I’ve never heard a sufficient answer to the age old “problem of evil.” And it isn’t for lack of searching or listening, believe me. Even bringing “the fall” into the equation only serves to indict God, and make him the cause, as he should have seen it coming, what with being omniscient and all. What’s worse, is that “God,” and by that I mean those who think they speak for him, then indicts you for being related to the naked guy who ate the fruit, and therefore just as guilty as he. At the end of the day, your suffering is the fault of a “God” who blames you. All of these attempts at answers are a playing of the blame game, and none of them actually work to relieve pain or suffering.

The only answer I see as sufficient is the one in which we hear God in the cry of the afflicted, and then rush in to weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn. Waxing eloquent in attempts to counter the arguments of critics, and to account for the existence of evil is foolish. There is no sufficient answer. Evil is real. Sure, it has no ontology, or being of its own, but it’s real, nonetheless. It’s a problem. And the only solution is you and I, following the example of the person of Jesus, in love.

The answer to the problem of evil lies not in an explanation, but in following the way of Jesus; in loving and serving a hurting, pain stricken, and suffering humanity.
~ Jeff Turner