Evil and Suffering
A Biblical Background to Evil:
The story recounted in Genesis 3 is often referred to as the Fall
- It relates how Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command by falling for the
serpent’s (Satan’s) persuasion to eat the forbidden fruit.
- This resulted in everything turning sour: innocence was lost, the original
harmony between humans and animals was lost, childbirth would be painful yet
the woman would still succumb to the man’s domination, and the man would
have a life of fruitless hard labour. Adam and Eve were also driven out of Eden.
The Genesis stories of the Flood relate to God’s decision to destory the human
race, apart from Noah and his immediate family, and to start again.
Some prophetic teaching states that God himself is the author of evil as well as of
good.
Some biblical writings claim that Satan in the cause of evil.
The Old Testament book Job examines a range of ideas about the cause and
purpose of evil.
The Concepts of Natural and Moral Evil:
Suffering = the mental/emotional/spiritual/physical pain nd distress that
humans and animals experience as a result of moral and natural evil
Natural evil:
- The malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces such problems as
diseases, earthquakes and tsunamis.
- They are the result of things beyond human control, such as genetic mutations
or the chance workings of the laws of nature.
- In its most severe forms of expression, natural evil causes unimaginable
distress for its victims.
- E.g. a small child dying of a disfiguring and agonising cancer
- E.g. the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in 14
countries.
- E.g. animals caught up in a forest fire with no means of escape.
- The Old Testament gives numerous examples of God using the forces of nature
to wreak havoc on people (often the enemies of Israel):
The Flood was his punishment for the total corruption of humankind
The plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians to force the Pharaoh’s hand
The Exodus resulted in the escape of of the Israelites but the drowning of
many pursuing Egyptians: “But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered
them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15:10)
A Biblical Background to Evil:
The story recounted in Genesis 3 is often referred to as the Fall
- It relates how Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command by falling for the
serpent’s (Satan’s) persuasion to eat the forbidden fruit.
- This resulted in everything turning sour: innocence was lost, the original
harmony between humans and animals was lost, childbirth would be painful yet
the woman would still succumb to the man’s domination, and the man would
have a life of fruitless hard labour. Adam and Eve were also driven out of Eden.
The Genesis stories of the Flood relate to God’s decision to destory the human
race, apart from Noah and his immediate family, and to start again.
Some prophetic teaching states that God himself is the author of evil as well as of
good.
Some biblical writings claim that Satan in the cause of evil.
The Old Testament book Job examines a range of ideas about the cause and
purpose of evil.
The Concepts of Natural and Moral Evil:
Suffering = the mental/emotional/spiritual/physical pain nd distress that
humans and animals experience as a result of moral and natural evil
Natural evil:
- The malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces such problems as
diseases, earthquakes and tsunamis.
- They are the result of things beyond human control, such as genetic mutations
or the chance workings of the laws of nature.
- In its most severe forms of expression, natural evil causes unimaginable
distress for its victims.
- E.g. a small child dying of a disfiguring and agonising cancer
- E.g. the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in 14
countries.
- E.g. animals caught up in a forest fire with no means of escape.
- The Old Testament gives numerous examples of God using the forces of nature
to wreak havoc on people (often the enemies of Israel):
The Flood was his punishment for the total corruption of humankind
The plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians to force the Pharaoh’s hand
The Exodus resulted in the escape of of the Israelites but the drowning of
many pursuing Egyptians: “But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered
them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15:10)
