Reconciling “God” and Evil

One of the big issues for believers in God is to reconcile the nature of God with the existence of evil in the world. This area of study is called “Theodicy” which means the defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.

The Problem of Evil

More specifically the problem of evil states that if God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-good, then why does evil exist?

If there is evil and God isn’t aware of it, then he’s not all-knowing. If he is aware of it, but can’t do anything about it, then he is not all-powerful. And, if he’s aware of it, and can do something about it, but doesn’t, then he is not all-good.

So how do we explain the existence of God and evil in the same world?

I think Thomas Aquinas had the best response to this dilemma.

Evil is Not a Thing, But Its Privation

He maintained that evil is not a thing but the lack of a thing. It is a privation as he called it. Evil is similar to coldness or darkness. Neither of these are things in themselves, but the lack of something. Coldness is the lack of heat and darkness the lack of light.

Nobody says turn on the darkness when leaving a room, or turn off the darkness when entering a room. So, if evil is not a thing, then God didn’t create it. It is the result of the ignorance of humans.

What God did was create the possibility of evil by granting humans free will. God wanted to create the best of all possible worlds, and that world had to contain love. But love cannot be commanded; it must be freely given. Therefore, God had to give humans free will so they could authentically love.

The downside was that humans, out of their ignorance, could commit “evil” acts. These acts while not technically evil because evil is not a thing, are acts that lack goodness.

It is similar to standing next to a big bonfire. If you are right next to it, it’s very hot. As you move farther away, the colder you become because you are farther from the heat or the source. The heat is the thing and the coldness is its privation.

We commit these “evil” acts because as we get farther from God’s warmth, light and wisdom, the colder, darker and more ignorant we become. I’m using God here, not as a personal deity in heaven, but more metaphorically for the source or ground of being. If the word “God” upsets you, think of another term like Brahman, the Tao, Spirit etc.

Evil Is the Result of Moving Away From the Source

So evil is the result of moving away from the good or the source. It’s a privation and not a thing in itself. So, Aquinas believes that through this argument he has reconciled God with evil. God, in order to fill the world with love, had to create the possibility of evil through ignorant human choices. If he hadn’t done that he wouldn’t have created the best of all possible worlds.

God cannot do the logically impossible. He can’t make a rock too heavy for him to lift. He can’t create married bachelors or square circles. Likewise, he can’t create a world where true love is commanded.

The Cosmological View of Evil

Another way to look at this is through the eyes of cosmologist, Brian Swimme. In his Journey of the Universe, Swimme maps out the way the universe evolves through it various stages.

He claims it follows universal laws. However, when humans finally arrive on the scene and their consciousness evolves enough for them to become self-aware beings, free will enters the picture, and thus, as Swimme points out, they move outside the universe’s laws and control. Humans become a law unto themselves.

This completely changes the relationship between humans and the universe or God as we discussed earlier. I am using God and Universe interchangeably here. As the universe has evolved over 13.8 billion years, it has encountered many crises on its journey, but through its wisdom and intention it overcame all these crises and continued developing.

But now the universe is facing a crisis not of its own doing. I’m referring to our current human created planetary crisis. We are now a nuclear incident or climate collapse away from ending our stay on this beautiful planet.

Going back to the original argument about whether God is responsible for evil, we can ask, is God responsible for this deteriorating world we are now living in? Did God do this, or did humans do it out of their ignorance? This impending disaster is not God’s fault, it is our fault. And to blame God for not coming to rescue us because we act like helpless and irresponsible little children is pathetic.

Since this catastrophe is our doing, we have to solve it, but we don’t have to do it alone. The wisdom of the Universe is still here. It is the wisdom that’s been operative for some 13.8 billion years. It is the wisdom that is still available to us, if we would just tap into it.

The Universe Cannot Solve Our Planetary Crisis Without Us

When Eve bit the apple in the Garden of Eden our eyes were opened and we had to make choices. God began to treat us as adults who can now make their own decisions and take responsibility.

(Just a side note: in my last article “The Garden of Eden: An Evolutionary Tale”, I look at the Garden of Eden story as a step up for humanity. If you need an explanation about this, please read that article). Here is the link: Garden

Now as adults with our new mature relationship with God, we can no longer just pray to God to come and save us. We are now co-creators with God. If we are going to escape our disastrous situation, we have to work with God or the universe to overcome our problems.

We cannot do it on our own and the universe or God also cannot do it on their own. It must be a joint effort. We must learn to quiet down our chattering minds and listen to the deep inner wisdom that the universe offers us.

Human free will is a journey the universe and humanity had to take. We are the next step in the evolutionary process. The universe wanted to become self-conscious and we are the means for it to accomplish that.

As I said in my previous “Garden of Eden” article, we had to bite the apple to develop ourselves. We had to develop this independent ego, which now seems to be the cause of so many of our problems. And now we have to take responsibility and get back in touch with the universe’s wisdom while, at the same time, retaining our sense of individuality.

Develop Your Ego, then Let it Go

The psychoanalyst, Carl Jung thought it was critical that humans develop their egos as a means toward individuation. However, he also thought, this process had its limits, meaning eventually the ego must be overcome. He said:

“The first half of life is devoted to developing a healthy ego. The second half is going inward and letting go of it.”

That pretty much sums up our situation now. As a species we have spent a lot of time developing our egos, now it is time to go inward and let it go. When we do that, we work with the Universe or God, whichever you like best, to solve first our own issues and then the planet’s issues.

In the end, our withering planet, as Brian Swimme calls it, is not God’s or the Universe’s fault, it is our fault, so let’s grow up and take responsibility. Let’s clean up our own mess and not call on God, Jesus, Space Aliens or Big Brother to save us because that’s a fool’s errand.

 

To learn more about the magic of the universe: Click this link: The Magical Universe. 

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash