Evil is one of the hardest things to make sense of. When we witness suffering, injustice, or cruelty, it’s natural to ask: If God is good and powerful, why does He allow this?
This question—known as the “problem of evil”—has challenged believers and skeptics for centuries. But is evil truly a problem for God? Or is it more a problem for us, as we try to understand our place in a broken world?
Let’s explore what evil is, how it affects justice, and what it reveals about God’s nature.
The Classic Challenge
The problem of evil is often framed like this:
- If God is all-powerful, He could stop evil.
- If God is all-good, He would want to stop evil.
- Evil exists.
- Therefore, maybe God isn’t all-powerful, or all-good—or maybe He doesn’t exist at all.
This sounds persuasive. But many philosophers argue that evil doesn’t necessarily contradict God’s existence. If God gave humans free will, then the possibility of evil is part of that gift.
A world with freedom—even the freedom to do wrong—might be better than a world with no choice at all.
What Is Evil, Really?
Before we ask whether evil is a problem for God, we need to understand what evil actually is. Philosophers and theologians have offered three major views:
1. Evil as a Lack of Good
This is the classical Christian view, taught by Augustine and Aquinas. It says evil isn’t a “thing” in itself—it’s a lack, a hole, a corruption of something that should be good.
- Darkness is the absence of light.
- Blindness is the absence of sight.
- Hatred is a distortion of love.
Evil doesn’t have its own substance—it twists what was meant to be good. This view preserves God’s goodness and sovereignty: God creates good things, and evil arises when those things are misused or broken.
2. Evil as a Real Possibility
Others argue that evil feels too real to be just a “lack.” Genocide, torture, betrayal—these don’t feel like absences. They feel like active, destructive forces.
Some philosophers suggest evil is a real possibility built into human freedom. If we’re truly free, then we must be able to choose not just good, but evil. In this view, evil is a risk that comes with being human.
3. Evil as Disorder
A middle view sees evil as a disruption—a breakdown in the harmony of creation. It’s not a rival power, but it’s a real wound in the fabric of existence.
Evil is what happens when things fall out of alignment with their purpose.
Evil’s Dependence on Good
One of the most profound insights about evil is this: it cannot exist on its own. Evil is always defined in relation to the good. It’s not a rival force—it’s a parasitic distortion.
Evil Has No Independent Being
In classical metaphysics, all being is good insofar as it exists. Evil is not a substance—it’s a privation, a lack of the good that ought to be present.
- Blindness is not a thing—it’s the absence of sight.
- Injustice is not a standalone reality—it’s the violation of justice.
- Hatred is not pure invention—it’s the corruption of love.
Evil must twist, violate, or subtract from something that already exists and is good.
Evil Misuses Good Powers
Even moral evil—cruelty, betrayal, oppression—requires good faculties to be misused. Will, intellect, and desire are good in themselves. Evil arises when they’re directed toward disordered ends.
Evil Cannot Be Ultimate
Because evil depends on good, it can never be ultimate. It has no self-sustaining power. It’s always secondary, always derivative.
- Evil is a parasite, not a principle.
- It collapses when the good it distorts is restored.
- It cannot rival the Creator.
This insight affirms that God, as the source of all being and goodness, remains sovereign—even in the face of evil.
What Evil Ultimately Is
So what is evil?
It’s not a substance or a rival to good. It’s a dependent distortion—real in its effects, but not equal in its being.
Whether we see evil as a lack, a risk of freedom, or a disorder, the conclusion is the same: evil is not ultimate. It does not have the final word. It is a shadow, not a substance.
And that opens the door to hope.
Why Goodness Alone Isn’t Enough
Even if evil isn’t a “thing,” it still causes real harm. It creates injustice—a moral debt that can’t be erased by simply doing good things afterward.
Feeding the poor doesn’t undo betrayal. Kindness doesn’t cancel out abuse. Justice demands more than compensation—it demands accountability.
This is why Christian theology emphasizes satisfaction. Evil must be answered, not just outweighed. The cross of Christ is where justice and mercy meet. Jesus doesn’t just do good—He takes on the cost of evil and pays the price.
The Emotional Weight of Evil
For most people, the problem of evil isn’t just a logical puzzle—it’s deeply personal.
We grieve when we lose someone we love. We rage at injustice. We fear suffering. We despair when life seems meaningless.
These emotional responses aren’t distractions—they’re often where the question begins. Emotion is the soil in which our hardest questions grow.
Grief leads to questions about meaning. Anger fuels demands for justice. Fear and despair shake our trust in God. The emotional core of evil may be the root system from which all other challenges emerge—moral confusion, existential doubt, spiritual crisis, even skepticism.
Any serious response to evil must address not just the logic of the problem, but the wound it leaves in the human heart.
God’s Answer to the Problem We Carry
So, is evil a problem for God?
Not in the sense that it threatens His power or goodness. Evil is not a rival force. It is a distortion of the good—a wound in creation. But for us, evil is a profound problem. It hurts. It confuses. It lingers. It demands justice.
And this is where the Christian story speaks most clearly—not by offering a cold explanation, but by offering a person.
In Jesus, God does not remain distant from evil. He enters into it. He suffers with us. He bears the weight of injustice, grief, and betrayal. The cross is not just a theological solution—it is God’s answer to our cry.
It is where justice is satisfied, mercy is offered, and evil is ultimately overcome.
Evil may not be a problem for God. But it is a problem that God, in love, has chosen to make His own—so that one day, it will be no more.
Apologetics in the Lion City 