Quick Thoughts
Regarding “Evil”
Brian
Morley, Ph.D.
Note
from Donna Morley: Brian has written a book, God in the
Shadows: Evil in God’s World. It details how a loving and all powerful God
could be behind a world, where evil prevails. It’s a detailed book, for the
deep thinker. He’s currently writing on a more popular level, for the average
layman. Until that book comes out, here are some condensed thoughts from Brian
on the subject of pain and evil.
(1) Freewill is a wonderful gift, but its
misuse is the source of much, perhaps most, suffering,
(2) God does restrain suffering, though we
cannot know how much, because it didn’t happen (working through for example,
conscience, police, and the mere fact that evil doers don’t live forever, e.g.
Hitler),
(3) no matter how much evil God prevents,
we will always ask why he didn’t prevent more,
(4) the point of this world is not to make
everyone as happy as can be every minute, but to help people become mature,
part of which is to become less self-centered,
(5) certain types of goods exist only if
there are certain types of evils, such as forgiveness where there is harm,
compassion where there is suffering, sacrifice where there is need, patience
where there is frustration, courage where there is danger, and so on (Leibniz
believed that this world has just enough bad to allow the maximum amount of
good),
(6) if the highest good is not pleasure
every minute but maturity (think of the goal of a responsible parent) where
there is a conflict and both cannot be achieved, a morally good being will
chose the better goal (maturity) over the lesser goal (pleasure), hence some
suffering (a child who is given everything they want does not become mature,
they become a brat),
(7) for humans to be rational and moral the
environment must be predictable, which can bring its own suffering (gravity
makes life possible, but we can fall off a ladder if we’re not careful),
(8) no individual experiences the “sum
total” of suffering, but each experiences only their small portion (the closest
to experiencing it all is God himself),
(9) God has been good to each of us,
(10) whatever good things we get are by the
grace of God, and by definition grace is not owed (we are not owed 75 years of
life, etc., and those who get less have not been wronged),
(11) if this life is not all there is then
death is a necessary and unavoidable transition,
(12) despite the very serious problems,
this is still a beautiful world, and has great possibilities for us to do good,
part of which is to help those who suffer and have needs--so God has worked it
so that we can have a part in the solution. It’s good to ponder pain and
suffering, but it’s also good to be God’s instrument to relieve it.
© 2014, Brian
Morley