Theodicy

Theodicy (from Greek theos, "god"; dike, "justice") is the explanation of why a perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing God permits evil.

If God is perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing, why does evil exist? The answer is actually found in the big overview of the Bible - creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

1. The Bible tells us that God's original creation was good;
2. Evil came from the fall of man when he refused to believe in God's word;
3. But God provided redemption by sending Jesus to die for the sin of the world;
4. In due time, God will effect the restoration of His creation to sinless perfection by destroying the current creation and replace it with a new one.

This leads to a second question. Why can't the perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing God do things right the first time?

The Bible did not answer this question directly. But in the book of Job, God did address this type of question by asking a series of questions (Job 38:1 - 40:2). It started with "Where were you when I established the earth? (Job 38:4 CSB)" and ended with "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who argues with God give an answer. (Job 40:2 CSB)"

To me, this is a very logical rebuttal. Either God is perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing or you are. If God is perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing, you will have to accept that He plan to eradicate evil as given in the Bible is the best way, since He knows best. If you think that the current way is unsatisfactory and your way is better, then you are claiming to be more perfectly good, more almighty and more all-knowing than God.

Now I am not against anybody claiming to be better than God, but he or she better gives me a very good proof.