Why? –– book discussion

Yesterday, we began a book discussion on the subject of evil, using Why? Reflections on the Problem of Evil as our guide. We hope to meet at least once a month to work our way through the various topics related to the problem of evil. We began with a quote from page 3:

A child is abandoned, an elderly man mistreated, a disease interferes with an otherwise healthy home, massive numbers of people starve, a woman is brutally abused, senseless killings take place–the amount of suffering in this world is staggering, and when experienced, justice seems a trite concept and comfort an unrealistic ideal. Human experience is truly dominated by pain, sickness, and calamity. Indeed, however successful a person might be at evading trouble, death, the greatest enemy of all, eventually swallows its prey like a dark gapping abyss. As a result, sadness and confusion plague every generation.

We have all experienced, to one degree or another, the realties that come with living in a fallen world. Some struggle with constant pain or relationship problems. Others have been wronged in various ways. And all of us have been frustrated by everything from the pain of life-altering circumstances to the frustration associated with traffic Lights. In beginning the study, we began by identifying some basic facts of life. For instance:

• We all struggle with life in what is sometimes an ugly world.

Why are bad things a stumbling block? Philosophers and theologians often refer to what is called “the problem of evil.”In what sense is evil a problem? If God is good, and if he is in control of this world, how do we explain the presence of bad things? The effort to come up with answers to these problems (and we’ll look into these much more in weeks to come) is sometimes referred to as a Theodicy. A theodicy is a justification of God and his ways. With all of these things confronting us–real life, important issues, lots of ideas, and countless questions, we concluded that . . .

• It is important to seek understanding.

And, so, that's what we hope to do. We will be asking and seeking our way through the darkness, attempting to enliven faith, build stability, create hope, and incite a sense of “wow” in the presence of the transcendent and mysterious One. As we continued to discuss issues related to a Christian theodicy, we began to think through some of the presuppositions that will guide our study. We finished by listing one of these:

• If we are going to make any sense of suffering and evil, we must acknowledge some sort of universal norm.

What accounts for the human impulse to oppose injustice, disapprove of certain behaviors, object to perversion, and fight against evil? Why do we object to Auschwitz and Rwanda? Why are Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot labeled as evil men? What accounts for the universal instinct to oppose rape and murder? Why was 9/11 such a heinous event? It would appear that there is something inside of us, placed there by God, which intuitively recognizes that there are such things as good and evil. While the particulars of what exactly constitutes truth or error may vary from individual to individual, the basic recognition of these is undeniable. In our discussions, we began to pursue this line of reasoning, wondering if we might identify or further clarify this impulse.