What Does Theodicy Teach Us about God's Will?
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If we credit everything that happens in our lives to the will of God, God’s will begins to feel not very good at all. But if we have a solid theological understanding of theodicy, we can separate that which God allows to happen so that He might bring about a more perfect end, and that which happens according to His good will.
Where Did We Get the Word Theodicy?
The term theodicy combines two Greek words—theos, meaning “god,” and dike, meaning “justice.” Seventeenth-century philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz first used the term as the title of his 1710 book Théodicée, defending God’s goodness in the face of evil. It has since been used to refer to the theological discipline of “justifying God,” or defending His omnipotence and omnibenevolence in a broken world.
Does the Bible Talk about Theodicy?
Like most theological terms today, theodicy does not appear in the Bible’s pages. However, it summarizes an idea the Bible describes throughout. The Bible is not a children’s book. Anyone who has skimmed a section of the Old Testament can tell you that. No reading of Scripture avoids facing the reality of evil.
However, the Bible doesn’t talk about theodicy in a dry way. Readers will not stumble upon a streamlined explanation of how a good and all-powerful God could allow such suffering. There is no simple, logical explanation for suffering—because our experience of suffering is not simple or logical. We will never be satisfied with mere intellectual assent to the proper theological explanation for our deepest wounds. God understands it. Instead of offering a formula, God uses His Word to present a storyline that invites us to find healing and wholeness through relationship. From this story, we find the pieces necessary to respond to suffering. The theological study of theodicy outlines this response.
What Is the Storyline of Theodicy in the Bible?
Beginning with Genesis, we see God’s original intent for humanity and life on Earth. It was all very good. Adam and Eve’s relationship with God and with one another was intimate. It was loving. It was life-giving. Then we see how sin entered the world through humanity—a direct result of free will, the necessary ingredient for genuine love.
Instantly, the effects of sin become evident. Evil has entered into the world. What is God to do? Should He use His omnipotence to prohibit every act of wickedness that He foresees happening? This one seems the most appealing when sin has been committed unto us. But if He did so, our free will would be a facade. We would be agents of manipulation rather than creatures capable of loving and being loved. The teaching that evil is a result of free will, which God gave to His creature for the sake of love, is called free will theodicy.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see God’s continual attempts to call His people back to Himself, that they might be a light to the whole world (Isaiah 42:6). But the people are “bent on turning from Him” (Hosea 11:7). So evil and suffering continue to abide in the heart of every man, woman, and child until Christ, the Son of God, comes to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). The gospels tell of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, manifesting God’s plan from the beginning of time to defeat sin and evil, and redeem His creation through His church, the body of Spirit-filled believers who have accepted Christ’s forgiveness and have surrendered to Him as their Lord and Savior.
Throughout the New Testament, we see how God plans to use the world’s wickedness to bring about good in the hearts of HIs followers. “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” First Peter 4:13 and several other passages encourage believers to rejoice in suffering, knowing that if it is given to the Lord to use, suffering will result in one’s sanctification and intimacy with the Lord. This stance is called sanctification theodicy. As Christ’s followers are changed from the heart, they can live as He did and influence the world positively.
How Does Theodicy Help With the Problem of Evil?
The problem of evil is often presented this way:
1. If God exists, then he is omnipotent and perfectly good
2. A perfectly good being would eliminate evil as far as it could
3. There is no limit to what an omnipotent being can do
4. Therefore, if God exists, there would be no evil in the world
5. There is evil in the world
6. Therefore, God does not exist.
Individuals have shared this manner of thinking across centuries and continents. Theodicy addresses this problem directly by confronting the inherent logical fallacies found within. The first assumption is correct: God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (perfectly good). However, the argument falls apart after the first premise.
At face value, the second premise is also valid. A perfectly good being would eliminate evil as far as it could. But wrapped up in that statement is a vast array of assumptions based on how fallible people assume a good god would deal with the evil present in the world. “Why does God not simply wipe all evil away, eradicate it swiftly and thoroughly?” we ask. We forget that in the process, He would have to eliminate us and everyone else that we love . . . because we are the root of all the evil. The very fact that there will be a day of judgment in which those who have accepted His free gift of grace will experience the freedom and intimacy with Him that we long for, while those who have opted for life without God will get it eternally, is so unfair in the minds of some that they will not even consider Christ’s offer. Judgment does not sit well with us, so why do we seek it so readily?
We will let C.S. Lewis address the next point, as few could express its flaw more clearly.
“His Omnipotence means power to do all that is intrinsically possible, not to do the intrinsically impossible. You may attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense. This is no limit to His power. If you choose to say, ‘God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it,’ you have not succeeded in saying anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words, ‘God can.” — The Problem of Pain
Either God gives us free will, or He doesn’t. Either He makes us into people who are capable of love, or He makes us into creatures capable only of obeying the directions of their commander. He had no interest in creating an army of robots but preferred a family full of freely loving individuals.
Evil can not disprove God’s existence, but the question of indifference remains in most peoples’ minds. Maybe he exists, but does He care about our suffering? This brings us back to the second premise, ‘a perfectly good being would eliminate evil as far as it could.’ If He cannot simply wipe away all evil from the face of the Earth, and He cannot force us against our free will to choose love, what is He to do? His solution is astounding. Rather than forcing us to face the consequences of our evil actions via death, He sent His Son to die for our sake so that our punishment might fall on His shoulders and we could be made new. Instead of eliminating evil, He has chosen to transform it. To transform us to bring life and love where there was previously darkness.
A time without weeping or sorrow or pain is promised for His followers, and we may wish for that time to come more quickly, but “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
How Does Theodicy Help Christians Understand God’s Sovereignty?
God’s sovereignty both comforts and confounds many Christians. Sovereignty, the possession of complete power and authority, is ascribed to God throughout Scripture, leading some people to presume that everything that happens on Earth does so according to His will and activity. In the face of suffering, this can get confusing. The book of Job helps to bring clarity as it addresses God’s sovereignty, the root of evil, and the reason for suffering.
Job begins with a conversation between God and His heavenly host, one of the attendees being “the Satan” (meaning “the accuser” or “the adversary” in Hebrew). This character suggests and eventually carries out the causes of suffering in Job’s life. But he does not do so without consulting God, who puts parameters on what “the Satan” can do. This clues us into an important aspect of God’s sovereignty. Although suffering does not originate in Him, He ultimately allows it to happen. This reality goes back to our conversation on free will. When someone commits a sin against another person and wounds them grievously, that act was not committed according to God’s will but was still allowed by Him. In His sovereignty, He has allowed people to have free will.
But why would God allow Job to suffer as he did? Why would we allow those whom He loves to face such terrible evil? As Timothy Keller put it, “He only gives Satan enough rope to hang himself.”
Since Job loved God for who He was, not simply for what God had given to him, the more he was stripped of his material wealth, the more he was drawn into the joys of knowing and loving his Creator. God only allowed Job to experience suffering insofar as it brought him closer to the heart of God. What Satan meant to harm Job, God meant for his good (see Genesis 50:20). We are promised in Romans 8:28 that if we are willing to entrust God with our pain and suffering, then He will use it for our good.
Great Christian Books about Theodicy
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis is a fantastic place to start delving into the Christian understanding of how a good God could allow evil and suffering. From the perspective of a man who faces unspeakable suffering in his lifetime, The Problem of the Pain addresses the topic of theodicy with a compassionate and logical approach.
Lewis’ later book A Grief Observed, based on his real-life experience mourning his wife’s death, is also well worth seeking out. It explores theodicy more through story than apologetics, providing a narrative rather than a cut-and-dried explanation.
Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller is another great work by a man who was not immune to suffering. He passed away in 2023 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. God’s love so shaped him that at the end of his life, he proclaimed, “If I know there’s love on the other side of death. I can face it. If I know there’s infinitely greater love. Then I can really face it.” That is a man that understands theodicy.
Further Reading:
What Does the Word Theodicy Mean in Christianity?
The Problem of Evil: Why Does God Allow Evil to Exist?
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