The ‘problem of evil’

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does anyone have to die? Why is there evil in the world?

These questions are continually asked, by people who already believe in God, and by those who don’t, as reason for not believing. It’s called ‘the problem of evil’.

And yet, these questions are perfectly answered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and quite simply. So I wonder whether they’re used more as an excuse to not believe, by many, and aren’t the real reason they haven’t done the work of finding out.

Here’s my attempt at explaining how the ‘problem of evil’ is not really a problem…

The solution

I said this ‘problem’ is easily answered. That answer is: The Plan of Salvation.

This plan can be summarised as –

God created spirit bodies for us in the beginning, then prepared the way for us to become like Him – exalted beings full of light, beauty, and glory. The experience of living on earth – taking upon us mortal bodies – is an essential part of that.

Mortality involves learning to see, spiritually, and believe in reality – not what appears to our mortal senses, but what’s behind it. That’s difficult, since our understanding of eternal realities is obscured by the veil of forgetfulness and by mortal appearances. We must learn to live by faith – to choose God and righteousness, without everything being so apparent to us that it would hardly involve choice.

As mortals and still-developing creatures, we battle between our godly desires and baser impulses. We are tempted by Satan (you have to believe he exists to believe this answer), and invited by the Light of Christ. We must choose, always, which to follow. Through that process, we grow in character – towards something better or worse. Everyone gets to choose. This means there is sin and darkness in the world, because many choose it. We also experience pain, as we learn and do wrong, even without trying to be evil.

In addition, the earth has been created to, or placed in conditions which, test us. Our bodies are prone to sickness, there are natural challenges like storms, floods, drought and volcanoes, and we must work with nature to wrest our existence. Nothing is easy.

We’re not here for a relaxing time while amassing money, or to experience all the fun and good things we dream of. We’re here to learn; to be tested. Through all these things, we either learn self-reliance, resilience, dependence on God, compassion, love, mercy, hope, humility, and patience, or frustration, impatience, antagonism, helplessness, anger, and selfishness. We are being given the opportunity – all the opportunities possible – to become better people; to develop all our attributes.

It’s the same reason that people challenge themselves deliberately, or that parents let their children learn from experience. Consider the difference between being told that something is so, and experiencing that it is.

God fully respects each person’s agency. We are always invited to do good, as Nephi attests – to listen to our better natures – but never forced.

Therefore, evil exists here. Pain exists. Difficulty, disappointment, and death exist. Certainly, death exists – it is the merciful end to our mortal test.

Chinese fantasy TV series portray this well: an ‘immortal’ comes down to the mortal world for trials and testing, in order to develop further in their quest for true immortality (there are levels; ‘immortality’ doesn’t mean they can’t cease to exist). They know that it’s just for a period of time, almost nothing in eternal terms; but while they’re there, they don’t remember who they are, and their mortal experience consumes their endeavours. Their tribulations deepen their character and teach them things in quite a different way than the rarefied conditions of the immortal sphere. Their immortal friends ache for their difficulties, but know it’s for their good, and will be for a moment only in the scheme of things. Everyone knows that they’ve gone to the mortal world for trials. The stories get many things wrong, as far as eternal realities go, of course, but in this they’re quite insightful.

A Saviour who saves us from the effects of evil

In His Plan, God provided for a Saviour – one who would not sin, not listen to Satan, not give in to his baser impulses; who would have the power to overcome death. He would take on Himself all of these things – all of the consequences of this part of the Plan: sickness, hardship, pain, suffering of all kinds, hopelessness, and finally death. He would pay the full cost of these things, so we would not be overcome by them. So we could continue to choose. Then, He would offer us sanctuary and healing: ‘Come to me, and be healed’. If we come to Him – seek after Him, learn of Him, and become obedient to His commandments – we receive His grace; His saving power.

Rather than enduring the pain, sickness, disappointment, and so on that arises in the conditions of this world, alone, we then have our Saviour’s help in each experience. God sends the Holy Spirit to convey this help. With that help, these things do not bring us down, but help us to grow. We’re enabled to more often choose righteousness; to have better, stronger desires for good. We are comforted in hardship; we experience joy and hope more than grief and sorrow. Finally, we are saved from death and the ultimate power of Satan through resurrection and fair judgement. Everyone, except the truly lost (sons of perdition) receives glory pertaining to their desires and character.

In this way, everything – even the worst of mortal evil that affects us – becomes a way to experience and develop love and grace. The harder it is, the more grace we receive. Hardship allows us to feel the love of God more abundantly. Mourning and ashes are turned into beauty.

The Problem of Evil – The Plan of Salvation

Knowing all this makes it clear that there’s no real unfairness. There’s no ‘problem of evil’. There is just the Plan of Salvation, and it has been perfectly and wonderfully worked out. The contention that God is not good, that He acts unfairly towards us and lets evil happen to His children without intervention, is revealed as one of Satan’s great lies. The reality is that God loves us deeply and eternally, and everything here bears witness to that, if we have eyes to see, and reject Satan’s claim.

The difficulty is not that evil and suffering exist. It is that, to understand and accept the reasons why, you have to accept, or believe in, these things:

1. God
2. Satan
3. Life beyond this world/sphere
4. A Saviour
5. Submission to God, and the changing of yourself into a being filled with light, love, and other goodness. This is deep, difficult stuff – the process of sanctification. Contesting the ‘problem of evil’ is a way to avoid it.

Most people who listen to this lie of Satan and repeat it don’t accept these 5 things. So they can’t accept or understand the Plan of Salvation, and will not, until they give space for them.