Why is there so much evil in the world?

This is a great question, which lots of much cleverer people than me have struggled to answer. I think a helpful way to start thinking about it is to imagine how you could ever answer that if you didn’t believe in God. The only answer could be ‘that’s just the way it is’ – there would be no hope for anything better nor any explanation for why we all feel it ought to be better.

As a Christian I want to say first that the world was made without evil – perfect and good (look at Genesis 1) – and that the world will be made perfect again, all evil destroyed – that’s the hope that the gospel gives us (look at Revelation 21). So we’re right to feel that something’s wrong with the world the way it is – it’s not designed to be like this and it’s not always going to be like this.

So how did it go so wrong? The answer that the bible gives is sin. As a result of people disobeying and ignoring God (which is what sin is), things started to fall apart at every level – in the lives of individuals, in families, in society, and in the world as a whole. Genesis 3-11 illustrates this very vividly, with sin tearing people apart in all kinds of ways, getting worse and worse, all stemming from the first act of disobedience in the garden of Eden.

How will it be put right? Sin has to be dealt with. This happens in two ways. Some people will be judged and condemned for their sin, and banished from God’s presence, i.e. in hell (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). The bible says this will happen to everyone who does not know God. But other people will be entirely forgiven from their sin, cleansed and put right. This happens because their sin has been paid for by Christ, when he died on the cross. Those are the only two ways for sin to be dealt with – by Christ on the cross, or by ourselves in hell. The offer of forgiveness is freely made to anyone who will trust Christ to be their Lord and savior.

We’ll never deal with all the evil in the world by political means, or by going to war, or by social action. All of these things can, at best, deal with the symptoms. But the root of the problem is in our sinful, disobedient hearts. And only God can deal with those. The good news of the gospel is that he does.

If God knew that we would sin, why did he create the world?

If God knew that we would sin, why did he create the world?Our tendency in answering this question is to look at it from a man-centered perspective: what’s in it for us? Wouldn’t it have been better for us never to have sinned?

But the answer that the bible gives challenges us by taking a God-centered perspective. And it makes us step back and ask an even bigger question:

Why did God create the world at all?
God didn’t create the world primarily for our benefit, he did it for his glory. He created a world that would display his glory most fully and most perfectly. That is to say, every aspect of God’s character could be shown in its most extreme form.

If God had created a world in which no one sinned, what aspects of his character could he have shown? His creative power, his loving-kindness, his provision for his people.

But what about his mercy? Or his justice? Or his wrath?

And would we have seen even his creative power to its fullest extent if there had been no death and therefore no resurrection?

Could we have known the greatness of his loving-kindness if he had not shown it to faithless Israel?

Paul explains something of this in Romans 9:22-23
‘What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…’

God’s wrath expended against unrepentant sinners demonstrates the riches of his glory, just as his mercy shown to the elect demonstrates his glory.

How to prove the existances of God?

Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:

The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.3 Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.4

Water...colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:

It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees.

Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.5

Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.

Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.

Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.

Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.6

The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

The human brain processes more than a million messages a second.7 Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.

The eye...can distinguish among seven million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages -- simultaneously.8 Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter.

Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen."9

Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light."10

The universe has not always existed. It had a start...what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter.