God, evil and moralityDraft · awaiting advisor review
Why did God allow sin into the world at all?
In short
The Bible doesn’t give a full answer, but it points in a direction: God made people able to love him freely, and that meant they could also refuse him. Christians believe God permitted the fall, knowing he would overcome it through Jesus and bring a greater good than a world where sin was never possible.
The Objection
If God knows everything, he foresaw the fall. If he is all-powerful, he could have made free creatures who always choose good. If he is perfectly good, he would want to prevent sin and all the suffering that follows. That God allowed it anyway suggests he either wanted evil, could not stop it, or is not good in any sense we recognise. And it seems unfair for the whole human race to suffer for one couple’s choice.
Put as its strongest advocates would put it.
The Christian Case
- Scripture
The Bible says God made a good world and gave humans a real choice, with a real warning. Sin came through human rebellion, prompted by a tempter, not from God, who “tempteth no man”.
- Scripture
The New Testament presents rescue as planned before the fall: Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world”. The Bible also shows God bringing good out of evil, and grace abounding more than sin.
- Philosophical argument
The free will defence argues that freely chosen love and goodness are deeply valuable, and that if creatures are truly free, God cannot guarantee they will never choose wrong. Alvin Plantinga argued this removes any strict logical contradiction between God and evil. Many philosophers, including some atheists, accept that point, though whether evil makes God unlikely remains debated.
- Christians differ
Christians explain this differently. Many, following Augustine, say God permitted sin without causing it. Reformed Christians, following Calvin, hold that God ordained even the fall within his plan, while humans remain responsible and God is not the author of sin. Others, drawing on Irenaeus, see humans as created immature, growing towards maturity through struggle. Each view has serious defenders and serious difficulties.
- Scripture
Scripture leaves some mystery. Job is never told why he suffered, and Paul ends his long argument in wonder rather than a complete explanation. The Bible also promises an end to sin and sorrow. Muslims, reading Qur’an 2:30, similarly hold that God knew humans would do wrong and had a wise purpose the angels did not see.
Where the Evidence Is Weaker
The free will defence leaves hard questions. If the redeemed in heaven are free and yet never sin, why could God not create that from the start? It also says little about disease and natural disasters. The Reformed view struggles to explain how God ordains sin without being responsible for it. In the end the Bible gives no full reason why God allowed sin, and honest Christians admit they are trusting God’s goodness beyond what they can explain.
Arguments to Avoid
- Saying God caused people to sin or tempted them, which the Bible denies (James 1:13).
- Saying evil is necessary so that we can know what good is, which overstates the case and makes evil part of God’s nature.
- Mocking Adam and Eve as foolish, as if we would have done better; the Bible presents their choice as a mirror of our own.
- Offering a neat answer to someone in grief, as if a tidy argument removes the pain.
Read for Yourself
Genesis 3:1–15
1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Romans 5:12–21
12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:18–23
18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Job 38:1–11
1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. 4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
Further Reading
- God, Freedom, and Evil · Alvin Plantinga (1974)
- The Problem of Pain · C. S. Lewis (1940)
- God’s Problem · Bart D. Ehrman (2008)A critical view from a former evangelical who now rejects belief in God.
Drafted with Opened AI and awaiting review by Opened’s apologetics advisors. Labels show the kind of support each point has: Scripture is what the Bible says; historical evidence and philosophical arguments can be checked by anyone; “Christians differ” marks questions on which faithful Christians disagree.
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