One of the truly foolish arguments I hear atheists sometimes say, is the argument that “The God of the bible (especially the Old Testament) is a murderous lunatic, not worthy of my worship, and a very evil God.” They base this logic on the fact that in various points in the Old Testament, God exercised judgement on mankind & destroyed various peoples by ending their Earthly life in some way.
They like to point to such events as the world-wide flood in Noah’s days, the Sodom & Gomorrah destruction, the various wars of Moses & the Israelites, a person being stoned for blaspheming God, etc.
They see that God did apparent “evil” things such as allowing people to die, and they twist this to say, “See, God is evil & crazy.” Some say, “How could I worship such as evil God?” So in this article I want to address the very seriously faulty logic of these arguments, present the truth of what the bible actually teaches, and more.
Is The God of the Bible (Jehovah/Yahweh) an Evil God? Is He Evil for Allowing Innocent People to Suffer?
It really shocks me that anyone really accepts these very weak arguments presented by atheists that God is somehow an evil God. How on Earth can anyone not see the truth that the bible clearly teaches? How can people really not catch the little dirty “trick” that the atheist is using in this false argument? It really shocks me, and I hope this article helps clear up the bad & tricky logic that has caused many to doubt their faith. Anyways, let me continue.
I want to jump directly into the argument of “God is evil.” Again, people generally try to argue that God is evil based on various observations in life (or the Bible). Here are a summary of the “main” reasons why people say God is evil or crazy:
- People suggest God is evil because it is an observable fact that all people suffer (good or bad) in this life. Therefore, since some innocent people suffer, (the argument states), then if God does exist he is an evil & unjust God.
- People love to twist scripture & bring up events from the flood, or times in history when God executed a judgement on a nation, people, or person, and ended their human life. Since God allowed people to die in this way, and perhaps even an innocent child or woman, he must in fact be an evil God (or so the argument goes).
- If God is really all-knowing, and could have seen events in the future (such as Adam & Eve’s disobedience), and yet still allowed these things to happen, he is in fact a bad God (or so the argument goes).
It really disappoints me how people let 1 (or all) of the 3 faulty arguments above turn them away from a belief in God (or at least the God of the Bible). In fact, even famous evangelists that have walked away from God has blamed his reason on the first argument. Charles Templeton, a former evangelist (now deceased) who started his career with the famous Billy Graham, in fact turned atheist (or at least agnostic) in his later career.
What is the reason he cites for his loss of faith? The seemingly needless suffering that happens to innocent people (the first reason on the list above). This really disappoints me because that is really a bad reason to stop believing in God, as I will explain below.
Okay, so anyways, on to the faulty logic. The first 2 arguments I listed above both operate on the same faulty premise, and use “the trick” to convince people God surely must not exist, and if he does, he is in fact evil. So what is the “trick” that is being used here? It is the same trick that is used in almost every faulty argument, it uses only 1/2 of the truth, and conveniently “forgets to mention” the rest of the truth of what the bible states. Let me elaborate on this trick in hopes that anyone that may read this very article never falls for the diry trick again.
Revealing the “Trick” in the “God is Evil” Argument:
The other 1/2 of the truth that this trick conveniently forgets to mention is the fact that death is not the end, God in fact promises a great resurrection & a fair & loving Judgement (in which the righteous & those who deserve good get rewarded, and those who have done evil are punished).
Again, I cannot stress this enough, when someone dies on Earth, it is not the end of that person. This is a biblical teaching from the Old Testament to the New. God has yet to ever exercise “The Great Judgement” on anything or anyone (Satan, demons, evil, or the righteous). This is all being held until the end. So people who see a person die & think it was “not fair” forget the fact that it isn’t the end! If it were truly the end, of course it wouldn’t be fair. But God himself says it isn’t the end!!
So when someone says it is evil an innocent person died, or suffered, they forget the whole part of death not being the end of that person, and the fact that God indeed will resurrect all people for the great judgement. At this point, we will see whether God is just or not (I put my money on God being a just God).
Let me illustrate this whole argument & example in a way that is easier to understand. Here is the “faulty” example most atheists present:
Innocent people suffer and even die, therefore, God is an evil God to allow this to happen.
See how that conveniently misses the other 1/2 of the truth, to make God sound really bad. Now let me rephrase the argument above to include the whole truth that the bible teaches, and see if God sounds so evil as the first example:
Innocent people suffer and even die, however, God has promised to resurrect all people, and judge all beings in the great judgement. He promises to give the righteous eternal life, and the evil punishment. Therefore, God is an evil God.
See how absolutely ridiculous the argument sounds when you include what the bible actually teaches about it? This argument becomes useless to atheists, and absolutely silly to anyone who reads it. Who cares that we die (innocent or not)? It matters none whatsoever when we realize death is not the end, and God promises to give the just eternal life, and all of the truly evil people (Stalin, Hitler) will be punished accordingly.
Let me re-do this entire argument and relate it to life so you can see first-hand how the trickery would be if they applied it to a real-life situation, and how deceptive this argument really is. I will use a doctor in this example for the atheists arguments, and use “The trick” in the same way. Watch how this works:
A doctor took an innocent woman, cut her body with a sharp scalpel, and then proceeded to remove her organs. Therefore, the doctor is an evil doctor.
See how the doctor looks so evil when “the trick” is used to only include 1/2 of the truth? I would say that doctor indeed seems pretty evil. Now watch what happens when we include the other 1/2 of the truth:
A doctor took an innocent woman, cut her body with a sharp scalpel, and then proceeded to remove her organs. The doctor did all of this, because she had cancer on them, and by removing the organs, he gives her longer life. Therefore, the doctor is an evil doctor.
See how that completely changes the whole thing when you include the other 1/2 of the truth? It makes the “evil doctor” argument look ridiculous.
In that very same way, God is in fact a loving God. While it may appear to be evil or unjust that innocent people suffer & even die, when we include the whole message & reasoning, we see that in fact God is loving, and far from evil! In fact, all other things are evil but God, and God is a just God.
What About an Innocent Child Dying? Is that Fair for God to Do?
Of course we all die, whether we are good or bad in this life. That is a command of God that we shall die since Adam & Eve. God has set up a dynamic life, given us free will, and gives us time on this Earth. Some of us live long lives, some of us live short lives. We all have eternity, however.
Some of us are good, some of us are bad. Some believe, some do not. Some die terrible deaths, some die peacefully in their sleep. However, we all die, do we not? Who is exempt from death? Not one of us. Death and taxes shall get us all in the end.
What happens on this Earth means nothing compared to eternity. Whether you are 9 months old when you die, or 99 years old makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. Let me illustrate this using mathematics.
What is 1 plus infinity (or eternity)? Is 1 year plus eternity any greater than 5 years plus eternity? Or 90 years plus eternity? What is the answer?
The answer is that eternity is eternity. Adding a number to eternity becomes illogical, because there is never an end to eternity (or infinity). It only sounds like a greater number in the constraints of our own minds (which is why children frequently use the 1+infinity argument). Yet ask any mathematician, and you will quickly see that in fact any number plus infinity, still equals infinity. So 1+infinity=infinity. 9,000+ infinity=infinity.
So then, we can use this truth of mathematics & life (eternity) to realize that in fact whether a child is killed at only 2 months old, or whether a man dies at 120, it makes no difference to God. They still get eternal life. They get the same amount of existence for eternity. How then, is anyone cheated? Life is but a vapor for us all. We all live, we all die. Death is not pleasant for anyone, whether you do it in your sleep or if you get struck in the head or blown up, or ravaged by cancer. It doesn’t matter if you are 1 or 101 years old. In any situation, it happens to us all. The cause of death or age of death is inconsequential. The same thing that happened to a child in a war against the Israelites, or a child in the flood, that very same thing (death) also happened to Abraham, Moses, etc. Not only that, but the same thing that happened to Jesus (the resurrection), also happens to us all. While we all die, we all get resurrected as well.
When you can actually understand what I just said above about infinity/eternity, then you will quickly realize that no injustice has been done to a child who’s life is taken early by God for some reason. We all get the same amount of existence in eternity. And God, being a just & loving God, grants us eternity in paradise if we did his will & turned from sin. On the other hand, for those rapists, murderers, and evil people, God gives them what they deserve, just like a Judge on Earth gives them the jail sentence they deserve.
Remember, even if God allowed a child to perish in Sodom, or the flood, or an invasion or war by the Israelites, or whatever, that child has not yet been judged by God. It may very well be (and probably will be true), that the child in fact gets eternal life. The bible indicates that children inherit the kingdom of God. It states this several times. So to say God is unjust for allowing a poor young child to die, is not very accurate when the whole picture is considered. Infinity is infinity, we all have the same time. And just because they died on Earth, doesn’t mean God won’t be a just God in judgement. God is the only one with the right to take a life, because only God has the right to give a life back.
Furthermore, in those very rare & isolated times when God allowed a child to be killed, we must assume there was a valid & logical reason. The reasons above are valid enough (that death isn’t the end, that all people get the same time in eternity, etc.). But even more so, perhaps a child had some crazy disease, and God didn’t want that child to infect the Israelites. Or maybe it was just more easy to allow that child’s life to be ended by God, or else it would have suffered hardships, disease, problems in life. Even Abraham trusted God’s love so much, he didn’t even question God when he was asked to offer up his son. That is the best testimony of God’s love & justice, that even a man would offer his only son at the command of God, knowing that God himself could bring him right back to life if necessary to fulfill his promise of making a nation of Abraham!!
We don’t know all of the possible angles to why he may have allowed some innocent to perish at times. And we must not forget the other gazillion verses in the bible that show us that without a doubt God is loving, kind, fair, and just. When Abel was killed, it hurt God. When the Israelites were slaves, God knew it wasn’t right. God has always been a loving & just God, despite atheists attempts to isolate a few verses, and provide an argument based on 1/2 of the truth.
What About God’s Omniscience or “All Knowing?” Doesn’t That Prove He is Evil?
Down to the 3rd major argument, which is that if God knows the future, why did he allow certain events to transpire. Or why did he even create Adam & Eve if he knew they would disobey.
There are several possibilities to this very valid question, and I think we should always consider the possibilities. Here are my main arguments for why God may do this:
- Omniscience or “All Knowing” is a attribution or ability of God. This does not imply he always uses this ability. I have the ability to sing. Does that mean I sing 24/7? Of course not. Perhaps God has the ability to skew or manipulate time & look into any future event. Does this mean he constantly does this? No. Perhaps God looks through time as it happens, and only peeks into future events at certain times (to give prophecy, etc). This is similar to us getting a book or DVD. The book or DVD represents time. We represent God. We then have the ability to look at any chapter to see how events play out. Or we can choose to read it as it goes on. Or we can do both. We can flip to a chapter to see something, but then go back and continue reading it all the way through.
- Perhaps when God does see some event (disobedience, evil, etc.), God chooses to let us go ahead & exercise our free will. Again, God talks about a great judgement, a resurrection, and a creation of a new Earth & Heavens in the future. So he lets man do what they want (for the most part), and chooses to wait until the end to intercede with the Great Judgement. At that point in time, his justice will prevail. Again, he promises to correct wrongdoing, provide justice for the poor & oppressed, etc. How is that an evil God?
- The assumption is being made by atheists who use this argument that if one event didn’t happen, then everything would be peachy & happy. This is faulty to assume. If you have ever seen movies such as the Butterfly Effect, Frequency, or Back to the Future, or the movie “Next,” then you will immediately recognize the fallacy of trying to correct any and every event that may go wrong, because history is then changed, and other potentially bad things still can happen. Sure, perhaps God could have prevented the Israelites from going to Egypt in the first place. After all, he foretold that they would go there and then be turned into slaves until a deliverer (Moses) freed them. But why should God make an effort to correct every single situation, when a new situation could have taken the place of that (perhaps another country or city would have enslaved them)? It is not God doing the activity of enslaving the Israelites, God is merely foretelling how the events will unfold due to man’s free will in the natural course of history.
So the issue of altering events in history, correcting every possible thing that could go wrong, and interceding into every event becomes a problem. It diminishes man’s free will the more God does this, and God would constantly be busy trying to alter every single event, then see what would happen, then alter it again, etc. Then we would be nothing more than puppets of God. How would that be fair? That would be unfair to us, and probably boring to God. Instead, allowing us to do our own thing is much more dynamic, more fair, and seems more logical for a God to do.
As anyone can see, this would be silly for God to change something to prevent another event all the time. Instead, it is not only more efficient, but more just for God to create a world, allow things to happen with their free will, give them guidance, intercede at certain important parts, establish a moral law, and then end it all after a period of time & have one great Judgement. That, to me, makes way more sense. It certainly seems more logical than a God trying to constantly interfere with man’s free will, alter any event that may lead to sin, death or destruction, etc.
Conclusion: Is God an Evil God Afterall? Or Is God Loving, Fair, and Just?
It think it becomes quite clear that any atheist’s arguments fall flat on their face when they try to attack the character or motives of God. God is loving, his promises & sayings are just, and this is made abundantly clear all throughout the bible.
Only a person who is “tricked” by the falacious arguments would think otherwise. So please, never trust a fallacious argument against God without considering the WHOLE TRUTH, and not just 1/2 of it.
You don’t have to believe in God, you don’t have to like God, you don’t have to follow God. But to make a lie or to believe a lie that God is evil by twisting events & only telling 1/2 of the truth is to me blasphemy. If the God of the bible doesn’t exist, then no God could exist. If the God of the bible is false, and another God exists, he is obviously far worse than the God of the bible could ever be, for any other God has not made effort to contact his creation, care about it, or anything else. The God of the bible is the only one who’s promise is just, his ways are all-powerful, and he is the only one worthy of any worship.
How could anyone worship any other God? Any God who has no promise of a resurrection, or total spiritual justice or anything else is an evil God. The God of the bible is no evil God, as I hope this article has pointed out.
And please never lose your faith in God again from this nonsense, like so many others have in the past. The dirtiest trick ever used by Satan himself was a 1/2 truth mixed with deception. God bless you! God is great!