A. The problem of evil
1. If God is good and all-powerful, why does He permit evil?
This question has concerned many people. The existence of evils is evident. Therefore, if God is good and all-powerful, He will have weighty reasons for permitting evil. That is how simple the explanation is. But since the matter is complex, it is worth thinking about it a little more.
2. Some mistaken explanations
(They resolve some aspects but give rise to other difficulties.)
- There is evil in the world, therefore God detaches himself from what happens on planet Earth. (This explanation opposes divine goodness.)
- There is evil in the world, therefore there are two gods, one good and one evil. (But malice cannot be proper to a perfect being.)
- There is evil in the world, therefore there is no God. (And now we have two problems: we still do not know why there is evil and we add the doubt about why there is good.)
3. Some correct explanations
- There are things that seem evil to us but in reality are not. For example, a mother removes the bottle of poison her child was reaching for. The child cries, but the mother is not evil. Often pains and illnesses make people reconsider and better direct their lives. In those cases it is understood that the Lord permits their suffering. Even the tremendous evil of death is at the same time a good because it is the gateway to heaven. Our assessment of what is an evil is not always the correct one.
- Another also correct explanation: Evils are a consequence of original sin and serve as penance for sins. This idea clarifies the origin of evil and gives greater meaning to earthly sorrows. Our sins, even if they have been forgiven in confession, continue to demand a reparation. The sufferings of this life offered to God repair sins and reduce time in purgatory.
- Perhaps the clearest explanation: If God permits an evil it is because He seeks to obtain a good; a good that can only be achieved by giving the possibility for an evil to arise. (Here to permit does not mean to approve, but is equivalent to not preventing.) We said at the beginning that if God is good and all-powerful and permits an evil, it will be because He has weighty reasons for acting thus. These motives are now clarified a little: if He permits an evil it is to obtain a good.
B. Clarifications
4. Why did God create an improvable world if He could make it perfect?
The Lord always acts correctly, therefore the present world is very good. And it is so precisely by being improvable: the Creator wanted it this way in order to increase the dignity of man by making him a collaborator in the progress of creation. This great good is achieved in exchange for the world being good but improvable.
5. Why are there pains and illnesses?
They are a consequence of original sin. That is, a decision of divine justice following the great sin of Adam and Eve. Perhaps this justice demanded hell for Adam and Eve, but mercy prevailed, and they were only deprived of gifts previously granted. Thus sufferings entered the world, with the advantage that those same pains can serve as reparation for sins.
6. Why did God permit the sin of Adam and Eve?
He wished to take the risk of our freedom. The divine desire for human freedom is another important reason for admitting evils.
7. Could He not have created us directly in heaven?
In heaven there is the greatest freedom, and the Lord could have placed us there without more. However, He wished to grant us the honor of deserving it; and this greater dignity of ours seemed to Him sufficient reason to tolerate the offenses that would come.
8. In summary, if God is good and all-powerful, why does He permit evil? Because besides being good and all-powerful He is infinitely wise, and knows the way to obtain goods from those evils He does not desire. For example, He permitted the tremendous evil of the Cross and drew from it the great good of the salvation of men. A proverb summarizes it wisely: "every cloud has a silver lining."
8. In summary, if God is good and almighty, why does He permit evil?
Because in addition to being all-good and almighty, He is infinitely wise, and knows how to draw greater goods from the evils He does not will. For example, He permitted the grave evil of the Cross to bring about the supreme good of human salvation. As the wise saying goes, "God writes straight with crooked lines," bringing greater good out of permitted evil.
9. What does the Church say about the problem of evil?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church treats this matter in nos. 309 to 314.
10. And natural evils?
From Chile there are questions about natural evils (earthquakes, storms, avalanches). These evils are not due to human freedom but are produced by laws of nature. For example, the law of gravity causes a man to fall off a cliff. Another example, biological laws cause an elderly person to die. Likewise, geological laws produce earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. Although there may be deaths, this does not mean that the laws of nature are evil; they are simply as they are.
11. Could God not avoid those deaths?
Sometimes He does, and we have abundant miracles of healings (also gravitational miracles such as that of Saint Vincent Ferrer who stopped in mid-air a man who was falling). But God our Lord does not wish to perform continuous miracles by bypassing his own laws. And He allows death to come to men at the moments that natural laws establish.
12. Does God want men to die?
God wants men to go to heaven, after having done much good on earth.
13. Is God evil because He does not suppress evil?
No, no. No one is more good than God. Precisely He does not suppress the evils of this life because He is good, and desires what is best for us. I would not suppress the sufferings of this life either.
14. You would not suppress them?
No, no. And for many reasons:
- For those who behave badly, suffering is a call to attention to change lives that are not going well.
- Those who have sinned have in pain an opportunity to make reparation and do penance.
- Those who lead a holy life desire to suffer in order to lighten the Lord's cross by helping him in the redemption.