Question 38 – Does God want evil? 

Continuing with the exploration and reflection through a series of articles written in a conversational language about Catholicism, about God, about Jesus, about the Church and many other faith related topics. Here we present:

Question 38 – Does God want evil? 

Evil is perhaps the most important reason why people cannot believe in a good God*. If God wanted evil, then he could not be a good God. If he did not want it, then apparently God cannot prevent evil, but then he is not really God. Reason alone cannot explain it. Does this mean that the Christian faith has nothing to say about the difficult question of evil? Certainly not. The life of Jesus* shows how a person can ultimately be freed from evil.

Christians believe that God has become a human person. In other words: God has not kept himself at a safe distance from evil. Jesus did not escape from evil. He has chosen to expose himself to evil. In this way, the suffering of ordinary people has also become the suffering of God. Indeed, Jesus, the Son of God, has suffered in the most horrible way the destructive effects of evil. He was even killed by it.

At first sight, therefore, it seems that evil has destroyed Jesus, but those who know the whole story know that Jesus has overcome evil through the love with which he answered it. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the confirmation of this.

Is this an answer to the question ‘does God want evil’? It shows that, in the confrontation with evil, God does not abandon people. Together with them he takes up the fight. However strong the evil may be, Christians believe that God’s love has overcome evil.

– Is there a connection between God and evil for you?
– Do evil and suffering make it more difficult for you to believe in God?

Watch this space! Coming up:  Question 39 – Does suffering make sense? 

Follow these links to go back to previous questions

If you wish to learn more about this resource follow this link  “52 Questions and Answers about faith

 

About the author:

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1989, following a short career as a lawyer. He was trained as a Jesuit in Brussels, Paris, and Santiago de Chile. Today he is a spiritual director who is keenly interested in online ministry and discovering new ways to help people find God.

This text is republished with the permission of Messenger Publications, Ireland. To buy a hard copy of the book click here.