I've had a tough time studying this material and I probably won't spend too much time on it. For starters it's not a tangible subject, like proving the resurrection historically. My biggest problem is trying to put all of it into words when it really soaked in more like a flow chart in my mind. In addition to the difficulty of relaying the information, it's been challenging for me spiritually. Evil is real. People do suffer. God is loving. I separated those on purpose because that's what the atheist does. They struggle to reconcile a loving God back to the evil they see when you turn on the TV and watch two men plant bombs at the feet of children during a marathon. They want answers and believers often struggle to respond. Most people think that science drives people away from God, but most of the atheists I've studied are unable to see evil and suffering compatible with a loving God and therefore see holes in theology.
To be clear, I'm not going to attempt to explain away evil or try to tell you why God allows people to suffer. This is really more focused on how we as believers respond when challenged with the problem of evil by a non-believer. I hope it can be of some use because this really might be one of the most challenging areas of apologetics. I've heard non-believers say things like "either your God is too weak to stop suffering or he lets bad things happen to good people." It's this line of thinking that I hope to address. I also want to say that I'm sure there are people reading this that have experienced evil and suffering on a very deep level. So I want to be clear that I'm not trying to marginalize your life experiences into something that can make them sound pretty. Suffering isn't pretty, it hurts, but rest in the knowledge that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character, and character hope. (Romans 5:3-5) When thinking about evil and God you must do so from a philosophical standpoint. Philosophers don't feel a certain way on a topic, philosophers are called to think a certain way. Let's proceed as philosophers.
Versions of the Problem of Suffering:
We need to start by separating the problem so that we can think clearly. Suffering produces two different problems, the intellectual problem and the emotional problem. To briefly summarize, the intellectual problem concerns whether it's logical to think that God and suffering can coexist. The emotional problem deals with a person's dislike of a God who would permit suffering to happen. This is where the chart above can help you keep the two problems separate. The importance of separating these is vital. The answer to the intellectual problem will come off as cold and uncaring if you're talking to someone that's struggling with the emotional problem. The answer to the emotional problem will seem weak and a bit fake if you're engaged in an intellectual discussion with someone that's using suffering and evil as an abstract issue. I think if you're having this discussion on the ground level then you're likely dealing with someone that's struggling emotionally with suffering. It's these people that want nothing to do with a God that would allow people to suffer. However, if you're going to address the emotional aspect then you have to go in depth with the intellectual problem to prove that evil and suffering fail as proof of atheism.
Going Forward:
My next post will dive deeper into the logical and evidential versions of the intellectual problem of suffering. I hope I don't lose you here because evil and suffering are so common in our society that this conversation can literally come up on any day. You need to be prepared to defend your worldview in the face of this monumental problem. I also want to apologize for the terrible flow chart. I claim to be an apologist, not an artist. It was the best I could do with Microsoft Paint and three minutes.