Evil World, Good God

Seeing how God lovingly governs everything

09/16/2019

1 Timothy 2:1-8 Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all.

One of the most complicated questions in theology is unraveling the mysterious workings of divine providence. Indeed, providence (sometimes called predestination) is also one of the most thorny problems in life. Put simply (the question, not the answer), does God have the final say, total control, and absolute authority to direct all created things according to his will and pleasure? And the resounding Christian answer is “yes!” St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica: “All things are subject to divine providence, not only in general, but even in their own individual selves” (ST, I, Q. 22, Art. 3). The Angelic Doctor was stating something that’s easy to believe but hard to understand.

Immediately, therefore, numerous questions bombard that simple assertion of faith, namely, why is there suffering? Who ordains the natural disasters that kill thousands of people? Why are people allowed to sin and hurt one another? Why doesn’t God stop mass murderers before they commit such heinous crimes? Why do “bad things happen to good people?” the title of the popular book by Rabbi Harold Kushner. Some people, especially modern people, feel suffering would not be possible if there were a good God who knows everything, who loves everything, and who can do everything. As a consequence, one of the fastest growing segments of our society with regard to religion is atheism. One root, perhaps the deepest root, of modern atheism is the struggle with God’s providence or his predestination of things, or his lack thereof. In other words, an evil world argues against a good God.

I like to think about the existence of evil in the cosmos like the presence of evil in our own homes and families. Parents want their children to be happy more than anything. They make tremendous sacrifices for that happiness to flourish. I often think about how my parents moved half way around the world – from India to the U.S. – for their children’s happiness. Moreover, parents work to provide daily nourishment, nurturing, guidance and discipline, so their children will not be spoiled but successful in life.

Nevertheless, no matter how holy parents are and how hard parents work, can they prevent all problems, even inside their own homes? Can they keep their children from fighting? Can they prevent their children from being jealous? Are they able to force their children to share and not be selfish? They can and they try to a certain degree, but they cannot achieve that absolutely. And when the children suffer – quite often due to their own sinfulness – the same children complain against their parents saying it was the parents’ fault for their pains and problems, just like we blame God for the bad things that happen in the universe, even though they are often the result of our own selfish actions.

Admittedly, this comparison is just an analogy and all analogies limp, they are not perfect explanations. Analogies reveal as much as they conceal. Perhaps only when children grow up and have their own families will they appreciate how hard it was for their parents to provide for them. They see the problems of parental providence, and maybe even get to glimpse God’s providence in a new light, a more sympathetic light. Just because there are problems in your family, it doesn’t mean your parents aren’t good.

A friend of mine, who runs a multi-million dollar organization, likes to say: “the higher you go in an organization, you can do less and less about more and more.” That reminds me of how another friend described what it meant to earn a Ph.D. – you know more and more about less and less. In other words, as a CEO, you are responsible for more and more – all employees and the business itself – but you feel a sense of powerlessness over daily details. Why? Well, because as the CEO, your concern is for the long-term health and objectives of your whole business, but you leave the daily operations to vice presidents and directors to handle.

With these preceding reflections, we might take a stab at understanding St. Paul’s meaning in his first letter to Timothy, where he writes: “God wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” Yes, God has absolute control over all things whatsoever, but his control is directed to helping everyone to be saved and to know the truth. Salvation and truth are the targets that God’s providence and predestination are aimed at; and he never misses. That is the objective and end of this “company” called “creation,” over which God is the CEO. It is also the purpose of the company for those employees called “atheists.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!