Problem of Evil (cont)

Here are some assorted further thoughts on the problem of evil in response to a response to a previous post:

Of course the problem of evil is not really a problem to the atheist.

In a way this commends his system: stuff happens, that's just life, we have to pull ourselves together and get on with it. Everything's random and meaningless so hey, ho.

What might give the athiest pause for thought, however, is that his system seems to have little or nothing to say in the face of the rape of a little girl or the carnage of the consentration camps. Whilst "evil" might not be an intellectual problem for his system, it is a problem that he still feels in his gut that certain things are evil and that something in the way he is hardwired cries out for justice.

Thankfully, most atheists are inconsistent and don't live as if survival of the fittest is all there is - but they can't give me a good reason why I shouldn't torture babies if I want too. They have abolished the problem of evil, which is a big problem.

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Satan, the serpent, was created good and fell away from that good.

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Natural evils (such as hurricane Katrina) are not God’s original intention for the pre-fall world considered without sin. They are the result of God’s just curse on sin. Even these God uses for good: I think as C. S. Lewis said, “suffering is God’s megaphone to rouse a sleeping world”. For the Christian, all things work together for good. Suffering and evil provide opportunities for courage and fortitude which would not be possible in a “perfect” world.

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Jesus bore the penalty of sin for all those who would trust in him and decisievely broke its power, though its presence will not be fully and finally removed until he comes again to judge the world and put it to rights.