Transcription
yes the world is very Splendid but it
also has in it insects whose whole life
cycle is to burrow into the eyes of
children and make them blind the problem
with our world is that we can argue
about God being all good all powerful
and if he was this he could do that and
none of us has ever been satisfied with
that kind of an argument as I think you
were essentially pointing out and that's
because when we've done all the
philosophical arguing we're presented
with two things that I call Beauty and
barbed wire the video that we're about
to watch hits on probably the biggest
reason that people don't believe in God
it's because we've all suffered it's
because we've all faced evil in some way
the question is why the even bigger
question is if God exists then why is
there evil in this world in this video
I'm going to answer this question from
both an intellectual and emotional level
we're going to begin with a clip of
stepen fry who you're probably familiar
with then stick around pleased to hear
Dr John Linux of Oxford University as he
responds to the objection that is raised
you need both parts in order for this to
really make sense so let's dive in
suppose it's all true and you walk up to
the Pearly Gates and you are confronted
by God what will Steven fry say to him
her or it I will basically what's known
as The Odyssey I think I I'll say bone
cancer in children what's that about how
dare you how dare you create a world in
which there is such misery that is not
our fault it's it's not right it's
utterly utterly evil why should I
respect a capricious mean-minded stupid
God who creates a world which is so full
of Injustice and
pain that's what I would say and you
think you're going to get in no but I
wouldn't want to I wouldn't want to get
in on his terms they're wrong now if I
died and it was it was Pluto Hades and
if it was the 12 Greek gods then I would
have more truck with it because the
Greeks were
they didn't pretend not to be human in
their appetites and in their
capriciousness and in their
unreasonableness they didn't present
themselves as being allseen all wise all
kind all beneficent because the God who
created this universe if it was created
by God is quite clearly a maniac utter
Maniac totally selfish totally we have
to spend our life on our knce thanking
him what kind of God would do that yes
the world is very Splendid but it also
has it insects whose whole life cycle is
to burrow into the eyes of children and
make them blind that eat outwards from
the
eyes why why did you do that to us you
could easily have made a creation in
which that didn't exist it is simply not
acceptable so you know atheism is not
just about not believing there is a is
not believing there's a God but on the
Assumption there is one what kind of God
is he it's perfectly apparent that he is
monstrous utterly monstrous and deserves
no respect whatsoever the moment you
banish him your life becomes simpler
purer cleaner more worth living in my
opinion that sure is the longest answer
to that question that I ever got in this
entire series let me just say to begin
with that I totally understand why
Steven's sentiments resonate with so
many people if an all powerful God made
the world would that not make God as
stated by St fry utterly evil Steven
instead chooses rather than believing in
that to believe that things simply are
as they are the world just is as it is
but at the same time he seems very angry
about it and he seems angry at God for
it so the question becomes does this
response in the face of evil actually
make sense and does it actually take us
anywhere in other words does it actually
solve the problem of evil in order to
answer this question let's go to John
Linux now I'll let him take it away
around the world I find these days and
it's very interesting even this week
I've been asked to speak on the problem
of evil twice out of
four because I find that people are
hurting they're looking for
answers and they find their friends
suffering either with a natural
catastrophe like a brain
tumor or they're raped or they're abused
in some way and they're desperately
trying to come to terms with it I find
it a very hard problem it's the hardest
problem I face and I do not think
atheism soles it except in a fairly
trivial way it says well that's just how
the world is but you see what atheism
doesn't do is it doesn't remove the pain
and the
suffering and I'm faced very often with
people who've just been given a few
weeks to live or months to live and they
want answers they want to put this into
a big picture and I can understand that
and if I didn't feel there was any way
into this question I wouldn't sit here
for a
millisecond I wouldn't sit here for a
millisecond because my heart really goes
out to people who are on the rough end
of suffering and the problem with our
world is that we can argue about God
being all good all powerful and if he
was this he could do that and none of us
has ever been satisfied with that kind
of an argument as I think you were
essentially pointing out and that's
because when we've done all the
philosophical arguing we're presented
with two things that I called Beauty and
barbed
wire we're presented with a mixed World
in a mixed
picture and we have to try to make sense
of
it now I would claim that atheism
superficially appears to have a solution
but deep down has no solution because it
leaves the Suffering The Suffering
doesn't go away but it removes all hope
and to come as rapidly as I can to the
point because I think this is a huge
question and deserves a lengthy time
devoted to it I arrived in Christ Church
New Zealand two days after the
earthquake I had to meet people who'
lost their husbands or their wives and
every interview I did on radio and
television was earthquakes why and
that's a very difficult question because
earthquakes are necessary for the
preservation of human life and when you
factor that in there comes a huge
question could God not have made a world
in which this kind of thing doesn't
happen couldn't he have made a world in
which human beings don't do these awful
things to one another well the answer to
the latter question is of course he
could we can make such worlds they're
called robotic worlds but they're no
humans in
them we're wishing ourselves out of
existence if we say could God not have
made a world in which people are
incapable of doing evil because evil is
the flip side of the capacity to do good
and so the Deep question for me is this
granted that there's Beauty in barbed
wire is there any evidence anywhere in
the universe that there is a God who
could be trusted with it and my very
brief
answer um Betsy to that is this that at
the heart of
Christianity there is a cross and
whatever that tells you if the central
claim of Christianity is correct that
Jesus is God incarnate then that's God
on a cross
and I asked myself the question what's
God doing on a cross well one thing it
tells you is that God has not remained
distant from the problem of human
suffering but has himself become part of
it now if that were the end of the story
I would have nowhere to go but it's not
the end of the story the central
evidence for the truth of Christianity
is the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead and that opens up the huge
possibility that ultimately Justice is
going to be done and when we're talking
about ethics and
morality this to my mind is the most
important factor in the situation that
Justice is going to be done and I put it
to Richard Dawkins uh that just is the
first thing that comes into my head and
he said well I fight for justice in this
life I said so do I but Richard you've
no ultimate hope of justice so that the
vast majority of people who've ever
lived never adjust Us in this life and
there's no future existence for them to
get Justice in so they're never going to
get Justice and their Cry For Justice
from the gas chambers of out shets or
anywhere else is proved to be an
illusion I simply don't believe
that and I believe there's evidence that
the contrary is to there is a God who
will ultimately do fairness so I think
that's not a solution to the problem of
evil but I believe it's a powerful way
in because I've seen it change lives and
give people hope this is the atheist
Paradox presented in this video by
acknowledging the existence of evil
atheists implicitly recognize a moral
standard by which actions or events are
judged as evil in other words to call
something evil you must have an idea of
what is good so the fact that we can
actually recognize evil when we see it
points to God because in order to be
able to recognize evil it's suggests
that there is a moral order it suggests
that there is a moral law and therefore
a source for that law a lawgiver now to
address this Paradox atheists might
adopt one of the following positions you
might hear that moral values are
relative but not objective but this
undermines the argument from Evil
because it erases the concept of evil so
if there isn't really evil then what are
we even talking about what is Step even
mad at God for and so on second you
might hear that good and evil can exist
independently of God that's also popular
on the internet that perhaps they're
grounded in well-being or human
flourishing but there's a problem with
this approach as well and that is that
it assumes that well-being is inherently
a good thing and good is precisely what
needs to be explained in a Godless
framework so declaring that human
flourishing is a moral good presupposes
a standard of good that materialism
cannot explain in other words if
well-being is considered good one must
ask why is it good what makes well-being
an objective good rather than just a
preference without a Transcendent Source
there is no moral law there's no real
good or evil and thus there's no basis
for declaring well being or human
flourishing as objectively good or
calling it good so I hope you guys can
see how this remains a
circular argument it's putting the cart
before the horse I hope you can see how
this is actually self refuting at an
intellectual level now at a more
personal level I will fully admit that
being a Christian doesn't magically give
someone an answer to every question or
fully explain everything that happens in
life some things that happen on this
planet really are horrible and I would
never want to gloss over that or to
relativize evil in that way in fact this
is one of the things that I appreciate
about Christianity that I love about
Christianity is that it faces the
problem of evil squarely and it shows us
that God is Not absent in our suffering
if Christianity is true then God has has
done something for us in Christ in his
death and Resurrection there is a gift
offered to us that we can be forgiven
for our contributions to the problem of
evil there's a promise made to us that
Justice will be ultimately served in the
face of evil and there's a hope for the
day that is coming when evil will be
fully eradicated and all things will be
made new for now we see in part then we
will see face to face so please please
do not allow this issue to cause you to
hate God use this issue as a reason to
seek his face cast your cares upon him
because he cares for you he was willing
to die for you he's definitely willing
to listen to questions and to objections
and to problems that you might have with
them because I also have been in this
position of the person shaking my fist
at God and I'm just telling you bring
your stuff to God let him sort it out
he's good at doing that he's great and
greatly to be praised and he can turn
your mourning into dancing he can turn
your sorrow into joy and he can take the
things that you think are insurmountable
obstacles and level them entirely at the
foot of the cross and leave you in a
place of Wonder and amazement and joy as
you're actually encountering a living
God not just an idea a living God so
that's my entire Mission behind this
channel is I want people to encounter
the God that I have to understand the
nature and character of God through the
lens of Jesus Christ through the promise
of his death and resurrection and so I
could go on but if you guys appreciate
this type of video this type of content
I strongly strongly encourage you to
consider joining us in the wisdom
Society it is a community of Believers
from around the world who are meeting
together weekly in basically digital
meeting rooms like Zoom calls and we're
discussing these types of difficult
topics we're aiming to grow together
there's a lot of of different components
inside of the wisdom society that I've
put together and I constructed it in a
way that I hope will be the biggest
blessing possible to you guys including
connecting you the audience with the
experts and authors mentioned and and
featured on this channel frequently so
that the conversation can go a level
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hope that you'll give it a gander check
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this video if you're interested in that
thanks for watching and I'll see you in
the next one
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