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The Problem of Evil

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God"? __Epicurus

The answer to Epicurus' problem of evil has to do with the ignorance of Epicurus about the character of God as declared in the Holy Bible. Epicurus failed to consider all of the many attributes of God. He only considered two of them - the omnipotence and the goodness of God. Epicurus did not consider the sovereignty, glory, perfection, omniscience, wisdom, holiness, justice, love, mercy, grace, and many other attributes of God. Learn more about them HERE.

 

"The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4

Note: The "day of disaster" here is referring to Judgment Day, the day of reckoning when all of us must stand before God to be held accountable for what we have done with the lives He has given us.

"So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:49, 50

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:11-15

"Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand, not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger. So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not! For He says to Moses:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.

One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?” Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory" Romans 9:11-23

Why Does God Allow Evil?

"Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering and Evil in the World?" by John MacArthur

"Enemies of God" by John MacArthur

"Men Naturally are God's Enemies" by Jonathan Edwards

"The Sovereignty of God in Salvation" by Jonathan Edwards

"Few  Saved: Old Paths" by J. C. Ryle

"The Inescapable Law of Sowing and Reaping" by John MacArthur

"How God Restrains Evil in the World" by John MacArthur

"When Government Rewards Evil and Punishes Good" by John MacArthur

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