Frankly Speaking on God and Evil - Commentary by Frank Gillispie

Frankly Speaking on God and Evil – Commentary by Frank Gillispie

I have heard the question repeated in several forms in the last week [since the atrocity at Virginia Tech]. People are asking, “If God exists, why does he allow so much evil to happen?” I have thought about that quite a bit, and I have found an answer that satisfies my mind. Dear readers, please understand that this is a creation of my own mind. It may or may not have any truth in it. I will not be surprised or hurt if you reject it out of hand.

In order to illustrate my idea, I have to paint you a word picture. Suppose you are in a black room. The floor ceiling, walls, table and chair are all black And there is no light. You would be blind. With no light and no colors, you would not be able to see the chair, the table or even the walls.

What if just the opposite happened. You are in a white room. Everything is white. The ceiling, the walls, the floor the table and chair are all pure white. And the light in the room is coming from all directions at once. In such a room, you would be equally blind. You would not be able to see the table or chair. You would not be able to judge the size of the room because you would not be able to see the walls or ceiling.

In order for you to see, you have to have contrast. You have to have light and shadows. If the light is coming from one side of the room, the shadows on the back edges of the table and chair will allow you to see them.

The same is true with God. God, if he exists, fills the universe evenly. We cannot know him directly because we can only see when there are shadows. That includes spiritual energy just as much as the energy that produces light. So the only way we can know God is to see the shadows caused where his being is denied.

I know of only one place where God can be denied, and that is in the human soul. We can deny God. We can block him out. And when we do, we create the shadows that allow Him to be seen.

Now, darkness is the absence of light. Cold is the absence of heat. Evil is the absence of good. God is good and where He is, evil cannot exist. So it is not God who permits evil things to happen. We do that when we deny his presence.

Let us be clear about that. When people do evil, especially when they do evil in the name of God, it happens because the purveyor of evil has blocked God out of their souls. They choose to turn to the Dark Side and the ruler of the dark takes over their souls.

Evil exists because we allow it. Satan lives because we give him empty souls to occupy. So when evil happens, don’t blame God. He allows shadows so we can know him. When we allow the shadow to rule our lives, then Satan and the world of evil arises.

Jesus said: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” IF we all follow that simple rule, evil will have no room to attack.

Someone say AMEN!