Theodicy and the problem of moral and natural evil

¶ … theodicies and explains the problem of evil, focusing on the merits and the faults of this theodicy. The paper seeks to explain why sin exists among humankind and why bad things happen in nature. The paper also answers the question of why theodicy must be internally consistent, it concludes with a brief explanation of how evil can affect ones relationship with God.

The Problem of Evil

The world is filled with numerous occurrences of evil manifested in calamities such as earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, diseases, and many others. Philosophers and theologians have categorized these evil occurrences into two categories, moral and natural evil. According to Nash (1988), moral evil is a consequence of human beings actions and natural evil occur naturally, this involve such occurrences as earthquakes, floods that happen with little explanation or no direct human action. Some people have resolved to a common belief that God is neither omnibenevolent nor omnipotent, while others get perplexed at theses occurrences, which cannot be attributed to any action of human beings.

Moral Evil and Natural Evil

Moral evil is a major barrier for those who doubt God's existence. God exist and He is omnibenevolent, He has revealed His nature as well as His ways to human beings, but has also allowed free will. Human beings use free will in making choices in life. The choices that human beings can make are limited to two options, good or evil. Sin is evil, and Satan is the author of sin.[footnoteRef:1] Satan continues to cause problems in many people's lives today. [footnoteRef:2] Most of evil that happens to human beings are because of the choices they make. The bible says, "I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death."[footnoteRef:3] Moreover, that "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."[footnoteRef:4] Human beings freely inflict evil on themselves such as murder, deceit, adultery and so on. Human beings have the option of participating in divine nature to escape the ways of the world corrupted by evil desires. [1: 2 Cor. 11:3] [2: Luk. 22:31] [3: Jer. 21:8] [4: Hos. 4:6]

Nonetheless, the issue of natural evil correlates existence of evil with existence of God; it questions why God permits evil to exist. While it is possible that certain occurrences such as degradation are a consequence of creation order, the bible shows that some natural repercussions of the fall of human beings. According to Bratcher (2001), the issue of natural evil is based on human beings assumption of what they expect God to be. He claims that human beings believe that God should make the world a better place since He is all-powerful. Based on these assumptions or beliefs, human beings define God according to their preferences. God is sovereign, human beings cannot control his actions; with this assumption, human beings expect God to do things for their personal gratification here on earth.[footnoteRef:5] The bible states, "You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD."[footnoteRef:6] [5: Bratcher, Dennis. "The Problem of Natural Evil." www.crivoice.org. 2001. ] [6: Ezekiel 34:31]

Internal Consistency

A theodicy must be internally consistent because it should reveal the consistent theory of an individual's theological system regarding Gods nature and existence of evil. An inconsistent theodicy is an invalid one. According to Peacock (2011), internally consistent theodicy is the basis of a belief that one upholds.[footnoteRef:8] [8: Peacock, Joshua. "The Problem of Evil: A Brief Look at Theodicy." www.s4ts.org. September 27, 2011. ]

Personal experiences of evil may cause one to separate from God. When one is under trial the focus usually shifts to the prevailing situation rather than trust in God and the believe that All is well. A good example is in the book of first Kings; King Asa of Judah consulted physicians instead of trusting in the Lord.[footnoteRef:9] In the book of Job, evidently, Jobs experiences made his friends dispute certain beliefs about God, and because of this, they lost God's favor. It is not possible to dispute beliefs on God without attacking Him. [9: 1 Kings 15:14]