Oh, how well the theist’s position is defended by the
very thing which seeks to destroy it: evil!
In conclusion, it seems to me obvious that imperfection implies
perfection. If we are to say that the
world is imperfect, we assume the existence of the perfect world (heaven). If we are to say that people are imperfect, we
assume the existence of the perfect Person (God). If we are to say that relationships between
persons are imperfect, we assume the existence of the perfect Relationship
between perfect Persons (the Trinity).
Whether or not God exists, therefore, cannot be the
center of the issue. That question is
thrown out; evil could not possibly hurt as much as it does unless there was
some immutable, omnibenevolent God, and we were all, in any sense you wish to
take it, a family under Him. Evil could
not rip our hearts out as much as it does without this sense of unification across
persons and universal accountability before God. What, therefore, is the center of the issue?
Why do Atheists struggle to trust God in the face of evil?
I have thought long and hard about this one, only to
realize that I should not expect an answer.
Every Atheist has his reasons for objecting to God’s existence; indeed,
even Christians do! It’s not as if everyone will have the same
reasons; to suggest otherwise is quite foolish.
But I do think that there are some underlying principles beneath the
denial of God on evil’s account, and while it may indeed be true that a person
honestly thinks that there is a logical
tension between the existence of evil and a perfectly good God, this tension is
so easily resolved that we can plainly see how it is not the center of the
issue. Clearly, the cardinal tension between
God and evil is emotional.
No comments:
Post a Comment