Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time,
ever since people were first placed on the earth,
the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?

Job 20:4-7

“How can your empty clichés comfort me?
All your explanations are lies!”
Job 21:34

• Evil exists. 
• It’s everywhere. 
• Can’t God stop it? 
• If He can’t, is he truly as powerful as the Bible claims He is? 
• If He can but doesn’t, what kind of God is He? 
• Good is the way things ought to be. 
• Evil is what deviates from good. 
• Evil is not a “thing” in itself.
• Evil exists in things as corruption or a cancer. 
• Evil cannot exist unless that which is good has an actual essence or substance that can be corrupted, starved, sucked dry, or abused. 
• Evil seems to be of two sorts. 
• Moral evil is evil brought about by the actions of human beings. 
• Moral evil is committed by people, so it is hard to fully blame God. 
• Natural evil is brought about by acts of nature, such as fires, earthquakes, and diseases. 
• Because evil exists, every worldview must explain it. 
• Atheism and naturalism contend that the problem of evil is that we have a problem with evil. 
• Because if there is no higher cause or plan, life is tough and bad things happen…oh, well. 
• Life is painful; then you die. Deal with it. 
• But, we humans sense evil because we sense that good has been violated. 
• Theologically speaking, evil is the loss of Shalom.
• Shalom is a Hebrew word describing peace with God, peace from war, and peace with one’s neighbors. 
• God originally created human beings in a state of shalom. 
• By creating free creatures, God made evil a possibility. 
• These creatures chose to withhold good or act contrary to it, thus taking potential evil and making it actual. 
• The Christian worldview is the only one which has an answer. 
• “The answer to the problem of evil and suffering is not a philosophy but a Person; not words, but the Word.” Randy Alcorn
• We do not have a God who is aloof or incomprehensible. 
• We do not have a God who encourages us to ignore evil or treat it as an illusion. 
• We do not have a pantheon of gods who are reckless or incapable of solving great problems. 
• We have a God who is with us. 
• Through Christ, meaning emerges out of meaninglessness. 
• In Christ, we have a model for what to do in the midst of pain. 
• Because of Christ, God not only makes good possible, He makes good happen. 
• The problem of evil may be the greatest objection to God’s existence but God’s existence is the problem of evil’s only solution. 

Rest in the truth in God’s Word. He wins, evil does not.