One of the most difficult questions in religion is to do with the problem of evil. If God is all good and all powerful, then why does evil exist? Why is there evil and sickness in the world? Many people will use this argument as a way to say that God cannot exist. They will say that if God were really good and all powerful, then evil would not exist, as God would not allow people to suffer. The answer to the problem of evil comes down to two things: free will and the devil.
A knife is a useful tool. I can use it to cut bread or meat, but I can also use it to kill someone. If I have free will then I can choose to do good or evil. I would not be free if God continually stepped in when I decided to do wrong. We are free to do right or wrong, but our actions also have consequences, both in this world and the next, the next life being much more serious, as they are eternal consequences. If I choose evil, people will suffer. The more people choose evil, the more suffering is brought into the world. A typical example is religious extremism. People of a certain faith, be they Muslim, Christian, or any faith, decide that they are right, others are wrong and they are entitled to kill anyone who stands in their way. It happens in all faiths. The one we see the most of at this time is Islamic extremism. But don’t confuse Muslims with Muslim extremists, any more than Christians with Christian extremists. The two are very different.
Satan also causes evil and entices people to do evil acts, but we are always free to do evil or not.
There is also another side to it. God can bring good out of anything, even evil. Evil was involved in the death of Jesus. Jesus was given up to the authorities because Judas chose to betray him, even though he regretted it afterwards. The religious authorities of the time had Jesus convicted through a trial which was illegal according to their own law. They chose to do what was wrong and yet the mysterious thing is that even though Jesus was betrayed, tried, tortured and killed by the deliberate choices of men who decided to do evil, yet look what God brought about through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The course of history was changed forever because of his death and resurrection. Eternal happiness was won for us. What does that tell us? One thing it tells us is that God can and will bring about good even out of the worst of evil. We often hear of people working hard to correct injustice, where someone is falsely accused and imprisoned. People will fight for years to bring about justice and they also inspire others to do the same. Think of people like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Martin Luther King. They suffered greatly because of the evil choices of others and yet they brought about wonderful things and also inspired so many others, because they were prepared to battle on, in spite of the evil brought about by other’s free will.
In times of war we don’t usually hear about the many heroic acts of justice and kindness that people do in order to help those who are suffering. A few years ago I remember hearing the account of a BBC journalist called Fergal Keane, who has covered areas of conflict for years. He told one story about two women in their seventies he came across in the Ukraine. They had lost everything, including their pension and they were now living in a basement. They didn’t know how they were going to survive. Sometime later many people wrote to Fergal asking him if he knew what had happened to them. So he went back to try and find them. He discovered that they were now living in another tiny room together, but they were also cooking food for people fleeing the war. They were using what little they had to bring about relief for others, even though they had hardly anything themselves. When Fergal was asked how he was able to keep working in the midst of so much suffering, he said it was because of stories like this one, which inspired him so much. People can also choose to do good, in spite of the suffering caused by others.
Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) was asked about the problem of corruption and scandal within the Church, which has been there from the beginning and will be there until the end. In his response he pointed to today’s Gospel and the parable about the wheat and the darnel, or weed. He said that Jesus is teaching that there will always be evil in the world. We deal with as much of it as possible, but there will always be a certain amount we can do nothing about and we have to learn to live with this. But Jesus also teaches us that it will ultimately be dealt with, because all of us will have to give an account of our actions. There will be justice when we come before God. Does that mean we should be afraid? Of course not. Jesus reassures us of his infinite mercy if we make even the smallest effort to ask for forgiveness, but we must not take it for granted either. I actually find it reassuring to know that all of us will be accountable for our actions, because when you think of people who choose to do terrible evil and cause so much suffering for others. It often seems that they are not brought to justice in this world. I find it comforting to know that they will not escape God’s justice. Everyone will face God's perfect justice.
There is also the question, perhaps more difficult, of sickness. Why do good people suffer? Why do children get sick? Again, there is no easy answer to this, except that it is part of the human condition. However, God also allows things to happen which serve a higher purpose. I have often seen situations where someone in a family has gone through a lot of sickness, but it has brought the family together, or helped people to mature, or get their priorities right. We can’t see any good in it, but that doesn’t mean that God can’t bring good out of it. We tend to blame God for the bad things that happen, but we don’t see the bigger picture.
Does God ever intervene? Yes, sometimes God does intervene and people are miraculously cured, or saved from an accident.
I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit continually whispers to us to help us make good choices, but we are free to listen or ignore those suggestions, just as we are free to listen to the whisperings of temptations.
“The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all
who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them
into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding
of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the
kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
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