The world is a mist of darkness. Ignorance and knowledge are abundantly supplied at the doorstep of our minds. The ringing question is if there is a reason, an explanation, for the evil before our eyes. Christians may wonder if there is a uniquely Christian response to the problem. My thesis is that Jesus Christ answers the problem fully in the potential relationship between him and every individual. His invitation to walk beside us and to walk as he walked allows every terrible moment to proliferate the glory of his creation.
The problem of evil has no shortage of discussion. It has been discussed for at least a few thousand years and has no end in sight. There is a temptation to think any topic which has been discussed rigorously for that duration must have had every talking point already examined. This is simply not the case. There has been talk of the problem of evil, the problem of pain, the problem of suffering, and the problem of horrendous evil. These can be different scopes of the problem of evil or they can be understood as various emphasis. Whatever the case may be, there is little talk of the propensity in every human to be both good and evil. The oddity of this is that almost every person writing on the problem of evil if they are honest must admit he is a part of the problem. There is a real worry then that any person writing on this particular subject might have ill-intentions and thus are not to be trusted in their conclusion. Even worse, we must recognize that we are not exempt from this problem. Our nature is likely one that is corrupted, just as often leaning on the side of evil as on the side of good. If that is the case, then it appears we must hold every conclusion drawn tenderly, as if one were a parent holding their baby for the first time. Clearly, that is not guaranteed safeguard against accidents, but it is the best one can hope for.
This might be the best we can hope for, but this does not mean it is the best that has been achieved. The traditional interpretation of Jesus is that he is one without sin. That is, he is a person who has not committed the kind of evil acts that you and I can be justly accused of doing. The implication of this is that his teachings are not warped. He has a clear-headedness because he sees clearly through the midst of darkness enveloping the world. He states, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45). There is no clearer statement that evil which is happening in the world is because of the nature of our souls. The soul is not something we can touch with human hands or fix by exercising our will. God alone is the redeemer who fixes the soul. Thus, there is no fixing the problem of evil without personal redemption to Christ.
estrangewanderings 