08/02/2025 – “Apologetics as Defense: The Problem of Evil, Part 2” (Chapter 8 – pgs 187 – 188) / Section: “The Future: Some Scripture Songs” / Thoughts?
Excerpt:
“… God tells the prophet Habakkuk, who has complained about the apparent injustice of God’s ways, first to wait for God’s judgment (Habbakuk 2: 2-3) and second to remember God’s past deeds (3: 2-16). As we wait for the future, seeking to be patient, it is helpful to remember the ways in which God has vindicated his judgment in the past (see the preceding section).
When the future – the culmination of God’s plan – arrives, a great throng of angels and glorified saints will be singing to God of the righteousness of his deeds:
Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! who will not fear, O Lord, and glory your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. (Revelation 15: 3-4; cf. 16: 5-7; 19: 1-2)
Notice that there is no more doubt among God’s servants as to the justice of his ways. The rhetorical question in this quotation has the answer ‘no one’ – no one will fail to fear and glorify God. Why? Because his righteous acts have been revealed. I take it that the consummation of history will somehow reveal enough that remaining doubts concerning God’s goodness will be entirely taken away from us. Does this mean that in that day we will finally receive a definitive, exhaustive, theoretical, and practical answer to the problem of evil? Not necessarily. God might simply shut our mouths, as he shut Job’s, and reopen them with praise. it could be that when we see God face-to-face, we will see a face of such supreme trustworthiness that all our complaints will simply disappear. Or it could be that as we see the One who is greater than Solomon, judging the whole earth in perfect righteousness, we will be far less inclined to bring up the perplexities of past history.
At any rate, we may be assured that in the last day there will be no problem of evil. There will be no more doubt, no more complaint. If there is a residual theoretical problem, it will be one that we will be completely happy with. And if we believe now that that day will certainly come, can we not be content in the present?
Again, we find in Scripture not a philosophical solution to the problem, but a great reassurance, a powerful motivation to keep trusting and obeying, despite all the wickedness in the world.”
And an excerpt from the concluding section to the chapter – “Scripture Gives Us New Hearts”:
See the following verses: Romans 1: 16-17 / Luke 24:32 / (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4) /Psalms 51:15 ; 73: 16-17)
“… Believers even with their new hearts, do continue to ask about the problem of evil. But there are so many reasons for giving thanks that we can never look at evil with the same passion as the unbeliever. The believer simply looks at the word with values different from those of the unbeliever. And the change in those values is perhaps the closes we can get, at this point in history, to a theodicy. (*A below) “
(*A) – definition of “theodicy” – see #1 and #2.
- A vindication of God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil.
- A vindication of the justice of God in ordaining or permitting natural and moral evil.
- That department of philosophy which treats of the being, perfections, and government of God, and the immortality of the soul.
And finally, let’s look at pg. # 156 on the subject of “theodicy”:
“Alvin Plantinga, in God, Freedom and Evil, makes a useful distinction between a defense and a theodicy. The latter has the goal of justifying God’s ways to men, of demonstrating the goodness of all his actions. The former merely seeks to show that the problem of evil does not disprove the God of the Bible. Is there an answer to the problem? That depends what is meant by answer. If someone is seeking a theodicy that vindicates God’s providence in every instance of evil, I certainly cannot supply that, and I doubt that anyone else can, either. Nor I think, can we supply a totally satisfying theoretical reconciliation between divine sovereignty, goodness and evil. The mystery of God’s relation to evil is one that will, I am convinced, never be completely dissolved in this life, and I am not sure whether it will be in the next.” (*B – comment below)
Definition: “God-is-his-own-standard-defense” (pg. #292): “The defense against the problem of evil that because of who God is, human beings have no right to bring accusations against him (Job 38-42; Romans 9: 14-15, 19-21). I sometimes call this the ‘shut-up’ defense, as in the gag line “‘Shut up,’ he explained.” This is the normative perspective.” (Note: C.S. Lewis used the term “God in the Dock”, with a book of the same title)
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Soli Deo Gloria!
(*B) – I resonate completely to this last sentence. I believe God’s essence is unfathomable to us, the mystery of God! And yes, I expect it will remain so for eternity.
Thoughts? Reflections? Questions? Prayer.
Questions for fellowship generation, the lifelong sanctification process:
- What does the text reveal about God’s character?
- How has this reading generated prayer for you and/or us?
- What themes stand out to you in this bible study?
- How does our reading fit into the bigger picture (creation, the fall, restoration, etc.)?
- What verse(s) jumped out at you like never before? Is it explainable at this point?
- Do you have any questions you would like to put before the group as to how to interpret any particular verse(s) in our reading. Let scripture testify to scripture: Share with us where you sense contradiction between passages elsewhere.
- What did you find convicting and inspiring at the same time? Share with us how the Spirit of God is working within you as a messenger, both within and outside of our fellowship group.
- Share with the group how our study is calling or confirming to you a new mission to glorify God in our times.