“J. Warner Wallace builds a solid case that our universe was purposefully created and fine-tuned by a benevolent, loving Creator God who is interested and intimately involved in our daily lives.” – Sharon S. Smith, PhD, FBI agent (ret.), forensic psychologist, and president of Forensic Psycholinguistics
If you are reading God’s Crime Scene with me this month I would love to know what you think about chapter eight: The Evidence of Evil – Can God and Evil Coexist? The problem of evil is one of the toughest topics in Christian Apologetics and has been the subject of debate by many a philosopher and theologian over the centuries. The most common objection usually raised goes something like this: If there is an all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful God then why does evil exist? Therefore because evil exists God cannot exist.
What most atheists and skeptics fail to understand is that if God is all-loving, knowing and powerful he must also be all-just, righteous and absolutely fair with His creation, just like a good and loving parent when his child falls short. And, we all want consequence for injustice. I see this from the kids everyday at school.
In God’s Crime Scene Wallace does an excellent job of showing that the existence of evil is actually evidence for, not against, God. He does this by going through seven distinct lines of evidence:
- Evil can be reconciled if we have an accurate view of eternity.
- Evil can be reconciled if we have a proper reverence for free agency.
- Evil can be reconciled if we hold an appropriate definition of love.
- Evil can be reconciled if we understand its role in character development.
- Evil can be reconciled if we recognize its power to draw us.
- Evil can be reconciled if we accept its existence as a consequence.
- Evil can be reconciled if we acknowledge our limited understanding.
He quotes C.S. Lewis who says it best in his book “The Problem of Pain”: My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? The answer of course is that there has to be a standard by which we measure good and evil, and this standard is God Himself.
Job was a person who suffered tremendously in this life from the effects of evil, yet he was able to say: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.” –Job 19:25
The evidence and the connection of real-life dramas in this ‘crime scene’ investigation by J. Warner Wallace are excellent, and I hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I have. It has given me yet one more tool to put in my belt for Christian Case-making. As Christians we are called to give reason for the hope that we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15). I urge you to purchase “God’s Crime Scene” for your home library (if you haven’t done so already). Encourage your young people to use it and its sources as a reference for their own research.
I am planning to incorporate much of this research into the next Case for Christianity class that begins on September 8th. Next week I will post an introduction to this class. Join us and follow along as we examine the evidence, because ‘the truth is out there!’
Let me know what you think: Please give me feedback, ask questions or send comments in the comment section of the blog.
In these posts I am going to continue to present logical reasoning and sound scientific evidence not found in the public school textbooks.
This blog will start a new series beginning next week. If you’d like to review the previous series you can start by going back to the September 1, 2014 Introduction called A Case for Christianity: Why do we need one?
Teri Dugan
TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com
Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15