A good God would not allow evil to exist.

Opening

A refresher on the guidelines.

I will present my argument and you can raise your hand to argue against it.

My argument and your defense must both come from the Bible.

I’m allowed to lie to you, but if you ask me if I’m lying, I’ll be honest.

I’m allowed to use logical fallacies, but you are allowed to call me on it.

I can choose who to pick when hands are raised and I am allowed to neglect any of you if I choose to do so.

I may have multiple arguments and if I feel that either you have won an argument, or if I feel you are at a dead end, I can elect to move to another argument and we will discuss everything later.

If you have a thought, raise your hand. If someone is talking and I make eye contact with you, put your hand down and I’ll get back to you once whoever is talking is finished.

Any questions?

Opening Argument

The Bible says God is good, right?

We can all agree that God is good.

Do you want passages that explain God is good?

Mark 10:18 CSB

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.

Psalm 119:68 CSB

68 You are good, and you do what is good; teach me your statutes.

2 Chronicles 30:18 CSB

18 A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of

Nehemiah 9:20 CSB

20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Psalm 73:1 CSB

1 God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart.

Psalm 143:10 CSB

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.

Acts 10:38 CSB

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him.

Romans 2:4 CSB

4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

1 Timothy 4:4 CSB

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Psalm 145:9 CSB

9 The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.

Psalm 86:5 CSB

5 For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you.

1 Chronicles 16:34 CSB

34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 106:1 CSB

1 Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.

We can all agree that God is good.

Can we all also agree that terrible things happen in this world?

In this world, you will hear about, if not experience, great trauma, abuse, death, suffering, and misery.

There’s children who have bone cancer. There’s earthquakes and many natural disasters.

Tonight’s stance that I’m taking is probably the number 1 reservation that people have, not just against Christianity, but against religion in general.

And at the end of this, while we’re discussing things, I’ll share Mike Winger’s answer to this problem in 5 steps.

My argument is this; according to the Bible:

God is all good; thee perfect standard of good, the opposite of evil.

God is all-knowing. He knows the hearts of everyone and every choice they make and every thought and motive behind every choice they make.

God is all powerful. He doesn’t need to collect all six infinity stones to snap people out of existence. God is above all and has infinite power to do anything, so long as it doesn’t conflict with His goodness.

So if God is all good, all knowing, and all powerful, why is there evil in the world.

Another way I might word it depending on which argument I’m using is that since there is evil in the world, there is no such thing as a good, sovereign God.

What do you have to say?

Argument: God Created Evil

King James Version Chapter 45

I form the light, [and] create darkness:

I make peace, [and] create evil:

I the LORD do all these things.

Answer

Here’s the five steps on how to answer the problem of evil.

Step one: Separate the emotional problem from the intellectual one.

Step two: separate moral evil from suffering

Step three: answer why God would allow moral evil

Step four: answer why God would allow physical suffering

Step five: get help for the emotional problem