The Evil God of Love
A Definitive Response to the Ultimate Question
This book is dedicated to men and woman who in any way resemble the atheist, C.S. Lewis, how by struggling so thoroughly within his own consciousness, could not resist the urge to take the initial leap of faith and believe in a loving creator.
In the preface to his book, the Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis admitted that he never intended to use his real name when publishing such literature. The content was, as he felt, of such a magnitude that he deemed himself unworthy of its authorship.
It was Lewis’ publicist who later ensured him the Christian world would not accept such literature unless it were in fact coming from a man of Lewis’ continuing stature.
Eventually, Lewis caved, and poured out on paper so complex a book that precious few have ever come to grasp its true meaning or insight. As profound as Lewis’ sentiments are, the reader is left with many unanswered questions.
This book, the Evil God of Love, seeks to answer those questions.
By no means does this writer compare himself to Lewis, yet, he does presuppose the Christian world will likewise not accept the latter chapters of this book. Even so, I did not write such things to persuade the modern Christian. The intention here is to provoke the atheist to a new way of understanding the ultimate question.
Lewis was a very rare breed of believer. A former atheist converted to Christianity; solely a result of his own contemplation toward the mysterious will and Holy Spirit of God. The only entity with the ability to compel a person to make such profane a statement as to suggest that God not only allows suffering, but in fact requires it as a means for understanding His purposes, our spiritual potential, and indeed, our long forgotten angelic origins.
Introduction
Among the most important questions presented by the atheist worldview, there exists a few questions above all others for which we fun-loving Christians have failed to sufficiently answer.
If the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament, how do we explain the clear discrepancies in his teachings?
If our God is a God of love, why do unthinkable tragedies befall innocent people?
If this “God of love” is the creator of all things, and he truly does possess foreknowledge and sovereignty over his creation, why does he himself perform such evil atrocities according to his own written testament?
Is God a hypocrite?
The default defensive posture of atheists will always precede a logical conversation with questions similar to these.
How does a loving God command the death of entire nations of people in the Old Testament (which is tantamount to genocide), only to execute a complete 180 in his actions by commanding his followers to love one another, and forgive them in the New Testament? If your creator God is a God of forgiving love, why did he command the death of so many people?
This ideology is only one of many grievances held by those who reject the Christian faith. As often is the case, their reasoning behind posing such questions is subjective, not objective.
Such questions date back to the earliest known writings we have on record. Many philosophers, poets, writers, even Kings and Priests – both religious and a-theistic – have attempted to address these dilemmas by postulating for and against the existence of an omnipotent loving creator. Yet, those who have contributed to the vast body of literature appear to be asking all the wrong questions. Said postulating suggests only a philosophical response concerning the why of evil.
Why does evil exist?
Why did God create the potential for evil?
Why does God allow good, innocent people to suffer, even partaking in causing others to suffer by his own hand?
Indeed, we will leave the unanswerable question of “why”, to the philosophers. What this author seeks to answer is the potential of how.
How did evil enter into existence? The question of why evil exists creates the presupposition that God did in fact intentionally create evil. So, that is the question. Why did a supposedly loving God knowingly create the potential for evil?
Who exactly is this Evil God of Love?
We know for certain God allows suffering to exist. The Christian testament states God himself allowed his own begotten son to be tortured, publically humiliated, and excruciatingly executed at the hands of evil men who had grown to hate him. God allowed his own self-existence to be born into the flesh to experience persecution, torture, and evil, under the authoritarian hand of the enemy. But why? Why would God allow this?
If God has foreknowledge, why did he continue moving forward with creation knowing full well that he would later have to die by the hand of his own evil creation?
Why go through all the trouble?
If God has foreknowledge, why did he create free will knowing in advance that free will would inevitably lead to rebellion and the need to “send a person to hell’s fire”?
Again, the answer is not why. It is how. The only way to answer the many questions listed above is to ask additional questions no Christian dares ask. How does evil exist?
Here is the ultimate question. Did God knowingly and willingly creating “people” he knew he would have to torture for all eternity? Is God really that cruel?
Is it God’s desire that evil should exist, even knowing from before time began that his creation would eventually need to be punished? Or, is God only allowing an evil, which he had no part in creating, to fully run its course, to prove how patient and loving he truly is?
Furthermore, if God is the origin of evil, where does Love come from? Why would an evil God create the capacity for Love?
“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
If you possess the courage to continue reading, you will come to understand that God did not create evil; we did. It is us, by the knowledge Satan has passed down, who conjure up evil thoughts in our hearts to do the will of Satan – the creator of evil.
The desire of our loving creator is that we deny he who created evil, which is of course “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan” (Revelation 20:2), and choose to do what is upright, loving, and virtuous. Those who continue to follow Satan knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is a God of Love, and that Satan is the origin of all evil deeds; it is these souls whom God has promised will be punished for their wickedness.
This book will provide four solutions to answer the ultimate question – why does evil exist? The first solution presented is biblical; proving it was not God who created evil, but Satan who summoned its treachery from before time began. Such an understanding was previously covered in the chapter, “What is the Matrix?”, in the first book of this series, The Christian Doctrine Paradox.[1] By expounding upon this biblical teaching once again, we will uncover God’s true intentions for creation and how evil first came into existence.
The other three solutions are a simple, logical response as to how evil may have occurred in the first place. Though we will dabble in the “why’s” throughout this book, this is not a class in philosophy. This is, in itself, the most basic definition of how evil could have come into existence while God simultaneously maintains His absolute sovereignty and pure love.
If you search, you may find as I did, the question of “how” has never firmly been addressed. Our Christian philosophers have only ever bothered with the “why”.
They will teach, Why? …Because God said so, that’s why. And He will do all His good will and pleasure. Believers make such claims quoting passages such as Daniel 4, and others.
“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35)
One notable example among many is John MacArthur’s position regarding “The Problem of Evil”[2]
To which the atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, respond without hesitation.
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.[3]
In this author’s opinion, Dawkins view of God is proven in error by addressing the how, in place of the why.
The problem with this, as you will see, is that Christians will undoubtedly reject answers to these questions for one simple reason. The latter three solutions mentioned in this book cannot be categorically proven with scripture. Even so, we should also note the nature of such a duality in logic. The burden of proof does not necessarily fall on those who cannot prove such a teaching with scripture, but equally so to those who cannot disprove such teachings with scripture. Some will argue this statement creates a logical fallacy. However, given evidence for the duality complex, it can be proven the logical fallacy is also a two-way street. Both the burden of proof and the logical fallacy argument are at the same time both true and false, for both sides of the debate, creating a paradox that cannot be resolved outside the order of FAITH. A Christian believer can no more disprove the theories written in this book, than an atheist can prove the non-existence of God. Hence, the paradox emerges.
Heresy? Blasphemy? Call it what you want. Nevertheless, this book offers real evidence for answers that will likely warrant new conversations that have never been had. Such conversations may also warrant a man getting himself kicked out of “the church”. A fate for which I am willing to accept, if it will lead even one lonely atheist to a grounded faith in our Loving Creator.
If a person were to offer potential answers to a question that has never sufficiently been answered, and to answer said question with a logical view to which even the most devout atheist would be required to rethink their position… wouldn’t it be worthwhile to have the conversation? Why should these potential answers be shushed by the Christian community calling it heresy, or worse, if it does not dismiss God’s sovereignty nor his authority to execute judgement over a fallen creation?
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…”. (1 Peter 3:15; emphasis mine)
If an atheist were to publically confront you with the question, “why is your God so evil?” How would you respond?
[1] https://doctrineparadox.com/2019/05/08/what-is-the-matrix/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwifX03d9QU
[3] Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Boston: Houghton Mifflin 2006), 31.
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