DO OTHER RELIGIONS HAVE A BETTER EXPLANATION AND SOLUTION FOR EVIL AND HUMAN SUFFERING THAN CHRISTIANITY?

In last week’s blog post, we saw that atheists claim the presence of evil and human suffering, called the “problem of evil,” proves God does not exist. Of course it doesn’t prove this, and I suggested a response that helps atheists to see it. But what about non-Christian religions? Do they have better explanations and solutions to the problem of evil than Christianity? There are only five possible alternative answers to this emotional-loaded issue. Let’s see if they offer better solutions:

 Atheism  This explanation denies the existence of God. Therefore, all people must live with evil and suffering. There is no God to restrain evil. There is no Holy Spirit to comfort people who suffer. There is no future life where evil and suffering will be absent. In the absurd world of atheism, evil and suffering are products of evolution—survival of the fittest. One can only accept this and live without any hope of a solution. Moreover, since evil is an evolutionary by-product, atheists have no objective or moral basis for finding fault with pain and suffering.

 Dualism  This explanation claims that there is a supernatural force other than God from which evil arises. This force is equal to and not controlled by God. This view fails because it creates a separate category for evil that is beyond God’s ability to control. Accordingly, God is incapable of solving the problem of evil and human suffering.

 Finitism: This explanation denies that God is all powerful. If He is not all-powerful, He is unable to destroy evil or even control its effects. There is no solution here.

Illusionism: This explanation denies the reality of evil and suffering, and is one of the governing philosophies of Eastern religions and like-minded cults. Evil is thus something we think is real but isn’t. Illusionism flies in the face of reality as everyone lives it out. Everyone experiences evil and suffering. What good is it to deny either if people must live with them or experience them? Ignoring the reality of evil and suffering doesn’t make them go away. Merely claiming that pain and suffering are illusions solves nothing. In fact, in Pantheism, God is not only unable to solve the problem of evil, he is also the cause of it.

Theism: Only biblical Christianity offers a compelling and reasonable explanation for the existence of evil and suffering, as people experience it. And only biblical Christianity promises God’s presence and comfort in our darkest hours—and the absence of evil and suffering in a future new heaven and earth.

Our apologetic task is to help non-Christian see the failure of alternate solutions to the problem of evil and explain the biblical remedy and promised solution. A question that may get this discussion going can be something like this:  “If God is all loving and all powerful and yet chooses to allow pain and suffering to remain, He must have good reasons. May I share what the Bible has to say about this?” ©