Human suffering is a problem every caring person grapples with whether their world view is atheistic, pantheistic, or monotheistic. The acknowledgement that evil and suffering exist has led many to conclude there is no God, and others that God is indifferent, weak, or sadistic. One Flathead Valley atheist, regarding the suffering of innocents, writes “only those with a quest for more knowledge would finally come to the conclusion that there is no god…”, and this atheist declares certainty that Christians don’t think about this issue.

      The truth is, for millennia the spectrum from Christian illiterates to accomplished Christian theologians have tackled the deeply troubling existence of evil and suffering in a world created by a loving, sovereign, and omnipotent God. For many of us, painful awareness of the magnitude of suffering in this world is by far our greatest burden. While it is easy to point out the myriad examples of the universal existence of evil--it is a far greater struggle to explain it, and an even greater struggle to present a solution for it. A truth seeker of any world view, if burdened by the weight of human suffering, does not ignore it or try to explain it away.

      One flaw of our local atheists is the limited extent to which that they employ logic and reason. They write as though they believe that what is logical and reasonable is whatever makes sense to them, with the corollary that whatever doesn’t make sense to them is illogical and unreasonable. They seem unaware that for something to be considered logical in the classic sense, it must follow the rules of logic which have governed valid reasoning since Aristotle. Furthermore, they haven’t grasped the fact that what seems reasonable to an individual is highly subjective and dependent on such things as experience and maturity. To use a simple example, what makes sense to an individual will change as they age. It will be different when five, twelve, sixteen, 25 and 50 years old.

      For the atheist to follow a logical progression, their denial of a moral law giver (God) leads to denial of the existence of good and evil. Logically, if you say that there is such a thing as evil, you are assuming there must be such a thing as good. If you assume that there is such a thing as objective good, then you must admit that there is an objective moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. The moral law is the right way that people are obliged to live. It says that individuals carry moral responsibility, and there is an objective inherently good standard on which we can judge human behavior. If you then say there is such a thing as a moral law, it logically follows that there is a moral law giver. In other words, objective moral values exist only if God exists. Since they do exist, God must exist. Thus, the monotheistic world view is not logically inconsistent with the existence of evil. The atheists, on the other hand, lose logical consistency once they acknowledge the existence of evil.

      Logically, if there is no moral law giver, there is no moral law and therefore there is no absolute good or objective standard of evil. Therefore, not only are atheists unable to explain human heroism and crass human wickedness, but an atheist to remain logical must not believe that good and evil exist at all. For such an individual it is internally inconsistent to even ponder the existence of evil, let alone the reason for its existence. They are forced intellectually into pitiless indifference, amorality and ethic neutrality. If not, they undermine the very doctrine by which they denounce the existence of God.

      When atheists, faced with the reality of appalling wickedness, refuse to follow the logical progression of their belief system, and believe there are such things as good and evil, they face a monumental, insurmountable struggle: the fact that outside of God objective moral values cannot be anchored. Intuitively, they know with certainty that objective values and morals exist, yet they cannot anchor them. They are left with only a subjective (feeling) notion about what’s right or wrong.

      The question of the purpose of human existence is built into every answer offered about the existence of evil. The atheist gets into intellectual trouble here as well. It is an immense (impossible) challenge to find an established purpose for life for those who deny the existence of God, for those who try to escape or to challenge the theistic framework. They cannot propose a purpose for human life within their atheistic framework, so they must step outside their belief system to find purpose or else conclude there is no purpose. Compare this to the monotheist who believes that Holy God is the author of life and fashioned humans in His image. In the Judeo-Christian belief system, our lives are not only worthwhile but are intrinsically sacred. The transcendent purpose of human life is clear from sacred Scripture—not just to be good, but to be holy, as we respond to Jesus the Lord of our life with obedience, admiration, love, and gratitude expressed in worship.

      According to the Bible, the ills of the world arise from the consequences of our fallen nature and misuse of our God-given free will. The presence of evil and suffering therefore does not nullify God’s existence or vilify His character, but rather, points to God’s patience, forbearance, mercy, and love. Jesus Christ temporarily gave up His heavenly life at the Father’s right hand to live as one of us on Earth. He became the perfect blood sacrifice for our sins, thus paving the way for our reconciliation with the Father. There is no greater manifestation of God’s love, and no greater elevation of the value of our human existence than Jesus’ sacrifice.

      The answer to the question of evil and suffering exists in the cross of Christ since His dying for us places Jesus in the midst of our suffering and need. Whenever and whatever you are suffering, He is right there with you. When contrasted with the purposelessness, pitiless indifference, groundless ethics, and amorality of the atheistic world view, monotheism is clearly the logical choice. Among specific monotheistic belief systems, the Cross of Christ is unique, and it alone provides the deeply satisfying explanation and solution to the evil and suffering in the world. In this most important decision of your life, why choose nonsense when you can choose Jesus!

Annie Bukacek MD