You
might believe in God. You might believe evolution falters under close scrutiny.
You might believe existence itself cannot be explained by random forces. But
there is something on which a Christian and an atheist can agree.
This
is a bad place.
In
2012, there were approximately 357 natural disasters, killing 9,655 people.
About 1 million people died in car accidents and over 8 million people died
from cancer. You don’t even have to turn on the news to get this startling dose
of reality. All around you, people are suffering constant pain, constant worry,
and constant depression. You yourself have your own share of troubles. It’s
undeniable. Life has its good moments, but in general it is a hard business,
filled with darkness—or at least a fear of when darkness will inevitably come.
Atheists
have more than one bone of contention, but one of the primary bones is the
simple fact that this place stinks. Faced with such a malicious existence, they
conclude that theism is not feasible.
The
reasoning is this. If there is a God, why is there so much evil? Or as one
atheist put it—“the God of birds and trees would have to be also the God of
birth defects and cancer.”* The world is malignant. Therefore there is no God.
This sounds like a reasonable deduction.
However,
it isn’t really an argument concerning the existence of God. The general
condition of the universe does not address the issue of whether or not Someone
designed it. It merely points out the imbalance between good and evil. At most,
it only questions His nature—whether or not He (or the universe) cares. More
specifically, “the prevalence of predation, parasitism, disease, and imperfect
human organs strongly supports the view that the designer is indifferent to
us.” Such thoughts help pinpoint the nature of true atheism.
A
real atheist would not believe the universe is out to get them. Many
theological complaints have a tone of animosity, as if they believe in a cosmic
agenda bent on interfering with their happiness. However, any authentic atheist
believes the universe is purely indifferent. For them, nature is not
antagonistic. Nature has no feelings whatsoever and therefore is not concerned
one way or the other about survival or levels of suffering.
This,
incidentally, results in a glaring contradiction for proponents of evolution
who campaign for a world that improves itself through chance. Is the universe
is an evil place that descends into meaningless darkness? Or is it a universe
that randomly climbs toward complexity through benevolent accidents? You can’t eat your entropy and have it too.
But
the atheist makes a good point. If there is a God, or even a benevolent force, why
isn’t there a tipping of the balance toward good?
It’s
important to follow this line of thought to the logical conclusion. A neutral
existence should result in an equal amount of good and evil. If there are no
outside forces pushing in either direction, there should be a yin-yang symmetry.
The premise of a godless universe should be able to point to a balanced
equation. But that’s not what we find. There is a drastic imbalance that seems
to favor the darker end of the spectrum.
Critiques
of the universe seem to overlook that the dark state of affairs does not strongly
support a purely atheistic argument. If anything, all the bad actually indicates
there is at least something sinister going on behind the scenes. If nothing but
this realm exists, wouldn’t the scales of good and bad automatically balance
out into a kind of neutrality—no surplus of good and no surplus of bad?
A
large part of the answer lies in simply being fully aware of your location.
This world is damaged. It has been deeply broken by sin and to make things
worse, it is currently under the merciless and brutal occupation of Satan.
The
basic condition of the world does not break even because it is being
perpetually sabotaged by our enemy—whose very name literally means “adversary.”
The Bible brings clarity about our environment. Satan is called nothing less
than “the god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4). This place belongs to him. It
all begins to make sense when you realize “the whole world lies in the power of
the evil one” (I John 5:19). People are often surprised when bad things happen.
If anything, when you consider that we are living in the same cage as the
Destroyer—we should be surprised when good
things happen.
Another
thing about this place that causes an incredible amount of trouble is the simple
fact that it is covered with 7 billion people, all of whom have been given the
freedom to choose between good and evil. And to a person, they choose evil.
When you have a planet saturated with that many evil-choosers, things are going
to get difficult. Once you fully appreciate the dark nature of the general
population and its determined push to reject God and make ungodly choices, you
begin to understand why Fox News and CNN primarily tells stories made of flames
and blood.
Allowing
these teeming billions the freedom to choose is very important to God. He wants
us to choose good, but in order for it to be a real choice, the option of evil
must be allowed. Just like any parents who would not robotic, automatic love
from their own children, God also wants nothing less than genuine children.
In
addition to all this, God has proven time and time again that He is an elegant
Artist who can use bad things to sculpt good things. When Joseph pondered the
landscape of his brothers’ multiple evil choices against him, he pointed out
that God was more than capable of using the grimmest colors to make a beautiful
masterpiece. “As for you, you meant evil
against me, but God meant it
for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people
alive” (Genesis 50:20). Despite the series of bad choices made by several men,
God used their evil choices to shape the best possible outcome.
This world is in the process of being
gutted by the one who is the very definition of “antagonist.” This world is
drenched in the selfishness of 7 billion fools. When you consider that we are
living in the ruins of sin, even the slightest glimmer of hope is strong
evidence there is a God.
If you and an atheist sit down to chat
and he says the universe is cruel, nod your head in agreement. Concede the
point.
That’s one thing you can agree on. It’s
a good place to start—the common ground upon which you might be able to begin a
more thorough search for answers.
But the cruelty of the universe does not
disprove God. At best, it only questions His plan. And a closer look reveals a
plan that allows the freedom to choose and the perfect escape plan for anyone
who makes the decision to use it.
God allows the enemy to damage the world
in order to help lead people to the next.
*
Quotes are taken from a variety of writers anthologized in the book The Portable Atheist, edited by
Christopher Hitchens.
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