Why does this realm contain evil?

Caught speeding by...

2003 The Problem of Evil: Anglican and Baptist Perspectives: MPhil thesis, Bangor University

MPhil link

Statement seventeen: The seventeenth statement stated: The Bible does not fully explain why God’s creation contains evil. 

For Anglicans, 68% agreed, 12% were not certain, and 20% disagreed. For Baptists, 60% agreed, 10% were not certain, and 30% disagreed. I would take the position that Scripture does not fully explain the problem.

October 10, 2019 

Within my Christian worldview and my Reformed tradition, I embrace the view that the triune God has revealed divine self historically and progressively from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. A reasonable contextual exegesis and evaluation of this scripture will lead to a reasonably correct interpretation of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, texts/books. 

The corruption, fall and further corruption of humanity is explained in Genesis 3, in the Hebrew Bible and then in particular, theologically explained within the Apostle Paul's, New Testament, Book of Romans (but not only in Romans). Such biblical texts and others including the gospels and Revelation explain the nature of human sin and evil, in contrast to the holiness and perfect goodness of God.

The key theology of the bible is that God the Son, God incarnate, Jesus Christ, working within the trinity, provides atonement from sin, and ultimate resurrection (victory over death, post mortem) for those in Jesus Christ leading to an eventual culminated Kingdom of God (2 Peter 3, Revelation 20-22) where this present realm is recapitulated with a new perfected realm.

However, I do not reason that the Bible, with either Testament, exhaustively explains why God's creation contains evil. I agree with the majority of the responders.

I therefore, within my MPhil and PhD theses, and on my websites, besides bible and theology, have relied highly on philosophy of religion. For me, theology provides me with biblical explanations in regards to problems of evil; philosophy of religion provides me philosophical explanations is regards to problems of evil.

As Reformed, my final authority in worldview matters is the scripture, and therefore is Christian theology, but as all truth is God's truth, reasonable and good philosophy of religion can also provide truth. It certainly aids my theology in my academic study of problems of evil, theodicy, free will and determinism. My British work was completed in religion and theology departments, but roughly, as many of my exemplars were within the fields of philosophy and philosophy of religion, as theology.

That was a requirement to pass my MPhil and PhD theses, that being a significant use of both theology and philosophy of religion.

BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1976) The Letters of James and Peter, Philadelphia, The Westminster Press.

BRUCE, F.F. (1986) ‘Revelation’, in F.F. Bruce (gen.ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/ Zondervan.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

FEINBERG, JOHN S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.

FLEW, ANTONY, R.M. HARE, AND BASIL MITCHELL (1996) ‘The Debate on the Rationality of Religious Belief’, in L.P. Pojman (ed.), Philosophy, The Quest for Truth, New York, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

FLEW, ANTONY AND A.MACINTRYE (1999) ‘Philosophy of Religion’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.

PAYNE. DAVID F.(1986) ‘2 Peter’, in F.F. Bruce, (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/Zondervan.

PHILLIPS, D.Z. (1981) Encountering Evil, Stephen T. Davis (ed.), Atlanta, John Knox Press.

PHILLIPS, D.Z. (2005) The Problem of Evil and the Problem of God, Fortress Press, Minneapolis.

PLANTINGA, ALVIN C. (1977)(2002) God, Freedom, and Evil, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

PLANTINGA, ALVIN C. (1982) The Nature of Necessity, Oxford, Clarendon Press.

POJMAN, LOUIS P. (1996) Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, New York, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

MACKIE, J.L. (1955)(1996) ‘Evil and Omnipotence’, in Mind, in Michael Peterson, William Hasker, Bruce Reichenbach, and David Basinger (eds.), Philosophy of Religion, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

MACKIE, J.L. (1971)(1977)(2002) ‘Evil and Omnipotence’, in The Philosophy of Religion, in Alvin C. Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil, Grand Rapids. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1990) The Book of Revelation, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.