A few days before I returned to Chestnut Hill for the semester, I attended a Rosary vigil for a family friend who had tragically passed away at the age of 18 after a brief illness. This young man was good, holy, and a joy to be around, so why did God allow him to die so young? Firstly, an intellectual answer does much less good to those in the middle of great suffering and loss, but learning why great evil can happen in a world with a perfectly loving God can prepare someone who may go through it in the future. The argument for atheism using the problem of evil is surprisingly best summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae: “It seems that God does not exist; because if one of two contraries be infinite, the other would be altogether destroyed. But the word “God” means that He is infinite goodness.
If, therefore, God existed, there would be no evil discoverable; but there is evil in the world. Therefore, God does not exist”. St. Thomas gives this and one other argument against the existence of God, demonstrating that he thought this was one of the best historical arguments for atheism. Most atheists today will still use some version of this argument. But, St. Thomas is sainted, so what did he think answered this objection satisfactorily? He writes in response, “As Augustine says: “Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil.”
This is part of the infinite goodness of God, that He should allow evil to exist, and out of it produce good.” We can think of some goods that come about through allowing evil, such as mercy and forgiveness, compassion, and perseverance. Further, some natural evils allow us to see the fleeting nature of the world and cling more readily to God or they prevent us from taking a bad path towards our own destruction. Ultimately, the final and definitive good that would allow for such great evil in the world is not a good at all, but Goodness Himself. The answer is a Person, because the problem of evil is so personal. In the Book of Job, God is not the answer-man, but rather Himself the Answer to this man Job. His presence alone satisfies Job and this idea gets at the heart of right relationship with God: being in His company as His disciple is all that is needed.
God has come in the definitive and perfect way in the Person of Jesus Christ. God came down from His throne and lived among us, becoming like us in all things except sin. He was not afraid of our brokenness, sin, ignorance, hatred, and malice. He came to heal us, redeem us, and make our experiences of suffering something entirely different: instruments of His salvation. Romeo’s mere love letters would not satisfy Juliet, but only his presence would. It is the same with God. He is still with us today in the Blessed Sacrament. Go to him, tell him about your difficulties like He is your best friend, and He will listen. I also exhort everyone (including myself) to stop being the problem of evil. Anytime, we choose the appearance over reality, sin over goodness, we help create the problem of evil even more. Almost all of the issues in the world today are not because of natural disaster or honest mistakes, but come about from the stony hearts of people like you and me, those who still need to give everything to the Lord. Every time we choose to love and be Christ in the world, we become the solution to the problem: Jesus.
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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