Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Problem of Evil

   I'm not so sure I "get" the idea (correctly), but my version of it (however skewed) runs thisaway: "Hey, let's insult God!". For all the philosophical smoke and mirrors deployed, the "problem" in question is an assessment of Him...by NOT looking at Him!
   See? This big, bad, cold, ugly, mean world, and let's not forget the rotten, hard, cruel me...these (and more) format the "problem". But insofar as we look at it in this fashion, we are criticizing "Somebody"; by refusing to look AT Him! So, as an editorial comment, we guess that any sentence prefaced with "If God..." is highly suspect (at best), and actually ought be stricken from the record.
   Thus, as the mess is normally viewed..."If God exists, and if God is all-good, and if God is all-powerful...how COULD the world/me syndrome exist? I mean here; use your logic! An all-powerful "God" (IF He existed) COULD surely fix things...couldn't He? And, an all-good God surely WOULD (if He existed, that is) WANT to do so...wouldn't He?". Do you sense the pollution here? This corruption is how the "problem" is normally posed.
   So, anyhow back at the races, since the world (and me) continues to exist in all it's steamy pain-darkness, then either: A. God is not all-powerful and CAN'T fix things; or, B. God is not all-good, and (frankly) doesn't CARE to fix things! "Coincidentally", in either case; I'm right and He's wrong! This is the "slope", (the bias) we normally employ in dealing with the "problem"...
   Anyhow, do you think this is a fair representation of the problem of evil? I think so, but am not certain. As a ten year old, I was dazzled by the "bold-face", the sheer audacity of such thought. As a fifty-four year old?...Uhm, not so much. It just sounds way too convenient..."me right, Him wrong"...who could have guessed that?
   The standard "answer" to the problem works out to be a slap upside the head. In english, it might read "Who in blue-blazes do you think YOU are (to talk that way)?". And, it is a fair-enough response, but side-steps the issue. Instead of answering the question, it simply nullifies the validity of the asking...which normally might translate: "In reality, I don't know!...and simultaneously, am afraid to say-so". Or, what about, "I am really uncomfortable discussing this, and also would like to take this opportunity to get angry at you!"?
   Okay, sure; you can get the postponement gig too. That tends: "There are MANY things we can't fully know (down here), but shall better-know-then-up-there"; head trip. This all being founded upon the short-life, long-eternity valuation. Ergo, purchase your fire insurance NOW, and read the fine print of the policy THEN...
   There is one other "answer" to the problem which I generally ignore, in that; it's insane. Essentially, the clean line, the boundary between good and evil gets badly smudged. God (in this model) it appears, can (and does) do really crappy things, and it's okay, BECAUSE...from the l-o-n-g view, good can come out of evil! Therefore, maybe evil isn't what it seems to be? Thanks pal, and don't forget to flush your brain down the toilet on the way out...
   As to my "answer" to the problem, I'm pretty sure I've never heard other people mention. Is that a good thing? Anyhow, I call it "sphere sovereignty" or in plumber-speak, "gifts given, STAY given!' Think of your imaginary seven year old son. In the back yard, you stake out "his" plot. You tell him, "You can make a sand-box, a garden (which I'd prefer you do), you can dig a hole, or make a hill...anything YOU'D like!". Further, you mutter to the kid, "You make, of YOUR gift, what you would like, and if it turns into a stinking mess...it's YOUR stinking mess. I am NOT "cleaning up" after you". That is; you will not clean-up after the rascal until the day you sell the house, move-out, and bulldoze the back-yard. This, in brief, is my view.
   In a nutshell, that is how I "see". The famines? Man-made, by-in-large. Wars? Man-made. Rape, pillage and destruction? You guessed it. And even earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes are at least "connected" to man, in-that Adam was to have been a planet-steward. Sure, he went badly off the rails, but my point here is that the "world" was "waiting" for us to tell it "what to do", and  nowadays; as a fellow rebel tells us! But nevertheless, "world" REMAINS in Adam's (thus our) set-aside "plot". The gift is NEVER "ungiven", even when the recipient becomes intoxicated, insane, or dead!
   Part B here is that; somehow (don't ask me!), his infernal lowliness, (the devil) "inherited" Adam's stewardship over the planet. So then, OUR (my) criticism of the way things are...as-in a critique of the King, is about the WRONG king! All that jazz about him being either not-all-good, or not-all-powerful is a CORRECT assessment of that fallen "king". We do not normally notice.
   Finally, "somehow" LORD Christ has "re-inherited" the HUMAN stewardship of the planet. Covenantally then, a blood-oath, a killing, a crushing was REQUIRED...and He agreed! The new creation...is begun, in-that He rose, Personally kicking down the door to the tomb. Now, "in-Christ", we find that it is He who "trusts", He who "believes-in"...YOU? Who knew? Our Champion, combines the two (which would tear us apart) into a new-whole. He survives to tell of it.

No comments:

Post a Comment