The Theory of Theodicy

Mary Lewis
Mr. Campbell
CHS Religion 12
10/16/18
The Theory of Theodicy
A common question asked when addressing God is if He is all powerful why is there
evil? Why did Cain kill Abel? Why do people get sick? Why do people die? In the Catholic faith
this is brought up quite often, and no one seems to have a real answer. With all the hate and
darkness in the world we are left wondering what it all means, and if God really is there.
Through this paper the explanation of the existence of evil will be addressed, but so will good in
order to fully portray the answer to an age old question plaguing the thoughts of many.
This moral answer is known by the name Theodicy. The official definition is the
vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil, or in laymen
terms the acknowledgement of good in a world full of bad. One of the most blatant acts of evil is
found in the Bible, "Then Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let's go out in the fields !'. When they
were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brothers and killed him” (Genesis, 4:8.) Common
knowledge is that in the modern world murder happens, often to innocent people. Why would
God let this happen to people he loved so much? The easy answer is that God has no control over
life and death or that God just doesn’t care. However, the answer according to theodicy is that
when God was rejected by Adam he allowed man to govern himself, this is free will. It is not that
God does not have the power to control us, it is that he granted us this gift, he also wanted us to
realize that we cannot rule ourselves and we must turn to Him (quora.org.) As the prophet
Jeremiah said “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that
walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23.)
The first level in understanding theodicy is the acknowledgment that evil does exist.
Many people choose to believe that there is no such thing as wickedness. Such as when people
hear of a school shooting on the news, some viewers will say it was God’s plan, when actually
there was no way God wanted this to happen. Instead of thinking it was God’s will to kill all
those people, we must understand it was the criminal’s will to kill all those people. This is a
branch of theodicy known as liberal - “evil is caused by the wrong free choices of superior forms
of life (like humans)” (sofiatopia.org.) Christians believe in the theology of exclusive goodness,
which is that evil is the absence of good and that God is good therefore He cannot be evil. God
does not desire bad things to happen, the refusal to except evil as real turns God’s people away
from Him. "The Devil's greatest triumph was convincing the modern world that he does not
exist” (Chesterton.) Instead of considering evil as a mystery or completely fake, theodicy tries
to explain the reasons for its presence and tries to rationalize its principles. In this way, the
human development of good will is in possession of the moral factors to make constructive use
of evil, or to avoid it altogether.
Studies dating back to 40 billion years ago suggest that there has been a dark inclination
since the time of the homo sapiens, why is this? This also brings up the biological and moral
question, are humans naturally good or bad? Again, the easy answer would be that God created
humans naturally bad by bestowing original sin upon the human race. To fully understand the
proper answer we must first understand why The Fall happened. Christians usually agree that
God already knew Adam would sin because God is ultimately all-knowing. However, did God
decree or order it to happen? Many people think human free choices is beyond God’s control, to
them it makes little to no sense to ask why God allowed Adam’s sin. The Bible makes clear that
human free choices are not beyond God’s sovereign control, “In the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up
the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and
also put it in writing” (Ezra 1:1.) What this passage is saying is that God can instill good in
people to do good things, and to help others. He does not force us to do good things as if we are
being controlled, rather he instills his grace to have us realize the appeal of good. It was within
God’s power to ensure that Adam obeyed rather than disobeyed Him while in the garden.
Therefore, it was also within God’s power to give Adam free will and to make sure that Adam
did not fall, which means God must have had a different reason for allowing the fall than just
letting it happen because it was out of His control. Logically and chronologically, the fall comes
down to the relationship between creation and redemption. Without creation there could be no
fallen creation; hence there would be no redeemed creation. Salvation is coherent upon sin;
restoration is coherent upon a fall. Thus it’s reasonable that God’s purpose in allowing The Fall
was to ultimately show His glory both in His original creation and also in His merciful
redemption through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, saving creation from its rebellion and
corruption given by Adam and Eve’s blatant disrespect of God (thegospelcoalition.org.) So
human corruption is due to the fact that God wants to continue to show himself through his
creation and ultimately redeem us all.
In conclusion, God loves His people and continues to create good and redemption
through evil. When going back to His son, Jesus Christ, people can understand God’s mission for
redemption through His defeat of physical death. This is what theodicy is all about, excepting
that God is present and all-powerful in a world filled with bad.

Work Cited
Anderson, James. “Why Did God Allow the Fall?” The Gospel Coalition, The Gospel Coalition,
31 Oct. 2017, www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-did-god-allow-the-fall/.

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues
and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared & Revised. American Bible Society,
1986.
“Why Didn't God Warn Abel That Cain Would Kill Him? Why Didn't God Prevent Murder?
Why Did God Create Such a Destiny for Cain, That He Kill His Own Brother?” Why Didn't God
Warn Abel That Cain Would Kill Him? Why Didn't God Prevent Murder? Why Did God Create
Such a Destiny for Cain, That He Kill His Own Brother? - Quora, www.quora.com/Why-didnt-
God-warn-Abel-that-Cain-would-kill-him-Why-didnt-God-prevent-murder-Why-did-God-
create-such-a-destiny-for-Cain-that-he-kill-his-own-brother.
PHILOSOPHY : Theodicy, www.sofiatopia.org/equiaeon/theodicy.htm.

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Mary Lewis

The Theory of Theodicy

walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23.)

of evil, or to avoid it altogether.

corruption given by Adam and Eve’s blatant disrespect of God (thegospelcoalition.org.) So

creation and ultimately redeem us all.

that God is present and all-powerful in a world filled with bad.

31 Oct. 2017, www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-did-god-allow-the-fall/.

PHILOSOPHY : Theodicy, www.sofiatopia.org/equiaeon/theodicy.htm.

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