Theodicy

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson — Theodicy: An Introduction
• Prayer

---

Sermon Title: Theodicy — An Introduction to the Problem of Evil and Suffering

Scripture: Various

I. What Is Theodicy and Why Does It Matter

• A. The word theodicy combines the Greek words for God and justice — it is the defense of God in light of the existence of evil and suffering.
• B. This is one of the greatest areas of doubt for Christians and a primary objection raised by atheists and skeptics.
• C. Our theodicy is inseparable from our theology — flawed theology produces flawed answers to the problem of evil.
• D. We must approach the subject with humility; even R.C. Sproul wrote in 1996 that he had not yet found a theodicy that fully satisfied him.
• E. Cornelius Van Til observed that God is his own theodicy — he does not ultimately need us to defend him, but as those who love him we seek to do so.

II. Defining Evil

• A. Augustine argued that evil is any deviation from the good — since God created everything good, evil is a departure from that design.
• B. Working definition: evil is any deeply harmful behavior or wrongness that brings pain and suffering.
• C. Two main categories of evil are identified:
  1. Moral evil — arising from the choices of moral agents (e.g., murder, human trafficking, abortion, genocide).
  2. Natural evil — arising from the physical world (e.g., floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, disease), understood as evil because sentient creatures experience pain and suffering through them.
• D. The classical philosophical dilemma (attributed to Epicurus) is a trilemma: God is good, God is all-powerful, and yet evil exists — how can all three be true simultaneously?
• E. C.S. Lewis articulated the atheist's version: if God were good he would want his creatures to be happy; if God were almighty he could make them so; but creatures are not happy — therefore God lacks either goodness or power.

III. Biblical Examples of People Struggling with Evil

• A. Job 1:8–12 — arguably the oldest book of the Bible already wrestles with why bad things happen to good people; Satan acts under the providence of God.
• B. Psalm 13 — David cries out, "How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?"
• C. Luke 13:1–5 — Jesus responds to the deaths of the Galileans and those killed by the tower of Siloam, rejecting the idea that their suffering was direct punishment for their sin.
• D. John 9:1–3 — the man born blind; Jesus declares it was "that the works of God might be displayed in him."
• E. Other biblical figures: Ruth (who wanted to be called Mara, meaning bitter), Joseph (evil intended by his brothers, but used by God for good), and Hagar (cast out but met by God with blessing).

IV. Our Current Cultural Context

• A. Modern Western society is more prosperous, comfortable, and medically secure than any previous generation, yet encounters evil constantly through 24/7 media — often in a desensitized, two-dimensional way.
• B. Moralistic therapeutic deism has infected mainstream evangelical culture — the belief that God exists mainly to solve our problems and that the central goal of life is personal happiness.
• C. When we place ourselves at the center, we misread evil; when we place God at the center, we are more likely to understand it rightly.
• D. Secularists who deny God still recognize evil instinctively — this moral intuition actually points back toward God as the ground of goodness.

V. Survey of Major Theodicies and Defenses

• A. Atheism / Dualism — evil explains itself if there is no God, or good and evil are simply equal and opposite forces; these fail to account for the moral intuition that evil is genuinely wrong.
• B. Free Will Defense — God granted humans free will, and moral evil enters the world through the misuse of that freedom; partially true but incomplete.
• C. Natural Law Defense — God established repeatable, predictable laws of nature; the same fire that warms can burn, and the same storms that renew coastlines can kill; partially true but incomplete.
• D. Greater Good Theodicy — God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28); true, but must be handled carefully since the promise is specifically for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
• E. Soul-Making Theodicy — pain and adversity are necessary for human maturity and growth in godliness; contains genuine biblical truth.
• F. Best of All Possible Worlds Defense — God, seeing from beginning to end, ordered creation in the way that best serves his purposes; even the evil we see may be less than what could have been.
• G. Divine Judgment Defense — suffering is sometimes God's judgment on evil; must be approached with great humility, as the story of Jonah illustrates — the storm was not for the pagan sailors but for God's own prophet.
• H. Greater Glory Theodicy — the theodicy of Scott Christensen's What About Evil?; God created the universe for his own glory and ordered it in a way that magnifies that glory; this is the most fully satisfying framework from a Reformed perspective, though it must be communicated carefully to a secular audience who may not understand what divine glory means.

VI. Closing Perspective

• A. No single theodicy stands fully on its own; elements of truth appear across multiple defenses and they must be held together.
• B. The study of evil forces us to think rightly about God as Creator and ourselves as creatures — we exist for him, not he for us.
• C. The beauty of Christ and the cross must never be overshadowed by intellectual arguments — sometimes pointing people to the beauty of Christ is the most powerful response to the problem of evil.
• D. Jesus himself provides the final word: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)