The Proof of God in the Bad

This is part 2 of a blog entry on bad things happening under the rule of a good God. If you have not already, go back to the previous post and read that one first. Oh, and thanks for checking my blog out!

Outline of part two:
- Problem: Bad things are in the world, therefore a good God cannot exist.
- Response:
1) For something to be bad, it must have value
2) True value can only come from God
3) If God does not exist, than there is no value to anything. People, things, and events are all just a collection of atoms interacting in random way.
4) If we say that God does not exist, than we must also say that bad things are not bad, they are simply things. Any value given to something is imagined and misplaced.
5) The pain and sorrow we feel when bad things happen is to deep and real to be the result of imagined or misplaced value, it must be innate
6) Innate value can only come from one thing: A Creator (God)
Therefore, God must exist.

I argue that the very fact that there are bad things in this world is proof that God does exist. I know, this argument sounds paradoxical, but keep tracking with me here and maybe I can make it sound sensible.

Anytime an evil event or a bad thing happens, it hurts us. This pain is usually not physical, although it certainly could be, but the pain is felt much deeper than just the surface. We know that bad things are not right and should never have happened. We know that they are wrong and we can feel it in our bones.

For something to be wrong, however, there must be some kind of value to it. A negative thing, just like a positive, has some worth. If it had no value, it could be neither positive nor negative. It would simply be neutral. Since we claim there are negative events that happen, we must ponder where the value in life comes from.

Take, for example, a male high school student who dies in a car accident. Unfortunately, this is a problem far more common than anyone would hope for, and an event that happened several times when I was in school. The student’s death is so tragic because his life had such immense value. He still had much to live for, he had family and friends who cared deeply for him, and he was a human being.
It is during times like this when people most frequently ask, how could there be a God? Let’s suppose, for a moment, that there is no God. What then? The student’s death has absolutely no meaning or significance. Before he died, the student was nothing but a bunch of atoms piled up together. His death may cause a shift in their structure, but they are still only atoms (and therefore, he is mostly space). Without a God who created and gave all things meaning, his death is, quite frankly, 100% meaningless. His death was not a bad thing; it was only a thing.

Are we really prepared to accept this? No one can deny the sorrow they have felt at the loss of a loved one or the sight of social injustice. We can pretend to turn our emotions off, but deep down we (everyone) weep at the evils of this world. If this is our response, than is it not at all likely there is some inherent value to the things we are weeping for? There must be some deeper reason for our lamenting when bad things happen in the world.

This reason, I think, can only be God. If God does not exist, bad things simply do not happen. They have no value to them. The atheist may get upset at this argument because he or she undoubtedly values their family and other things and would feel sorrow for the bad things that happen to them. But, if there is no God, any value given to members of the human race is entirely made up, misplaced, and just plain false. The high school student has no greater significance or meaning in the world than a bush or a duck, he is simply a collection of atoms. People may choose to give him value, but if there is no God, that value is simply wrong.

If this point seems cold and callused, well then good. Because it is. There are few people who will admit that their son’s death is not a bad thing. The value we give to people is too strong, it cannot be made up and it cannot be a lie. Our sorrows at their loss is simply too deep. The pain cannot be denied or turned off and it can even be debilitating. Our sorrows are an innate quality and we cannot escape them. We come into the world with tears, and we will leave people in tears when we go out of the world.

So, if you must, ask how God could exist in a world that is full of broken things. There is nothing wrong with questioning, in fact I think it is a great thing to do. If you do not buy my “proof” that sorrows are innate and a result of God giving mankind value, well then fine. I am OK with that. But beware, if you decide to believe that there is no God, you must also admit that the terrible events that caused you to question His existence in the first place are not really terrible at all. They are simply events composed of atoms and relationships.

Some people are content with this worldview. They think the idea of a world without meaning is a good one and an excuse to never feel deep pain. If this is your ideal, well then go for it. But, I doubt very seriously that you will ever find a mother who has lost a child who will say there is no meaning and bad things do not happen. The pain is too deep and the sorrows are too real to ever be caused by a made-up and misplaced value.

Could our innate aversion and repulsion for the bad things in life be a sign that God gave all things value when He created the world and still holds them in esteem? Is it not possible, or even likely, that the reason we feel such pain when bad things happen is because God is weeping along side of us? Not because He lacks control, but because He loves us and has given us value?

Bad things happen. And the reason we can know they are bad and say they are bad is because we have such a good God who gives meaning and value to all things. If we deny God’s existence, we deny any legitimate reason to feel sorrows for the loss of anything. And now the big question, if God exists, than why does he let bad things happen? . If He can cause some good things to happen, then why does He not just make everything good? Since He does not stop all bad things from happening, does this mean He is not fully good or completely in control? After all, if God is inadequate, then He is no God at all. This question is another heavy one, so I think I will work on it more next time. Until then, have a great week and remember that despite all the bad in the world, there are still things in the world that are not yet broken.