear at that judgment, “there was found no place for them.” They heard about Jesus, but refused to turn from their sins to Jesus and be saved. There is no other place for these persons to go, except from this judgment to the Lake of Fire.
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First off, thanks for allowing comments. Many ministry blogs don’t support them. I appreciate that comments take time to moderate, but I often get the sense that they’re afraid of getting pushback. Maybe they’re afraid they can’t answer challenges or that the flock can’t handle a debate. For people with God on their side, that’s surprisingly timid.
“when God created Adam he was perfect, without sin. If he had continued in obedience to God, he would have lived forever. It was Adam’s decision to rebel against the one law that God gave him, that caused him to begin the process of dying.”
Begin the process of dying? Yes, I guess that’s the way to express it. Adam died at age 930 years. But Gen. 2:17 says that you will die right away after eating the fruit, as if it were poisonous (see the NET Bible).
And why have such a serious punishment for people who don’t yet have moral knowledge? How can they make a moral error before they get the knowledge of what moral errors are? At worst, Adam and Eve needed a talking to. And why would God make the Tree so accessible? That makes it sounds like myth, not history. And how is moral wisdom (or whatever kind of wisdom the Tree provided) a bad thing? Wasn’t Solomon’s wisdom celebrated (see also Prov. 16:16)? The snake is the good guy in the story, our Prometheus, bringing moral knowledge to mankind.
Why is Adam’s sin imposed upon future generations? We all agree that this isn’t justice, and so does the Bible (Deut. 24:16 and Jeremiah 31:30).
God obviously knew Adam would sin, so why the charade—unless this is simply a fable to explain why sin exists. And if the Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic is myth (it precedes the Genesis story), the simplest explanation is that the Genesis story was borrowed. Not only do we find the Flood story in Atra-Hasis but also a Garden with man being created to tend it (as in Gen. 2:15).
And if modern people inherited the knowledge of good and evil that Adam got, why do you not see that in society today? You might say that objective moral truths are indeed known by everyone, but I see no evidence for such things. Pick any moral issue in the West today—abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, same-sex marriage—and you can find Christians arguing for every side. And if you say that objective moral truth exists, but we simply can’t access it, then what good is it?
“The Hebrew in this case is instructive. God told Adam that ‘on the day that you eat it, you will die’”
Right—and yet he lived centuries more.
“Hebrew scholar, Paul, said in Romans 5 that it was Adam’s sin that brought sin to all humans after him, so that we all also died.”
Romans 5:18-19 says that we didn’t have to opt in to be tarred with Adam’s brush. And similarly, we didn’t have to opt in to get forgiveness from Jesus’s sacrifice. So I guess I’ll see you in heaven … ?
“Then Paul states that just as Adam’s one act of obedience caused death to come to all humans; Jesus’ one act of obedience in willingly going to the cross to die for all sins, saves all who believe this is true.”
No, you’re adding spin with that last clause. You were infected with Adam’s sin whether you wanted it or not, and you were saved by Jesus’s sacrifice whether you wanted it or not. There’s no extra little thing you must do or believe.
“Regarding heaven, it already existed, it is the dwelling place of God.”
OK; I’m just saying that God is perfect capable of creating a world with humans in it that’s nevertheless sin free.
“After Jesus died, all sins were forgiven, but forgiveness was not automatically applied to all.”
Rom. 5:18-19.
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