(A Study for: The reason for God, Chapter 2)
Contents
The Problem: How can an All-Good and All-Powerful God Allow Pointless Evil and Suffering?A Skeptic’s
Evil and Suffering Prove God Exists
Evil and Suffering: A Valid Concern from a Theistic Perspective
Did God Create Evil and Suffering?
Why Did God Allow Evil and Suffering to Come into Existence? They Are Bad!
Possible Answer #1: Some things can’t be created to their best state directly
Possible Answer #2: Temporary suffering and pain enable greater enjoyment of eternity
The God of the Bible is not Indifferent to Evil and Suffering
[NOTE: Through-out the text you will bracketed green text insertions that begin with the word “Discussion”. These are suggested discussion questions for small group leaders, who would like to go through these topics in an interactive group setting.]
The Problem: How can an All-Good and All-Powerful God Allow Pointless Evil and Suffering?
Everyone has experienced evil and suffering. Why did my loved one die in a robbery? Why do children get some very painful forms of cancer? Why did a Tsunami kill 200,000 people? Why did an earthquake destroy a city? Why did lightning strike our home?
[Discussion: Does anyone have any ideas or guesses, as to why a good God would allow these kinds of bad things to happen?]
Some people say they can’t believe in God, at least not in an all-good and all-powerful God, because there is so much evil and suffering in the world. To them, the existence of evil and suffering means that God cannot be both all-powerful and all good. In other words:
If God is all-powerful, he is not all-good, because he doesn’t stop all the evil and suffering even though he could. Thus, he might be all-powerful, but not all-good.
Or
God is all-good, but he is not all-powerful, because he would want to stop all the evil and suffering if he could, but he can’t. Thus, he might be all-good, but not all-powerful.
[Discussion: Does anyone want to try to answer this apparent dilemma?]
This is a valid concern, which we will now address.
A Skeptic’s Leap of Faith
Let’s start by analyzing two huge assumptions hidden in this assertion.
[Discussion: What are some huge assumptions or alternate beliefs expressed in the statement that if pointless evil and suffering exist, God cannot be both all-good and all-powerful?]
The person making this assertion about pointless evil and suffering, is assuming that there is no good purpose for evil and suffering, that indeed, evil and suffering are pointless.
The person is also assuming that if there would be good reasons for the existence of evil and suffering, those reasons would be accessible to his superior mind. But that’s a little bit like someone without a microscope saying that viruses don’t exist, because they can’t see them with their plain eyes. In his thinking, because evil and suffering appears pointless to him, they must therefore be pointless.
Of course, the person accusing God of either not being all-loving or all-powerful, may or may not be right, but he is also placing a great amount of blind faith in his own intellectual and reasoning abilities. Yes, his assumptions may be right, but they may also be wrong, and after we finish this topic, you may agree that the weight of evidence is actually against these assumptions, and indeed they are most likely wrong. Just because evil and suffering seems pointless to someone, doesn’t mean that they are necessarily pointless. Going to the doctor or dentist may seem pointless to a dog a child, or even to some adults, but that doesn’t make it pointless. Just because you can’t see a good reason why an all-good all-powerful God would allow evil and suffering, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Evil and Suffering Prove God Exists
C.S. Lewis, the author of works such as Narnia, used to be an atheist. He said he had originally rejected God because of the cruelty of life.[1]
[Discussion: Do you think evil and suffering is a bigger problem for atheists or theists (theist = person who believes in God). Why?]
However, C.S. Lewis came to realize that the problem of evil and suffering was even more problematic for his atheism than theism, and in fact provided a better argument for God’s existence than against it. Let’s analyze why.
Most everyone, some moral nihilists excluded (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_nihilism), thinks that there are evil or wrong things happening in this world: Genocide, persecution, natural disasters, etc. But where does this sense of wrong come from? You can only know that something is wrong, if you know what is right. You can’t know what is unjust, unless you know what is just. You may know your car is slow, but you only know that because you know what a fast car is like.
Likewise, if you think that something can be morally wrong, then in your mind, either consciously or subconsciously, you are comparing the moral wrong to some ultimate standard that dictates what is right. This was the problem for atheist C.S. Lewis. Indeed, if you and everything in this world was just a product and result of spontaneous undirected evolution, survival of the fittest, then what is wrong when the strong or mother nature eliminate the weak? This is for the betterment of the human race as the genes of the strong survive and conquer the genes of the weak, which it how it should be according to evolution.
Where Atheism can Take Us
Interestingly Darwin’s book, commonly known as “The Origin of Species”, from which the belief in spontaneous undirected evolution sprang forth, was published in 1859. About 30 years later, United States started compulsory sterilization programs and other countries jumped on board in the following decades. The Germans forcefully sterilized more than 400,000 against their will, such as the mentally and physically handicapped, while countries such as Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland had forceful sterilization programs in place till the 1970’s and 1980’s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#By_country
Christians think (or at least should think) that these forceful sterilization programs as wrong, because they believe that man was made in the image of God and is worthy of honor and respect (Gen 1:26). Christians also believe that God has given them a moral law to follow, which determines what is good and what is bad (2. Tim. 3:16). But on what basis can someone with an evolutionary atheist worldview, fault other atheists for performing forceful sterilizations? Curiously, the official full title of Darwin’s is “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life”. Note the ending: “Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life”. Again, how could you, as an evolutionary atheist, prove to another evolutionary atheist that it would be wrong to help the favored races in the struggle for life? You can’t. The only thing you can appeal to is your “feelings”. But when you feel like this, and someone else feels like that, based on what ultimate authority will it be decided who is right and who is wrong? Based on popular opinion? Popular opinion in Germany killed over 5 million people of “inferior races” during the second World War.[2]
C.S. Lewis realized that even though evil and suffering may present a problem for him in the Christian worldview, it presents an even greater problem, and a logical contradiction, in his newly found atheistic worldview. The only way to live consistently according to one’s atheistic worldview, would be to agree that there is no morality, no right and wrong.
As James Spiegel puts it in his book “The Making of an Atheist”: Since Augustine, many philosophers have strenuously denied the possibility of ethics without God. One of the more influential arguments for this view was proposed by Immanuel Kant, who maintained that there can be no genuine moral responsibility in God’s absence. Without a divine judge—not to mention moral legislator and executor—there can be no final accounting of our conduct in this life. And without a system of rewards and punishments whereby we experience the lasting effects of our behavior, there can be no adequate motivation to live a truly virtuous life, complete with all of the self-control this requires.
Some of the world’s most famous atheists acknowledge the same:
Nietzsche: “My demand upon the philosopher is known, that he take his stand beyond good and evil and leave the illusion of moral judgment beneath himself. This demand follows from an insight which I was the first to formulate: that there are altogether no moral facts…. Morality is merely an interpretation of certain phenomena—more precisely, a misinterpretation…. Moral judgments are … never to be taken literally: so understood, they always contain mere absurdity.”[3]
Richard Dawkins: “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference…. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is.”[4]
Bertrand Russell: “That man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes, and fears, his loves and his beliefs are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve the individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system…. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”[5]
Richard Dawkins realizes the severity of what Bertrand Russell is saying. Dawkins responds: “I don’t feel depressed about it. But if somebody does, that’s their problem. Maybe the logic is deeply pessimistic; the universe is bleak, cold, and empty. But so what?”[6]
[Discussion: Any thoughts on the views of these famous atheist philosophers?]
So again, if you are an atheist, and you are having a problem with God in regard to suffering and evil, it seems that, perhaps subconsciously, you are in fact no atheist at all. That’s because you may just be borrowing the concept of good and evil from a theistic worldview.
Evil and Suffering: A Valid Concern from a Theistic Perspective
As we have just seen, it’s difficult to make evil and suffering a concern from an atheistic perspective, but it is a more straightforward concern from a theistic perspective. Evil and suffering can’t disprove the evidence of physical and biological design in our universe, not to mention the existence of universe itself. Thus, evil and suffering can’t disprove that a creator God exists. However, evil and suffering can and should make us think about the nature of the creator, what kind of God is the God that exists.
Before we analyze God’s relation to evil and suffering in more detail, we must do some ground work on establishing some background information on God himself. As you remember, the claim that we are dealing with is the following: “Because pointless evil and suffering exist, God cannot be both all-powerful and all-good.” Let’s look at first claim: Is God all-powerful?
[Discussion: Any thoughts on this? Is God all-powerful or not? Based on what proof or logic?]
Is God All-Powerful?
God is sometimes referred to as an infinite all-powerful creator, because he created everything else in existence. Indeed, according to the “principle of sufficient reason”,[7] everything in our universe must have a cause. Putting it differently, everything in our universe requires a creator. Nothing can come into existence by itself nor is anything in our universe infinite.[8] Even the universe itself is not known to be infinite as it has a starting point (the “big bang”) and a rate of expansion.
At this point, many often ask: “Well if everything in our universe needs a creator, then who created God?”
[Discussion: Any thoughts on how to answer this? Who created God?]
Notice one key detail in what was mentioned earlier: “In our UNIVERSE”. Yes, everything in our universe needs a cause or a creator, and nothing in our universe is known to be infinite. This means, that the creator of the universe, the unlimited and infinite uncaused cause, must by necessity transcend our universe. He must be able to exist outside of it, not be limited to it. This of course makes total sense when you think about it a little deeper. If God created the universe, it would make sense that he is not limited to existing with-in it. That would be kind of like requiring the creator of the videogame “SIMS universe” or “Grand Theft Auto”, to exist with-in the game he himself created. If God created the universe and even time itself, he doesn’t need to submit to the creation and conditions that he himself created, any more than a videogame maker must submit to and exist with-in and the videogame he himself made, nor abide by the rules he made for that videogame.
Thus, taking everything mentioned into consideration, we can say that the creator is infinite and unlimited, because:
According to the principle of sufficient reason, everything that exists in our universe, needs a cause or a creator. Thus, we know our universe needs a cause or a creator.
The creator does not have to exist with-in or submit to his own creation, and thus can exist outside of time and the universe, both of which he created.
Since the principle of sufficient reason, like the laws of nature, only applies to things in our universe, there exists an uncaused cause outside of our universe, which is the source of everything that exists, including space, matter, time, and knowledge.
Since the uncaused first cause is not created (or he himself would need an uncaused creator), it means that he has always existed and is infinite. Likewise, since he is not limited by anything, it means that he is unlimited. He is not dependent on anything or anyone.
Knowing that the creator is infinite and unlimited, it means that he must be infinite and unlimited in everything that is limited or else he would cease to be infinite and unlimited. Thus, he must also be infinite in power and knowledge. If he wasn’t, he would not be an unlimited and infinite being. So, is God all-powerful? Yes, he is.
Is God All-Good?
[Discussion: Any thoughts on this? Is God all-good or not? Based on what proof or logic?]
The answer to this question is simpler than it may appear. First, we must ask ourselves, who or what defines good? Someone for example might think that in a certain situation euthanasia is good and someone might think it is bad. Who then, ultimately determines what is good or bad? Who sets the rules?
[Discussion: Who then, ultimately determines what is good or bad? Who sets the rules?]
The “game-maker” sets the rules. In our case, the creator of our universe, the uncaused first cause, the source of everything that exists, sets the rules and determines what is good or bad. He is the ultimate judge and authority. Thus, if he says something is good or bad, then that’s how it is, regardless of what we may think. Besides, who do you think you are to argue with an infinite being, who exists outside of time, and who creates galaxies out of nothing? Do you think you can teach him a lesson about what is good or bad, using the very brain that he created for you, to tell him that you know better than him?
Earlier on we said that an infinite being must be infinite in everything, including infinite in power and knowledge. An infinite being who exists out of time, would out of necessity know all there is to know about the universe he created out of nothing. He himself is the source and the maker of everything, and thus also the source of all knowledge in relation to his creation.
He would also have to be infinite in perfection. The very concept of perfection that we have, comes from him, he is the source. Furthermore, if he himself failed to be perfect, it would mean that he would be limited in some way, which again would mean that he is not infinite. If an infinite and unlimited being were to fall short of any limited concept, such as perfection, wisdom, love, etc., he would cease to be an unlimited and infinite being, which would also imply he himself would need an unlimited, infinite and perfect creator.
So yes, the ultimate creator of our universe must out of necessity be infinite, all-powerful, and perfect in everything, including love and goodness. So yes, God is all-good, perfect in in love, goodness, and everything else, or else he wouldn’t be the unlimited and infinite uncaused cause. Except as we have already discussed, this unlimited and infinite uncaused cause exists.
Someone may however object saying, that how can we be sure the creator is unlimited in goodness as opposed to unlimited in badness or evil? That’s a fair question.
[Discussion: How can you be sure that the creator is unlimited in goodness and not badness?]
The basic answer is that badness or evil isn’t a thing, but rather a corruption or a lack of something. And once again, it would be impossible for and infinite, all-powerful and perfect being to lack anything or to be corrupted by anything.
Someone may now object saying: “Ok, if God can’t be evil, how can evil exist if God created everything?” We will answer that next. But remember the background information we have already discovered: God is the infinite and unlimited uncaused cause of everything else. He is infinite and unlimited in everything, including knowledge, power, love, perfection, and everything else.
Did God Create Evil and Suffering?
[Discussion: Do you think God created evil and suffering? Why?]
No, he didn’t. Evil nor suffering aren’t “things” on their own, but rather a lack or a corruption of a good or perfect thing. For example, you can suffer with a wound that’s on your hand. But a wound can’t exist on its own, the wound needs a hand, foot, or something else to exist on. That painful wound on your hand is a corruption or a falling short of your hand’s ideal state. A moth can make a hole in your shirt, but that hole can only exist on something. It can’t exist by itself. There is no such thing as a totally moth-eaten shirt, because then there would be no shirt at all as the shirt has ceased to exist. Likewise, you can feel sorry because of a death of a loved one, but again your sorrow comes because death corrupted the ideal state of your loved one. Someone may now object saying: “Ok, God didn’t create evil and suffering, but they none the less exist. What’s up with that?” That is a valid objection, and we will discuss that next.
Why Did God Allow Evil and Suffering to Come into Existence? They Are Bad!
[Discussion: Any thoughts on why God allowed evil and suffering to come into existence?]
Even though we can understand that evil and suffering are not created things, but rather a corruption or lack of something perfect, it’s hard to deny that evil and suffering don’t exist. They do. Even the happiest people on earth must deal with suffering and evil. Most people also agree that evil and suffering are bad. So why did an all-good and all-powerful God permit evil and suffering to come into existence in the first place.
The skeptic philosopher Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz words this apparent problem as follows: “If God is the best of all possible beings, then He must make the best of all possible worlds. But this world is not the best of all possible worlds; therefore, how can God be the best of all possible beings? If He is not, then the God of the Bible does not exist.”
[Discussion: Does anyone see any problems with this statement? What are some alternate beliefs W. Gottfried is blindly accepting by faith?]
This statement assumes that somehow you know that this world is not the best of all possible worlds? But again, if you are an atheist, where do you get your standard as to what is good or bad, better or best? Secondly, how would you know that this world is not the best of all possible worlds? Someone might say that a world without sin, without evil and suffering, would be a better world than the current one. To put it differently, why couldn’t God create heaven, with us already in it, where there is no evil and no suffering (1. Cor. 13:10, 12; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 21:4; 22:3). Why do we have to deal with this cursed earth full of evil and suffering before we can go to heaven? This is a good question, and probably something many Christians have asked themselves as well.
[Discussion: Anyone have any answers to suggest for this apparent dilemma?]
Possible Answer #1: Some things can’t be created to their best state directly
One possible answer that has been suggested[9], and I say possible because this answer may or may not apply, is that some things can’t be created to their best state directly. They need a process. In other words, Heaven is the destination and earth is the path. Someone could object to this though, saying that everything should be possible for an all-powerful God though.
[Discussion: Is everything and anything possible for an all-powerful God?]
However, everything is not possible for an all-powerful God. For example, God cannot do self-contradictory things. He cannot lie, because as a perfect being, him saying a lie would fall short of perfection. He cannot create a rock that he can’t lift, because he as an unlimited being, can always over-power any limited thing that is dependent on or created by him. Likewise, some things just can’t be created directly because it would be logically impossible just like creating a square triangle.
Likewise, some things just can’t be created to their best state directly. For example, character only gets formed through difficult situations. You can probably even think of some examples in your own life, where a difficult situation actually made you a better person somehow. As Norman Geisler puts it, there is:
No character without adversity
No courage without danger
No patience without tribulation
No gain without pain
No forgiveness without sin.
Hence, a world where sin would have never occurred, would not be the best possible world. The best possible world would be one where people had the option to sin, did sin, but despite their sin God brought about a greater good by allowing it and then providing the satisfaction and forgiveness for it. Only in this kind of world can the higher virtues such as courage, patience, character and forgiveness be attained.[10] Sure, this may not be the best world possible that could exist at this very moment in time, but it might be the best world possible if the objective is an eternity that’s the best possible eternity. Remember, God cannot make a rectangular triangle or a stick with one end, and some things require a process for the best end result. Also remember that compared to eternity, this life is like a blink of an eye. (See Francis Chan’s rope illustration about the briefness of this this life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs)
Possible Answer #2: Temporary suffering and pain enable greater enjoyment of eternity
A second possible answer for why God allowed evil and suffering to come into existence is that having us “walk through” earth before reaching heaven, will be for our good in terms of appreciating haven more. As per 2. Cor. 4:17: “For our light and temporary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs our troubles.”
(see also Romans 8:18). Even from our own human experience, we know that we usually value something a lot more if we had to go through some difficulty to get it, rather than it just being handed to us. Why can’t it work the same way in regard to heaven?
Here’s another possible way of looking at things: We know that there will be no evil and suffering in heaven, it won’t even be possible, but perhaps the best way for God to achieve this was to first allow us to have the ability to sin. Then, once we have seen and experienced the horrors of it, we will be able to more fully enjoy a place where good rules and evil is impossible. Have you ever had a dream where a loved one died? Then you woke up and realized it was all a dream. Certainly, you valued and appreciated that loved one more after that experience. Perhaps it’s the same with heaven and earth.[11]
On earth we experience the absence of perfection. Everyone is none the less trying to reach this perfection in their lives, but nobody ever does. Everyone’s life sucks on some days in some ways. If someone says it doesn’t, I would suggest that they might be lying. Even the richest people in the world, who seemingly have everything, commit suicides. Even you yourself have probably thought many times that as soon as you get this husband or wife or car or dream home or job or money or whatever, then your life will great and happy, only for you to achieve what you wanted and with-in a few months realize your life happiness is pretty much the same as it was before and less than perfect. By going through and living in this imperfect earth, we can indeed yearn for ultimate happiness and perfection, and then consequently are better able to appreciate it more in eternity (Rom. 8:18-25). In a similar way someone who was born into poverty, may appreciate a luxurious life more than someone who was born into luxury and never knew poverty. You might of course say that the present pain is not worth the extra enjoyment of eternity. But the only way to say that would be to know exactly what eternity is like. And I doubt you know that.
The examples we went through above were some possible reasons why God may have allowed evil and suffering to come into existence. The reasons presented may be right, or they may be wrong, but the point is to illustrate that it is possible for there to be good reasons why God would allow evil and suffering to come into existence and then bring them to an end only at the perfect time when his purposes for the best possible eternity have been achieved.
For those who would object saying that God is using a morally wrong “end justifies the means” ethic, there is one important fact to keep in mind: God is not producing or promoting evil means to attain a good end. He is permitting them. A good parent permits a possible accident every time he permits his teenager to drive the family car; however, he is not promoting it.[12]
The God of the Bible is not Indifferent to Evil and Suffering
The Bible has good news for everyone who has ever suffered or is suffering now. It tells us that God takes our suffering very seriously. He takes it so seriously, that he came on this earth to suffer on our behalf so that he could give us the ultimate and eternal victory over all suffering and evil. As horrible as the evils and sufferings of this short lifetime are, the Bible says that an even worse fate awaits those who die without having submitted their lives to God. One of God’s perfect characteristics is justice. Therefore, God has no choice but to judge everyone for every single sin they have ever committed, otherwise he wouldn’t be perfect in justice. However, because God is also perfect in mercy and love, he voluntarily came on earth to suffer the punishment that would fall upon us.
Yes, God is justice, but as Jesus, he took the form of a man, lived a perfect sinless life, and thus was able to offer himself as a sinless and innocent substitute to suffer perfect justice on our behalf. He “went through hell” for us, so we wouldn’t have to.
From the following three verses are from the book of Isaiah, which even non-Christian historians date to more than 500 years before Jesus[13], we read the following prophecy pointing to Jesus.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
When I, or anyone else who has prayed to God repenting of their sins, and made him the master of their life, meets him at the day of judgment, something awesome will happen: A book with all my sins will be laid out, but as soon as that book is opened, there will be a note. That message on the note reads: “Paid in full”, signed by Jesus, with his blood. Well, that’s an illustration, I don’t know that’s how things will literally go, if there will be an actual book and note, but you get the idea.
Summary: An All-Good All-Powerful God Allowed Momentary Evil and Suffering to Come to Existence to Secure the Best End Result
According to the principle of sufficient reason, everything in the universe must have a cause and nothing comes into existence by itself. This means, that the creator of the universe, the unlimited and infinite uncaused cause, must by necessity transcend our universe. He must be able to exist outside of it, not be limited to his own creation or even to time itself, which he also created.
We also discovered that an unlimited and infinite being must by definition be perfect in everything, because if he wasn’t, he would not be infinite and unlimited, but limited. Thus, he is also perfect in knowledge, power, goodness and love. The reason why he is not perfect in badness or evil, is because those aren’t things on their own, but rather corruptions or lacks of something good. And again, an unlimited and infinite being cannot by definition lack anything.
God did not create evil, as it’s not a thing, but rather a corruption of something, but it does appear that God allowed this corruption to happen as evil and suffering exists. A few possible reasons why God may allow evil and suffering to exist for the time being is that some things, such as a rectangular triangle, are impossible for even an infinite and all-powerful being to do. Likewise, some things, such as patience, character, forgiveness, can only be brought out through a process. Thus, it’s possible God is allowing evil and suffering in order to bring about the best possible eternity.
An all-knowing God knows the end of all things. An all-good God wants to bring all things to a good end. And an all-powerful God can bring all things to a good end. Therefore, all things (including any suffering we don’t understand) will come to a good end – if not in this life, then in the next.[14]
In short, bad things will happen to good people, but a good end is guaranteed for you if you have repented of your sins and made Jesus the master of your life. Furthermore, if you’re in this group, even the bad things that happen to you, are somehow working for your eternal good through a loving God’s infinite wisdom (Rom. 8:28), who takes our suffering so seriously that he suffered for us. As Paul says; “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Sources:
I made this document as a study guide for my small-group as we read through and discuss Chapter 2 (How can a good God allow suffering?) in Tim Keller’s book, “Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism”.
Feel free to use this document in your own studies, but kindly provide a link back to this page.
The main sources for the information presented were from the following three books, which I highly recommend for anyone who would like to investigate this subject even deeper:
- If God, Why Evil? (Geisler, Norman L..)
- The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief. (Spiegel, James)
- Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (Keller, Timothy)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis#Return_to_Christianity; C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity (p. 45).
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll#Genocide,_ethnic_cleansing,_and_mass_ethnic/religious_persecution
[3] Friedrich Nietzsche, The Portable Nietzsche, trans. Walter Kaufman (New York: Penguin, 1982)
[4] https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1121858-river-out-of-eden-a-darwinian-view-of-life
[5] Bertrand Russell, “A Free Man’s Worship,” in Why I Am Not a Christian, ed. Paul Edwards (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957), 107.
[6] Richard Dawkins, as quoted in Henry F. Schaefer, Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence (p. 134–35).
As seen quoted in: Spiegel, James. The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief (p. 133).
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_sufficient_reason; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument#Objections_and_counterarguments
[8] https://plus.maths.org/content/do-infinities-exist-nature-0; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actual_infinity; http://bigthink.com/experts-corner/infinity-is-not-real
[9] Geisler, Norman L.. If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question (p. 63).
[10] Geisler, Norman L.. If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question (p. 64).
[11] Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (p. xiv / location 804/4761). Kindle Edition.
[12] Geisler, Norman L.. If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question (p. 68).
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Isaiah
[14] Geisler, Norman L.. If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think About the Question (p. 56).