Part 1 - The Problem of Evil

This is the first part of a 4 part essay I've written on The Problem of Evil.

INTRODUCTION
Even before time began, evil has been a problem for humanity. Evil can be seen disturbing the peace of heaven and resulting in the suffering of Satan and his followers. This became mankind’s problem because Satan would eventually spread evil into God’s new creation by taking the form of a serpent, and deceiving Eve into sin, in turn leading Adam to disobey the law of God. Evil drove Adam and Eve into hiding from their creator. Evil drove Cain to murder his own brother and in the thousands of years since then, evil has continued to influence the hearts of the world.
In 1961, Yury Gagarin, a Russian Cosmonaut, made the first journey into space. He was only there a few moments when he declared that there was no God, because he had been into the heavens and had not seen Him.[1] Evil has distorted the ability of man to reconcile the existence of God. Many people have not needed trips to outer space in order to come to a personal conclusion that there is no God. Though a study in the design of the cosmos could easily demonstrate the obvious presence of a Divine creator, they have concluded from their observation of the problem of evil that there cannot be a God. Throughout time we have faced some of the most destructive acts of evil and its results of tragedy and suffering. It is most often these tragedies that make us contemplate evil in our world, especially when that suffering is attributed as an act of God. Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, and wild fires have all ravaged our world in just the last year.
Who could avoid the images of the Tsunami in the Asian rim, the 24 hour coverage of cable news channels and the ever refreshing web pages with new descriptions of the horror? We’ve seen people in New Orleans stuck on roofs awaiting chopper rescue, and heard their cries for help in the midst of their desperation.
Suddenly apologetics was all around us, on the news, in the workplace, and scarily enough on Christian television. God was accused of judging the hedonistic culture of Thai beaches, and the promiscuity of New Orleans, and Christians suddenly found themselves being recalcitrantly questioned by family and coworkers, “If God is good, why deos He allow evil?” Add the complexity of some religious leaders framing it as God willing evil, and we are obliged to answer. We must in view of God’s revelation to man stand with one voice to combat the attacks leveled against God. It is exigent that we have an answer.
Did God will evil? Did God send Katrina to judge New Orleans? It would not seem so as the biblical example of God’s judgment on cities leaves them un-rebuildable, in piles of brimstone. (Genesis 19:24) Or are we to believe that God, in a deistic masterpiece, set up the earth that when broken would set into effect ongoing natural evil with precision to cause disasters as retributive punishment?
This view is called Deism. It is a view that sees God as uninvolved with the earth He created. He set it up and let it go to run its course. He is uninvolved because the earth is running as though the mechanism of a clock had been wound tight and let go to run until there was no movement left to operate it.
There are some who would resort to the belief of Illusionism. This belief says, “Evil ceases to be a philosophical problem because all material reality is considered an illusion.”[2] Of course, this view begs the question what good is it to say it isn’t material if the experience of it is still the same?
Others have postulated possible ways of dealing with the problem and harmonizing it to make life and belief more bearable. The results of evil, demonstrated in suffering, are agonizing for every person enduring its devastation. Many times it is also heart wrenching for those who are not enduring it but empathize with those that are.

[1] Kelly James Clark, Return To Reason, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdman’s, 1990), 57.
[2] Norman L. Geisler, The Roots of Evil. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 15.