theodicy

I've read a few things and talked to a few people over the last few weeks about that wonderful topic of Theodicy - i.e. how is God justified in allowing so much evil in the world. It is just a monster of a topic, and honestly, I shy away from it. How can God allow so much evil to thrive in this world? It's not easy to answer.

I've heard differently approaches to the topic from the Christian perspective, and they are generally OK... but not totally satisfying. I would say the most compelling argument is that in order for humans to have free will, there must be the possibility of both great good and great evil. If the possibility of evil is taken away, then free will becomes hollow.

I guess that works for me at least to distract me from having to think about the topic too much. It's kind of like a band-aid over a gaping, disgusting wound.

A thought occurred to me the other day as I was watching Blood Diamond. In the movie, Daniel Archer says, "Sometimes I wonder if God will ever forgive us for the things we've done to each other..." What an interesting twist in the theodicy discussion. So often in this discussion, we're asking if we can forgive God for allowing evil in the world. We are really trying to justify why it seems like God is asleep at the wheel; trying to maintain the doctrine of sovereignty in the face of what seems like an out of control world.

But what if we turn the discussion around and ask if God will ever forgive us for being so evil. You don't have to look far to see human beings doing horrible things to other human beings for nothing more than a little money and power. What a shame! And we have the nerve to ask God why there's evil in the world? Shouldn't God be asking us how we can stand being so evil?

Thankfully, my worldview leads me to believe that God can and has forgiven us for being so evil. But is a proper response to that forgiveness to turn around and demand an answer from God for why we are so evil in the first place?

In no way does this wrap up the discussion with a nice little bow. It's still a painful and tragic topic. But maybe we can balance the rhetoric by asking ourselves how God feels about there being evil in the world, and how so much of that evil is created with our own hands.