by Dr. Baltazar A. Niangar, Pastor Emeritus, Th.B., A.B., D.D.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” — Romans 11:33
Why would a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good allow evil into the world He made? I have sat with the grieving, the confused, and the angry long enough to know this is not a classroom question. It is the question people bring to me at hospital bedsides and graveside services. In my new study, I want to walk through it honestly — not to explain away the mystery, but to show where real answers can be found.
Not Every “Why” Deserves an Answer
Some questions, like “who created God?”, chase their own tail forever. God’s existence isn’t the conclusion of an argument — it’s the very ground that makes reasoning possible in the first place. But the question “why does a good God allow evil?” is different. It has real premises we can examine, and it deserves our most careful and humble engagement.
The Answer Is a Person, Not a Proposition
Here is the heart of it: God did not respond to evil with a theory. He responded by entering it Himself. In Jesus Christ, He took on flesh, absorbed the full weight of human sin and suffering, and conquered it through His death and resurrection.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16
The cross does not explain away suffering. It shows us a God who was willing to suffer with us and for us.
Show Image Photo via Unsplash
Why He Permits What He Hates
Scripture gives us real, if incomplete, answers. God is wise — He turned the worst problem in the universe, sin and death, into the occasion for His greatest act of rescue. God is loving — He gave up His own Son, and He works even our hardest seasons together for our good (Rom. 8:28). And God is sovereign — evil never operates outside His governance; even the cross, the greatest evil ever committed, became the means of the world’s redemption.
He also asks something real of us: creatures who are truly free to love Him rather than programmed to obey Him. A love that cannot fail to choose is not love at all.
When the Questions Don’t Stop
The book of Job shows us what happens when a righteous man demands an explanation. God never explained Job’s suffering directly. Instead, He revealed His own greatness — and Job’s protest dissolved into worship: “I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).
That is often how it goes for us too. The answer that finally stops the endless “why” is not a tidy formula. It is the character of the God who has spoken: “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isa. 46:10).
Where This Leaves Us
We will not resolve every tension in this life. But we are not left without an answer, and we are not left without a Redeemer. The proper response to the mystery of evil is not more argument — it is worship: trusting the God whose ways are higher than ours, and resting our sufferings into the hands of the One who works all things for the good of those who love Him.
Soli Deo gloria.
READ THE FULL STUDY
Why God Did Decree and Allow Evil to Exist
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