The phrase is well known: the problem of evil. It is considered, often, to be the strongest objection against faith in a God who is both good and powerful. The graveside, injustice, the anguished cry of suffering – all seem to press the question. If God is good, why is life so full of what is… by most all acounts… not good?
But even the way we speak reveals something deeper than objection. We do not call evil merely an occurrence or an event. We call it a problem. And that choice of word opens the door to some understanding.
What Do We Mean by “Problem”?
A problem is not simply a happening in the world. A problem is a deviation from what should be.
If there is no “should be”, then there is no problem – only occurrence. A famine, a war, a plague… these might bring pain, but without a “should” they cannot bring protest. Yet we do protest. Believers and unbelievers alike sense that something is wrong… that things are not as they should be.
To call evil a problem is already to confess that there is a standard, a goodness against which we measure the fracture. Even in protest, we whisper belief.
What Do We Mean by “Evil”?
The word “evil” carries the same weight. At its heart, evil is a deviation from good.
The Christian tradition has long held this: evil is not a substance, but a corruption, a twisting of the good. Without good, evil has no shape. Without light, shadow cannot exist. Without God, “evil” collapses into personal taste or cultural taboo.
But that is not how we live. We feel evil as something heavier than preference. We grieve when the innocent suffer. We recoil at cruelty. We speak of wrong, not merely of inconvenience. Our very speech betrays us: we believe in a good that evil has defiled. And it is often here, at this sharp edge, that many have stumbled into faith – recognizing that some wrongs in the world are so abhorrent, so intolerable, that only a higher standard could give them grounds to call such things truly evil. Their experience became a doorway to faith rather than an excuse to reject it.
Two Ways the Problem Is Raised
There are, then, two ways in which people speak of the “problem of evil.”
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The Existential Problem
This is the felt problem—evil as sorrow, injustice, futility. It is the raw cry of the sufferer: this is not as it should be. But this cry itself presumes God. Without Him, there is no “should.” Our suffering becomes… not evidence against God, but a witness of our longing for His goodness. -
The Logical Problem
This is the sharp question of contradiction: If God is all-good and all-powerful, why does evil exist? Surely if He were both, evil could not remain.Yet this assumption rests on our idea of how God must act. Scripture tells a different story: a good creation broken, a God who permits but does not endorse evil, a patience that allows time to pass under the pressure of failure, a promise that evil will not endure. The contradiction, the logical problem, is not between God and evil, but between our expectations and God’s ways.
The Witness of Scripture
The Bible does not flinch at the problem. It gives us a chorus of voices that lament, protest, and wrestle openly with God.
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Job sits in ashes: “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice” (Job 19:7). He does not deny God; he drags Him into the complaint.
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Ecclesiastes sighs: “In the place of justice – wickedness was there” (Eccl. 3:16). Yet he clings to the conviction that God will bring every deed to judgment (Eccl. 12:14).
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The Psalms sing lament as worship: “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1). Honest protest becomes an act of faith.
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Habakkuk pleads: “Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” (Hab. 1:3). God’s answer confounds him… ruthless Babylon will come. I will send a evil nation, God says, to deliver judgement upon evil. Still the prophet closes, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab. 3:18).
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Romans 8 gathers all voices into one: creation groans, we groan, the Spirit groans. Suffering remains, but it is not the silence of death – it is the labor of new creation.
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Revelation holds the final word: “He will wipe away every tear… death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4). Evil is not ultimate; it is temporary. God Himself will end it.
The Bible does not hide the problem. It dignifies it, carries it, and sets it within God’s story.
Bearing the Problem
We are not asked to solve the problem of evil. We are asked to bear it. To sit among the ruins, to lament, to cry out that this is not as it should be.
For the problem itself is a kind of faith. Every protest of evil is a testimony that goodness exists. Every lament is a confession that the world was meant for more. Even our groaning bears witness.
Things are not as they should be. That is the problem. And that is also the hope… for if there is a “should,” then there is One who will set it right.
Selah Box
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Scripture:
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? … But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” (Psalm 13:1, 5) -
Reflective Question:
When I name evil a “problem,” what “should” do I believe in? Does my lament point me toward God’s presence, even when He feels hidden? -
Practical Exercise:
Write a short lament about one sorrow or injustice you see. End it not with resolution, but simply with the words: “This is not as it should be.”
Every hard journey is eased by good companions, and your steps alongside mine are a gift to me.
Should you wish, you may contribute some coin to the Pilgrim’s Purse.
