As our Church continues with the Masterclass study, we are posting reviews of our previous “Case for Genesis” class. This week’s post is part two of two, focusing both the reason for Fall and the effects of the Fall as it relates to the problem of evil. The problem of evil is the number one accusation leveled against the Christian Worldview and the God of the Bible, yet the Bible gives us the reason, as well as the solution, for this problem. It is the Christian Worldview that gives us the best narrative for why things are not the way they are supposed to be in our world, and the best repairman for fixing it: Jesus!

Watch this week’s class presentation on this topic:

Overview Notes from the presentation

A Case for Genesis

The Problem of Evil, Part Two – What is it, and why does it exist?

Review

Prayer cards: Take a minute and write your name on the index card provided, and add any special prayer request you might have. Exchange cards at the end of the class this evening.

1.  Review and recite the twelve points to the Bible’s Big Picture (5 in the Old Testament, 7 in the New Testament).

2.  From last week’s study: What happened at the Fall, and how does it still affect us today?

Overview

I.  The Fall – Why did it happen, and what was the effect?

II.  The Problem of Evil – What is it, and why does it exist?

Finishing up part one:  The Problems of Evil – The Fall and its effects

Genesis answers many of our important questions about life, such as origin, purpose and destiny. God had an immediate plan He put into place after His creation fell, along with a purpose and destiny for those who would seek and follow Him. We will see this plan unveiled throughout the Old Testament history, beginning with the “Edenic Curse” and Covenant Promise:

1^st Major Theological Event
The Promise

(God speaking to Satan after the Fall…)

A few versions with which to compare:

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Genesis 3:15 (NASB)

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

“So the LORD God said to the snake, “You did this very bad thing, so bad things will happen to you…I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.  Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child’s foot, but he will crush your head.”

Genesis 3:14-15 (Easy-to-Read Version)

What are the key points God is showing us in the Genesis Promise? (3:14-19)

• An immediate Promise (God’s hesed) for future rescue from this fall through the seed of a women (the Virgin Birth), although Satan will attempt to stop it (crush his heel v. 15)
• A curse on Satan/the serpent (seed will crush his head v. 15)
• A curse on women (pain in child-bearing v. 16)
• A curse on man (toil and labor v. 17-19)
• A curse on the land (the land will bear thorns and thistles vs. 17-18)

Adam’s faith statement right after God’s Promise: (3:20)

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”

Adam understood that God had made the promise of a “rescue plan” that would come through the seed of the woman.

The first sacrifice and foreshadowing of what would come – to atone for sin the blood (the life source) of an innocent animal brings a temporary covering:

“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”

Genesis 3:21

And so it began, sin entered the world and evil escalated over time beginning in Genesis 4:

• Cain was angry and jealous of Abel’s offering to God and, because of pride and unrepentance, he killed his brother (Genesis 4:8)
• Even though God gave him an opportunity to correct his mistake, Cain chose murder (Genesis 4:3-10)
• Lamech, in just a few generations, is boasting of murder and revenge (Genesis 4:23-24)
• By chapter six “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

The Genealogies

God spoke truth, Satan lied:

“you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (2:17)  as evidenced by…

Genesis chapters 5:

‘A walk through the graveyard’

• The life records of the descendants of Adam and Eve end with “and then he/she died” (with the exception of Enoch who “walked with God”)
• The importance of the Biblical genealogies is to give us a record to follow the ‘Scarlet Thread’ from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David and eventually to the Promised Messiah, Jesus! (See Luke chapter 3)
• The genealogies we find in Genesis chapters 4 and 5 give us a picture of two family lines from Adam—2 people groups—one God-fearing, the other not:

1. Cain’s line, the ungodly line that ends at the flood:

• The names of the people in Cain’s family line reflect life without God
• This line leads to the evil found in the world just before the flood:
  • Worship of man-made things
  • Wickedness and evil behaviors
  • The increase of murder
  • The beginning of warriors
  • The first practice of Bigamy:

Lamech, from the line of Cain, married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. (4:19)

• Cain’s descendants disobeyed God’s command and had more than one wife (2:24; 4:19)
• This practice continued throughout early human history and eventually became acceptable even within God’s people
• This practice always results in hardship and suffering as evidenced in every record found in the Bible (Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon etc.)

2^nd Major Historical Player: Seth

2. Seth’s line, the Godly line that leads to the Messiah, Jesus. Main characters in the antediluvian period…
   • Enoch: “Enoch walked with God, and he was no more.” He began walking with God after prophesying in the naming of his son Methuselah. He did not die a natural death.
   • Methuselah = His name means, “in the year of his death, it will come” or “When he dies, judgment will come” and that was the year of the flood as prophesied by his father.
   • Lamech: Noah’s father, He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” (Gen. 5:29)
   • Noah: Carried his family through the great flood and into the new world.

But, the sin nature followed and soon there would be another escalation of evil…

II.  The Problem of Evil, what is it, and why does it exist?

According to Webster’s dictionary evil is defined as:

“The fact of suffering, misfortune, and wrongdoing; something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity.”

• In Christian thought evil is looked at as the absence of good, or the privation of good, just as dark is defined in regards to the absence of light
• Evil is a corruption of the good, and evil arises from the misuse of the will
• Evil is not a thing in and of itself, but can be manifested in a thing
• We often attribute evil to a person, or an object, or an act of nature
• Evil can also be seen as a condition of the heart against God

There are four primary factors at play:

1. There is a “principle of evil” in the world because of the curse from the “Fall” (natural disasters, famines, floods etc.)
2. Satan and his forces (through spiritual warfare) know that their time is short, wanting to take as many with them as possible, they focus on deception and twisting Scripture.
3. We bring much of the hardship we experience on ourselves through bad choices (human nature is bent toward evil because of the “Fall”).
4. The ‘Job’ factor: God allowed Satan to test Job—sometimes God is refining us, teaching us or testing us for a greater purpose (reminder: the teacher is always silent during the test).

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

-James 1:13-15

“We need to know God’s plan so that we can make sense of tsunamis, fires, cancers, strokes, rapes, tortures, and the fact that, except for the Lord’s return, the only thing that will prevent us from watching everyone we know die will be our own death. If we don’t understand that our good God can have a good purpose in allowing evil, we’ll live confused Christian lives.”

-Dr. Clay Jones, Professor of Christian Apologetics, Biola University

Nine reasons people struggle with the concept of evil

(From Dr. Clay Jones’ book: “Why Does God Allow Evil?”)

1. Many people are spiritually unreflective—they do not spend time meditating on Scripture so they do not understand the Biblical worldview.

2. Most people fail to understand the depth of human depravity—even Christians fall into the, “I’m a good person” mentality, but this is the opposite of Biblical teaching.

3. Some people are simply arrogant—they hold their own opinions higher than Scripture.

4. Many people are ignorant of Christian doctrine—they don’t understand that the problem of evil encompasses most of Christianity’s history and teachings.

5. Many people misunderstand Job (the Biblical book and character)—there are many clues and answers in that book to the problem of evil.

6. Some people really don’t want the problem of evil answered—they hold a grudge against God, and this is especially true in the atheist’s worldview.

7. Some people hold to “determinism”—that God has determined every creature’s every thought and deed so that they could never do otherwise, but that would nullify God’s gift of freewill.

8. Most people fail to understand the nature and value of freewill—without freewill real love, relationship, and intimacy is not possible, yet it leaves open the possibility of making wrong choices that can result in pain and suffering.

9. Most people fail to understand the glory that awaits Christians forever in Heaven—we tend to live life shortsighted, but for those with a healthy excitement about the afterlife, the problem of evil is not so much of a problem.

The Problem of Evil:

Summary

• All humans have the innate feeling that things are not the way they ought to be, yet no other worldview has adequate answers for the problem.
• What we experience is because of the FALL, and is evidenced throughout the creation itself (environmentally, physically and biologically).
• The Biblical worldview is the only worldview that can give reasonable answers to the problem of evil.
• The Biblical worldview is the only one that provides a solution to the problem of evil.

Points to consider when discussing, or debating, the problem of evil:

1. Refine the objection—ask them to specifically identify the evil they are citing—often there is a personal experience that needs to be expressed, and blaming God is a reaction to that experience.
2. Define evil—give them the definition of evil from both the secular and Christian perspective—everyone has to deal with this problem, no matter what their worldview is (Christian, atheist, agnostic, other).
3. Ask for their solution—most people cannot offer one, and the secular worldview can only complain about the problem because a utopian society is not possible in a world with evil.
4. Give a Christian defense—the Christian worldview is the only view that has a solution to the problem of evil—introduce them to Jesus and what he offers us (John 3 and 14).
5. Leave room to revisit the conversation—don’t let it get personal; be a good listener and always ask if you can come back for more conversation and with answers to their questions.

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

–C.S. Lewis

Going Deeper

Resources for the problem of evil

• “Why Does God Allow Evil?” (and various YouTube presentations on this subject) by Dr. Clay Jones, Biola University Professor
• “The Problem of Evil,” by C.S. Lewis
• YouTube presentations on this topic by Christian Apologists: J. Warner Wallace, Greg Koukl, Mike Winger and Frank Turek, Mary Jo Sharp

Bible Study

Each week we will have Bible study following the presentation. There will be questions presented here on the weekend, and basic answers will be posted mid-week for your review. This can also be used to make a leader’s guide for your own small group and future studies!

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

1.  Review of Class Topic:

With your table group, discuss today’s presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Read Genesis Chapter 7 with your group then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

2.  Noah had a “7-day notice” for when the flood would begin. Answer and discuss the following questions about the specifics of the flood (7:11-24):

a. How old was Noah when the flood came, and was there additional dating information as to when the flood started?

b. Where did the water come from, and why is this significant?

c. How long did the rain fall upon the Earth?

d. Who closed the door of the Ark after they entered?

e. How high did the waters rise, and what was covered up, during the flood?

f. What perished during the flood?

g. How long did the waters prevail/increase on the Earth?

3.  Discuss: Based on what you have read so far, how violent do you think this flood was, and how might it have affected the Earth’s surface (topography and geography)? What is some observable evidence we can point to in our world today of this effect?

Please join us each week as we continue our case for Genesis!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15