akah's BLOG

"Theodicy" is the word you use to name the act of
combining the existence of God with that of evil
and pain, in short. That word was coined around
the end of the 18th century, and the first notable
 example of it is John Milton's Paradise Lost.

Justifying the ways of God to Man, as Milton put it in his
epic poem, is what theodicy is all about. Surely you have
already heard, or thought yourself, that there couldn't
possibly be a good or sane God in such a world. In view of
all the bad things happening in everyone's life and your
own, how could there be a just God leading everything?
That's an important question and it is not one that should
make you either give up on God or on an explanation.

I will recommend books for that later on, but so far,I will
merely attempt to extremely briefly explain how God and
evil can coexist. As you have noticed, God doesn't seem to
be very present in our every day life. Nor in fact was he
very present in the New Testament (excluding Christ, the
Holy Spirit, and the likes) compared to the Old one. But
that shouldn't be thought of as a proof that there is nothing.
Absence of proof is not proof of absence, as they say.

So why is there evil in our God-made world? The short
answer is this: because there is freedom, and free will.
It would have been easy for God to make a world without
pain and evil, but it would have meant controlling us in a
very tight way, and ultimately, it would have meant
sacrificing our freedom altogether. If you don't have the
choice between good and bad, you are not free. Of course,
that's quite an expensive freedom. Millions of people have
died for it, and all of us suffer for it, but apparently our 
freedom is worth it. You have the choice between a world
where everything works fine, but where no one is free, and
a world where all are free, but where those free people will
abuse their freedom. God chose the latter, and everyone
pays the price, including God himself.

On our scale, this is a bit like teaching your child to walk.
If you constantly hold him or her when he or she attempts
to walk, the child will never really learn. I suppose any
parent knows that sometimes you have to let your child
experience things on his or her own. So, when we let our
kids walk and fall, that's what God does on His scale when
he lets us live free.

Of course, I know what the skeptic would easily say:
"That's a simple way to justify His never being around."
And of course it may seem so. But think about it: If God
had wanted a perfect world, He would have gotten one.
However, as I just explained, this "perfect" world would be
an artificial one, and at best a prison. I don't think many of
us would be any happy in that. Besides, I don't call that living. 
It's an act of Love to set us free in such a way, because if
anyone has to witness all our pain and suffering, it is God.
Moreover, ask yourself if you'd rather live safely in prison
or adventurously - and above all freely - wherever you want
in the world. The answer is quite easy: Having the choice
of your own life, you can even choose a safe way to live it;
what matters is that you have the choice, you're free. Evil
comes in the game because everyone is free, and not
everyone is good. Stupid people are endowed with freedom
too, and that causes evil more often than not.Think that is the
price of our freedom.

That was relatively shortish. If someone wants more
information on the subject, I strongly recommend reading
CS Lewis' theological works (mainly Mere Christianity and
The Problem of Pain).Think at that, and theh feel free to
ask yuorself questions...Or not.