Why Does Evil Exist

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Recommended: Christians beliefs about good and evil

Although it may never be completely resolved, the problem of evil has been considered by Christian theologians, and within the Bible itself, for centuries. Each potential solution, regardless of its content, emphasizes a common point: Just because evil exists does not mean that faith should be abandoned. In fact, evil’s purpose may be to strengthen our faith in God. For example, Peter Kreeft states that “evil is not a thing but a wrong choice”. Because God creates things, but does not directly make choices for His creations, He cannot be the creator of evil (Kreeft, 1988). He also cannot destroy it, as only “things” can be destroyed. However, the fact that God does not force his creatures to make only the good and right choices emphasizes his gift of free will to us. While the choice of evil is a radical and negative one, it reminds us that we are not under the complete control of God, and allows us to thank Him for our freedom. This in turn can bring us closer to God; in knowing that God gave us free will so that we might share in some of his holy nature, our bond to Him strengthens because we can know that He trusts us to exercise that free will to not only do good, but to love …show more content…

It is love which not only unites us to others, but also brings us closer to God as we live in His image. Ironically, it is evil which has the potential to bring out the most Godly love, because without the presence of evil there may be no true need to love others as our neighbors. In other words, without evil, there would exist only goodness, and it would be very easy to love all. When others commit evil acts, and we are still able to find it within ourselves to have mercy on them and love them as we would love our neighbor, we genuinely carry out the love of

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