The problem of evil has been a knotty issue for all human history. How could so good a God, a God understood in power and holiness as we biblically have him, permit so bad a devil? This issue is presented to onlookers entering a Wisconsin manicured park-like area in words spelled out in a carefully clipped hedge on an elevation of land – How Could So Good A God Create So Bad A Devil [?]. The statement, of course, strongly implies that the author of the message in living green leaf in summer, and snow in winter edging, does not advance that there is an attending God. The question, no matter what the attitude may be in presentation, is a natural one. Hopefully, it might be offered in a spirit of search for truth. The attitude in the author of the question determines if it is a matter of presumption, of denial, of skepticism, or a search for knowledge. Given the venue of the question one may surmise that it originates from a skeptic in some degree of anger, or an answer to the words would have followed in some appeal for consideration. Readers of the hedge are left to interpret. The motivation for the question is vital to its treatment.
We are reminded that readers of these pages are asked to think in a large context that includes tension between the knowns and the mysteries of life and the universe, of paradoxes (seeming opposites), and contradictions (affirming opposites). The presence of a living devil, for many sincere persons, appears to be a contradiction to holy God. They presume that if Holy Omniscient God existed there would be no Satan with unusual angelic powers (emanating originally from God himself) that he is able to exercise, with limited freedom – (note Job here). If the issue is carried to a conclusion as the logic of these persons is presumed, there is no God. If there is a Satan, then he is a demigod. This last puts the universe in a context of good/evil, and the best that man can do is to erect modest barriers (like laws) to try to mitigate the forces of evil. To thwart evil, man becomes a demigod. This has been believed by many tribes so to follow various means to appease evil forces, and make life tolerable. Missionary stories follow interesting trails about the logics of their appointed cultures. The paradox of good and evil becomes a contradiction, and the good dissolves to a logic that the good is so good it will not hurt us, and the bad is therefore to be appeased, or avoided in some effective, perhaps clever, way. Natives have raced across, in front of, an approaching automobile, close to tragic death, so that the vehicle may miss the persons and strike the trailing evil spirit pursuing them. On occasion, a missionary has been arrested for reckless driving when a native miscalculated his race against the automobile and was struck. The driver was also victimized.
Tension about holy, omnipotent God and a wicked, strong adversary remains as a proper concern for the rational person. Does his rationality go far enough? As a debater in college, and later as a debate coach, I was aware that evidence is dependent upon the assumptions of the advocate. Much of the evidence could be used as supportive of the affirmative position in one debate, and the same evidence against an affirmative team in a second debate facing new opponents. It is something that can be found in the sometimes interminable debates in Congress, where the same evidence is available to all, but with separate assumptive conclusions, often at variance. The government has given stimulus to the economy, so it will recover, states one. The government has given stimulus to the economy, so recovery will be delayed, states another. Both sides work with the same evidence. We will have to wait and see, finding some presumed activity to send us on our way. The same is true with God and the kingdom of God for believers, presumed in godly faith. God sends us on our way. He is partly shrouded in mystery, and repeats that point to us through biblical writers. Faith captures the mystery for the devout Christian. To comfort Christians, God provides strengthened and directed faith/prayer, sustaining Holy Spirit, victory over spiritual enemies, cultivation of values, enlightenment of conscience, universe/world view of Scripture, redemption by Jesus Christ, and hope of immortality. Greater clarity will appear in the future. In faith, as in nature, the person looking into the well sees his or her own reflection before examining the quality of the water. Even the water is interpreted by the tastes and interests of the person taking a draft of it. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020