Helen Martin’s Blog

Oh, another email legend in my inbox. This one’s about Einstein. I have a cringing disdain for email rumors and legends. There should oughta be a law. But I digress. The email did bring an illustration to me that was interesting.

Are the often asked questions, “How can a good God allow evil to exist” or “Did God create evil?” based on a false premise? Does evil really exist? Darkness in and of itself does not exist - it is merely how we describe what we experience in the absence of light. Just as “cold” is only what we experience in the absence of heat, not a thing onto itself.

I am convinced that when God is “absent” from the thoughts of men, when obedience to His revealed Word is unobserved, when we fill our lives with everything but Him, the natural result is evil.

But the whole point of the fictional email is that a student is able to prove to his professor by the above argument that evil doesn’t actually exist - as if that intellectual exercise would take God “off the hook” for letting evil continue. (I don’t think God is “on the hook” but many people do.)

The problem is, the question isn’t based on the premise that evil *exists*. No one who questions the reality of God or His love as a result of their suffering is doing so for intellectual reasons. They are experiencing evil - the very thing the “student’s” argument affirms.

Tell a starving child, “Your hunger isn’t real. It’s only the manifestation of your lack of food” and see if that settles the question of God’s existence for her. Or say to a widow, “Your husband’s death isn’t real. He is merely experiencing the lack of life” and then ask her if she is comforted.

Boy, there are no easy answers. And all the works of internet and email fiction won’t change that. Frankly, I don’t want to live in a world where those rumors and legends are true. Where the professor is a hapless oaf who doesn’t see four miles down the track under his student’s seriously obvious train of thought but is instead deftly bested by his pupil, and left dumbstruck. I’ve NEVER heard a true story about a brave Christian student standing up for his faith that resulted in the professor sitting down.

Should the student then sit still? Of course not. He should prayerfully approach every encounter and respectfully do what is right. But if he gets an “F” and is asked to leave the classroom, hopefully he’ll remember what happened to Stephen when he stood up, and be thankful.

As to the other question, “If God exists, and if He is good, how can He let evil continue?” Well, you can’t go wrong with [Ravi:](http://www.rzim.org/)

1. If there is no God, there can be no moral law giver;
2. If there is no moral law giver, there can be no moral law;
3. If there is no moral law, there can be no good;
4. If there is no good, there can be no evil; therefore,
5. The presence of evil proves God rather than disproves Him.

As I was recently reminded, when looking into the face of suffering and evil we ought not ask “Where’s God?” but ask instead “Where are God’s people?”

And if we are of God’s people, we each ought to ask “Where am I?”