[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Losing Touch With History

Canada’s National Post carried this headline: “Lost without a map: Despite a globalized society, university students can’t locate the Atlantic Ocean” (January 15, 2013).

Professor Judith Adler at Memorial University in Newfoundland had a hunch that her students lacked basic geographical knowledge, knowledge fundamental to understanding the world around them—thus she decided to examine her hunch by testing her students.

“I used to ask if they could identify France, England or Ireland—which is the background of a lot of students here, or Spain or Portugal, which is important for this part of the world, but I’ve stopped asking that” (January 15, 2013).

Over time, she simplified her questions.

“I asked them to indicate where on the map South America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea—and I’ve become much simpler in what I have asked over the years.”

How did her students fare? I think you can see ahead that they didn’t do very well, but why is this important?

Overlooking Obvious Historical Warnings

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World. Professor and sociologist Judith Adler of [the] Memorial University of Newfoundland, began giving her students geography quizzes when she perceived that their understanding of the world in which they lived was lacking. So how did they do?

“A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably have no idea where the Mediterranean is. Some students would circle Africa and indicate that it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and Ireland, they would put them in Africa. I have had students that aren’t able to correctly label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it” (NationalPost.com, January 15, 2013).

Man on the street interviews in the United States indicate Americans are equally ignorant of the real world around them. Some confuse cities as states, and show virtually no understanding of geography, much less history. We now live in the richest information age in history, but also the most poverty stricken when it comes to understanding where we are, where we came from, and how we got here. Is there any wonder why we have so many “flat-earthers” amongst us?

But geography and history are vitally important, as brought out in this Virginia Tech comment on repeating history:

Variations on the repeating-history theme appear alongside debates about attribution. Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted as having said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (“History Repeating,” LiberalArts.VT.edu).

One lesson of history is that empires rise and fall. The fall of the Roman Empire is one of the most studied lessons of history, and has important warnings for America in particular, and the West in general, because one lesson of history is that power abhors a vacuum. When America falls, as it surely is in the process of doing, unless it turns and goes a different direction, another power will fill the vacuum; and it may not be, in fact will not be, so benevolent, according to Bible prophecy.

Whole books have been written about the collapse of the Roman Empire, and historians agree that its collapse had no single cause. Instead, it was the result of a series of internal and external forces occurring over decades which pulled the fabric of the Empire apart, ending a power that ruled for more than five centuries. Mass migrations from outside the Empire is often cited as a primary cause.

One of the most obvious reasons for the downfall of Rome was the relentless and seemingly endless waves of migration and invasions from the Barbarian tribes that bordered Rome’s northern frontiers. In the early days of the empire, Roman legions were able to repel Barbarian tribes with relative ease, but this started to change towards the end of the 2nd century CE (“7 Reasons Why Rome Fell,” WorldAtlas.com, November 8, 2022).

A particularly destructive migration took place in the late fourth century when Eurasian Huns invaded Europe—driving Germanic tribes to the borders of the Empire.

The Romans grudgingly allowed members of the Visigoth tribe to cross south of the Danube and into the safety of Roman territory… (“8 Reasons Why Rome Fell,” History.com, January 9, 2019).

The parallels of mass migration into the Roman Empire from the north, and the literal invasion of illegals on the U.S. southern border, ought to be a wake-up call for America, but politics is apparently more important than preserving the country. In fiscal year 2020 (October through September), there were more than 458,000 border encounters with illegals. These were those who were caught or who simply crossed illegally into the country and turned themselves in, claiming asylum. In 2021, this number rose to nearly 1,735,000, and in 2022 to a staggering 2,378,944. In October and November, the first two months of fiscal 2023 (the latest figures available at time of recording), there were 231,294 and 233,740 respectively! (“Southwest Land Border Encounters,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP.gov/newsroom, December 14, 2022).

This goes beyond politics. It strikes at the heart of the question of whether a country can survive with what is clearly an open border policy.

History holds many lessons for modern man, but if history teaches us anything, it is that we never learn from it. Sadly, today many don’t even know history. How many understand how the Roman Empire has been revived six times since its fall in 476 AD, and according to Bible prophecy, it will revive one last time. And that final restoration is destined to bring the world to the edge of cosmocide.

False Knowledge Leads to Lost Knowledge

History.com lists other reasons for Rome’s collapse in addition to mass migration. Some of these reasons were: Overexpansion and military overspending, government corruption and political instability, and Christianity and the loss of traditional values

That last reason may surprise you. How could Christianity be an empire killer? In a high school and college history book first published in 1909, P.V.N. Myers explains how Christianity (falsely so-called) contributed to the loss of respect for the institution of the Roman family and the resulting decline in birth rate.

Another cause of the decline in population was the singular aversion that the better class of the Romans evinced to marriage. We meet during the period of the empire with a crowd of imperial edicts dealing with this subject. Penalties and bounties, deprivations and privileges, entreaties and expostulations are in turn resorted to by the perplexed emperors, in order to discourage celibacy and to foster a pure and healthy family life. But all was in vain. The marriage state continued to be held in great disesteem (par. 313). And Christianity instead of correcting the evil, rather made matters worse; for just now the teachings of the monks were persuading vast multitudes of the superior sanctity of the solitary or the monastic life, and thereby filling the deserts of Egypt and the monasteries of all lands with men who believed they could best live the higher live (sic) by freeing themselves of all family and social cares and duties (Myers, Rome: Its Rise and Fall, 1900, pp. 447–48).

Now America has few men running off into the desert to live a monastic life, but far too many prime aged men in America, Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere, are sitting on the sidelines instead of going to work, getting married, and raising families. Even before COVID-19, participation in the labor market by 25–54 aged men was a troubling concern for policy makers, and their concerns point directly to the health of the family. In 2019, during what has been described as the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, with historically low unemployment, Senator Mike Lee of Utah admitted:

“I’m concerned that if more men can’t find stable, steady work, the result is likely to be fewer marriages, in the first instance, and more divorces, in the second instance….” It’s also likely, he said, that as marriage rates fall, men will feel less of a need to be breadwinners and involved with their children, which in turn would lead to more unemployment and less stable family lives (“Why are men dropping out of the workforce despite a strong economy?,” Deseret News, Deseret.com, November 23, 2019).

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Oren Cass agrees—there is a downward spiral regarding work and the stability of the family unit. When one is negatively impacted, so is the other.

Work, especially for men, helps establish and preserve families…. Where fewer men work, fewer marriages form. Unemployment doubles the risk of divorce, and male joblessness appears to be the primary culprit, he said.

“These outcomes likely result from the damage to both economic prospects and individual well-being associated with being out of work, which strain existing marriages and make men less attractive as marriage partners,” according to Cass.

Without regard to the specific cause, the effect of low birthrates and disrespect for the institution of the family brings about the same result—a nation in decline. In modern America, Canada, Europe, Russia, and elsewhere, birth rates are at historic lows, well below replacement value, and there’s a connection between low birth rates and unchecked illegal immigration.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York called on Republicans Wednesday [that was November 16, 2022] to join in passing a pathway to citizenship for “all undocumented” [read: illegals] in the United States, citing the fact that Americans were “not reproducing.’’

(https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/16/schumer-daca-amnesty-immigration/)

Why are Americans and others not reproducing? One obvious reason is unrestricted abortion, a major platform on which Sen. Schumer’s party proudly ran in the 2022 midterm elections. In the last 50 years, Americans have aborted approximately 64,000,000 of their children. That amounts to a loss of approximately 64,000,000 “legal” workers in the country. As fellow Tomorrow’s World writer Wallace Smith has pointed out, the womb is unmistakably the most dangerous place for an innocent child.

World Atlas lists seven causes for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and then gives this summary. Do any of these problems sound familiar to us?

The fall of the Western Roman Empire can teach humans many things about societal collapse and regression. Most shortcomings of a civilization in decline come from within rather than without. Incompetent leaders, government corruption, a weak economy, and social dissolution all contributed to the downfall of Rome (WorldAtlas.com).

America’s economy, and America is not alone, is a house of cards. Can anyone comprehend a national debt of $31,000,000,000,000? As one pundit pointed out, if you spend a million dollars a day, it will take just short of 3,000 years to reach one trillion dollars!

During the COVID lockdowns, the United States, Canada, and many other countries gave away “free money.” The result? The self-inflicted wound of inflation. We were all too happy to receive it, but what people fail to realize, is that we will pay back every penny, and more, through inflation. And who does inflation hurt the most? The poorest among us—those that governments claimed they were trying to help! But too much “free” money is not an American problem only. According to InflationData.com:

It’s not just the United States that is suffering from high inflation, countries worldwide are experiencing higher than average inflation. This is partially due to the global pandemic but even more the result of the actions taken by central banks in response to the pandemic (“Worldwide Inflation by Country 2022,” InflationData.com, June 21, 2022).

Why is it that mankind never seems to learn from the past? Part of the answer is that nations become complacent, self-indulgent, and, frankly, are too uneducated to know the past.

The Most Important Book of History

As Nicholas Clairmont wrote for BigThink.com,

“History shows that both those who do not learn history and those who do learn history are doomed to repeat it.”

He went on to explain:

“According to Santayana’s philosophy, history repeats. The phrasing itself certainly is catchy. It’s a big one, not only because it is so common, but also because if it is true and if history, driven by human nature, is ugly (hint: it is), then this saying ought to guide our public and private policy” (“‘Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It.’ Really?,” BigThink.com, July 31, 2013).

Now I’ll add, more importantly, understanding that history is “driven by human nature,” ought to guide more than public and private policy—it ought to guide behavior. For as Clairmont rightfully implies, knowing history and acting on that knowledge are not the same, and the reason we fail to learn from history is human nature. And that brings us to a different kind of history book—one that deals with human nature.

The Bible is fundamentally a history book. It gives us wise and loving instructions from our Creator. It records how mankind has rejected those instructions and the tragic results of that rejection.

One of the great lessons is that when people hurt badly enough, they often turn to God for relief; only to turn back to the old ways once relief comes. It’s the soldier’s foxhole prayer that is quickly forgotten.

Two world wars should have sobered mankind, but sadly, as the late Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev wrote in an opinion piece for Time magazine:

Politicians and military leaders sound increasingly belligerent and defense doctrines more dangerous. Commentators and TV personalities are joining the bellicose chorus. It all looks as if the world is preparing for war (“Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War’,” Time Magazine, Time.com, December 16, 2016).

This was published January 26, 2017—five years prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Will this generation of Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders learn from the past? What about the French, Belgians, the Dutch, and the Swiss? It’s difficult to see how any can, when some are consumed with re-writing their past, and when all possess the same rebellious nature as those who have gone before.

The speed with which mankind reverts to his old ways is astounding. This is shown in the biblical golden calf incident. After God brought a slave people out of bondage by great and powerful miracles that could not be rationally explained away, the Israelites turned back into idolatry. A mere 40 days was enough time for the people to pressure Aaron, who was left in charge while Moses was gone, to make a golden calf idol and hold a licentious festival to celebrate it. In the aftermath, God commanded Moses the following:

“Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin” (Exodus 32:34).

Dennis Prager makes this observation about this verse and humanity’s shallow understanding of the God of the Bible:

“In modern times, with its psychological and therapeutic mindset, many people tend to think of God as a loving therapist Who is always there to listen, to understand, and most importantly, not to judge us. This verse reminds us that above all, the God of the Torah is a moral judge. He demands certain behavior, and holds people accountable when they fail to live accordingly” (Prager on Exodus 32:34, The Rational Bible: Exodus, p. 454).

The Bible is the greatest and most important history book ever written, but as with history in general, far too many in this generation are devoid of historical perspective. Winston Churchill sums it up in one sentence:

“Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong, these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history (Winston S. Churchill, His Complete Speeches, 1897-1963, Vol. 6, ed. Robert Rhodes James, Chelsea House Publishers, 1974. P. 5592).

Bible Prophecy and the Future of Modern Nations

In addition to being the most important history book of all time, the Bible does something no other book has credibly done. It gives history in advance—what many people think of as prophecy. Before the break I said I would show you what this remarkable book says about our near future, so let’s get started.

Speaking of the end time, the time just ahead of us, Jesus explained:

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26–30).

What was it like in the days of Noah? Here is what we read in Genesis 6, verses 5 and 11:

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:5, 11).

Our day has far more in common with the days of Lot than we could ever imagine, even a few years ago. Dust off your Bible and read for yourself about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the reasons for it. The account is found in Genesis 19. But let’s also notice how God inspired the prophet Ezekiel to write about the pride of Sodom:

Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit (Ezekiel 16:49–50).

The Bible shouts loud and clear in chapter after chapter that destruction is coming on our world because we have never learned from the past. Just as the Bible predicted in easy to understand language the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, as well as its seven revivals, so the Bible predicted thousands of years in advance the rise and fall of the British and American peoples. Our choices today will bring our downfall, just as sure as that of Rome.

If you found this video helpful and want to learn more, be sure to order your own free copy of our study guide—The Beast of Revelation. Just click the link in the description and we’ll send it to you. It’s that easy.

And remember to like and subscribe to our channel so you can watch more videos on different Bible topics.

We here at Tomorrow’s World want to help you understand this world, through the pages of the Bible.

Thanks for watching! See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Answering Common Claims of Atheists

Belief in God was once taken for granted by many, but now, not so much. In fact, a breed of “militant atheist” has arisen, inspired by the likes of evolutionist Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens.

Such atheists claim to hold the high ground in terms of intellect and reasoning, saying that only the ignorant or the foolish would continue to believe in God in the modern era.

Today, we’ll look at THREE COMMON OBJECTIONS that atheists make concerning the existence of God, and we’ll put them to the test. So join us for today’s episode of Tomorrow’s World, “When Atheists Attack!”

God Had NO Beginning—And Needed No Creator

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible. Today, we’re going to address three common objections atheists give concerning belief in God. We’re also going to give you an opportunity to request our free resource The Real God: Proofs and Promises. Be sure to note the contact information you might need to get your free copy when it appears on your screen.

An atheist is someone who believes there is no God—as distinct from theists, who believe there is a God, and agnostics, who are uncertain one way or the other.

Of course, God’s opinion about atheists is made plain in the Bible, as in Psalm 14:1, where He inspired King David to write,

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

God liked that statement so much, He had it essentially repeated in Psalm 53.

Still, God’s take on their lack of wisdom has not deterred some. In the early 2000s, the so-called “New Atheism” hit—championed by biologist Richard Dawkins, author Christopher Hitchens, neuroscientist Sam Harris, and philosopher Daniel Dennett—or as some have called them, the “Four Horsemen” of New Atheism.

But in reality, the only thing “new” about the “New Atheism” was the attitude: more militant, more aggressive—but otherwise presenting the same old questions as the old atheism.

And we should highlight here at the start: Questions are good! We SHOULD ask questions! But when we do, we need to be OPEN to the answers—even if they aren’t the answers we were expecting or the answers we wanted. And we should be willing to put those answers to the test—especially in a day and age like ours, a period prophetically described in the Bible as a time when “truth is fallen in the street” (Isaiah 59:14), and convincing lies are far easier to come by.

So, what do you do when an atheist comes to YOU with questions? Well, frankly, you should evaluate the scenario first. Sometimes someone doesn’t really want answers—they are just looking to “score points,” and even if you answer their question, it goes in one ear and out the other. Yet, we should be ABLE to answer, and the Apostle Peter encouraged Christians in the first century to make sure they were ready to do so, to the best of their ability. In chapter 3 and verse 15 of his first letter, Peter writes that we should

“sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” (1 Peter 3:15).

And, really, being ready for that defense is not just for the sake of your inquisitor. YOU need to know, for yourself, that God exists, that He is real, and that He is involved in both world affairs and your life.

So—how do you answer when someone questions your faith in God? For the rest of today’s program, we’re going to tackle three common questions atheists ask.

Here’s the first:

“If God made everything, who made God?”

We’re starting with this one, because it is a quick one! Someone who asks this is making a classic category error. The world around us—all the matter, space, and energy—had a beginning. Both the most up-to-date science and most rational lines of inquiry agree: The universe and all the matter, space, time, and energy that is in it had to have a beginning—whether that beginning was the famous Big Bang or something else. And, having a beginning, it had to have a CAUSE of some sort.

But God HAS no beginning. He is not among the things that are “made”—and having no beginning, He requires no creator. The Bible makes the distinction in these categories plain in John 1:3. Speaking there of the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, through whom the Father created all things, John writes,

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).

There are those things that are made, and then there is God, who existed before and apart from those things.

The world around us—matter, space, time, and energy—had a beginning, and, therefore, HAS to have a cause—a reason for it to come into existence. I like to quote from Julie Andrews’ character Maria in The Sound of Music on this point: “Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could.”

Therefore, there must be a CAUSE for the universe that exists apart from the universe’s matter, space, time, and energy—a timeless cause that precedes all matter, space, and energy—and God fits that description. And, asking what made him is to misunderstand what and who God is.

The Gaps in Evolutionary Theory

Welcome back! In the first part of today’s program, we addressed the question, “If God made everything, who made God?” We can summarize the answer: “No one. Unlike the physical universe, God is eternal and had no beginning.” The person who asks misunderstands, or misrepresents, what the word “God” even means. In fact, you could add, “Without something fitting God’s description, there would be no universe at all.”

That last point is important, because sometimes atheists accuse believers of hiding behind a “God of the Gaps”—that is, claiming that believers only use “gaps” in scientific knowledge as evidence that God exists, but that, as those “gaps” are filled, the evidence for God supposedly evaporates. You could imagine this as saying that someone ignorant of how the water cycle works on earth might believe that a divine being just creates rain from nothing and, thus, rain becomes a “proof” that God exists.

Then, when scientists discover the water cycle, that “proof” evaporates, like a shallow puddle on the sidewalk on a hot day.

It is the “God of the Gaps” fallacy that many atheists have in mind when they ask the following question:

“Why do we need God if evolution explains everything?”

After all, evolution is the reigning scientific dogma of the day and is considered by many to be one of the crowning achievements of science and human reasoning. So, if evolution really does explain everything, why do we need God?

In answering this question, we need to recognize at least three mistakes revealed by the question. First, the theory of evolution doesn’t explain “everything.” The origin of the universe, the laws of physics and mathematics, consciousness, objective morality—the list of things for which a transcendent God remains the best explanation is LONG! When they say “everything,” they usually mean evolution explains LIFE. And I can understand why someone would be sensitive about this. The existence of life on planet earth definitely demands some sort of explanation!

But does EVOLUTION explain it? That is the questioner’s second mistake. The theory of evolution is FAR from sufficient to explain the wondrous variety of life we see on earth, let alone the origin of that life!

Finally, when we take an honest look at the complexity of life—it’s interwoven systems of dependence, the collection of complicated organs and nerve networks that must work together in a mind-bogglingly coordinated way, the abstract coding and error-checking systems of DNA—again, when we take an honest look at life’s complexity, we find that the current theory of evolution is FAR from able to explain that coordinated complexity.

In fact, the idea that evolutionary theory DOES currently explain all of these things is generally a façade, and there is currently a great deal of debate about how to address the theory’s persistent shortcomings.

The UK newspaper The Guardian recently reported on the turmoil in the evolutionary sciences:

“Strange as it sounds, scientists still do not know the answers to some of the most basic questions about how life on Earth evolved. Take eyes, for instance. Where do they come from, exactly? The usual explanation of how we got these stupendously complex organs rests upon the theory of natural selection” (“Do we need a new theory of evolution?” TheGuardian.com, June 28, 2022).

Then, after summarizing the usual evolutionary tale of the gradual development of the eye, the article continues:

“This is the basic story of evolution, as recounted in countless textbooks and pop-science bestsellers. The problem, according to a growing number of scientists, is that it is absurdly crude and misleading.”

“For one thing, it starts midway through the story, taking for granted the existence of light-sensitive cells, lenses and irises, without explaining where they came from in the first place. Nor does it adequately explain how such delicate and easily disrupted components meshed together to form a single organ. And it isn’t just eyes that the traditional theory struggles with. ‘The first eye, the first wing, the first placenta. How they emerge. Explaining these is the foundational motivation of evolutionary biology,’ says Armin Moczek, a biologist at Indiana University. ‘And yet, we still do not have a good answer. This classic idea of gradual change, one happy accident at a time, has so far fallen flat.’”

In fact, one could go so far as to say that, if random mutation and natural selection really DID create all life on earth, then evolution would have to be evidence that God DOES exist, because all of the giant, coordinated, improbable LEAPS evolution would have to take would require a DIVINE BEING to help it along!

It seems that, to prop up their own faith, evolutionists tend to depend on their own “God of the Gaps.” Or, perhaps, their “Darwin of the Gaps.”

In actuality, the complexity of life positively and forcefully argues for an INTELLIGENT SOURCE behind its creation! Only intelligence has ever been observed to be able to create such complicated, PURPOSE-ORIENTED structures as what we see within even the SIMPLEST of lifeforms!

Appealing to God’s existence and agency as an explanation for life is not hiding behind a “God of the Gaps.” Quite the contrary—the intelligent design present in all life is POSITIVE EVIDENCE for the existence of intelligence BEHIND life.

God is Not to Blame for Mankind’s Problems

In the first part of today’s program, we addressed the question, “If God made everything, who made God?” We can summarize the answer: “No one. Unlike the physical universe, God is eternal and had no beginning.” In fact, SOMETHING fitting God’s description is needed even to HAVE a universe to begin with. Then, in the last segment, we tackled the question, “Why do we need God if evolution explains everything?” And we noted that “Evolution doesn’t explain everything and, in fact, fails even to explain what it is supposed to: life.” Frankly, believing all the claims of evolutionists takes more faith than believing in a Creator.

But the third common attack you might hear from an atheist neighbor or acquaintance comes with an emotional wallop, which is often the source of its strength:

“How can God be good if there is so much evil in the world?”

Of course, history certainly records many great evils—the Holocaust inflicted on the Jews, the Soviet starvation of Ukranians in the 1930s, and chattel slavery in the pre-Civil War American South are just a few examples. And for many of our viewers, the presence of evil in the world hits home in a personal way. Many of you have been robbed, assaulted, or abused.

There is no getting around it—our world is filled with evil. But if so, the atheist asks, how can God be good? After all, why would a good God allow such things? Is He too weak to stop it? Or is He just unaware that evil things happen? If so, then He isn’t really “God.” Yet, if He is all-powerful and all-knowing, and yet He does nothing, then they claim He isn’t “good,” and therefore isn’t really “God” that way, either. They claim this dilemma simply means there is no all-seeing, all-powerful, GOOD God to begin with.

So, what do we make of this?

Well, it’s interesting how quick people are to put the blame on GOD for mankind’s evil—and, frankly, that is exactly what the devil would want us to do! It’s interesting that when Adam and Eve first sinned by disobeying God and eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the first thing they both did was try to pass the buck. After God asks them about it, we read their responses in Genesis 3 [vv. 12–13]:

“Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:12–13)

So, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the devil. In fact, if you look more closely, Adam blamed GOD. Note, he said, “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me”! And to this day, people continue to blame God for the evil mankind is responsible for.

Consider the evils we mentioned earlier, the Holocaust, the cruelty of the Soviets, and slavery—or, for that matter, robberies, assaults, or abuses. Those are evil actions inflicted by human beings. And the blame for them should lie with those human beings.

Still, the question remains, why does God ALLOW such human beings to commit evil? Part of that answer is founded upon the need for humans to have FREE WILL—which must include the ability to choose to do the wrong thing. God’s purpose for us requires growing in CHARACTER—specifically, learning to possess God’s OWN character—to choose the right over the wrong. And growing in CHARACTER requires the ability to make choices—free-will choices, which includes the possibility of choosing evil and causing suffering, along with the possibility of choosing the good and to endure suffering.

When you understand the purpose of God, you come to understand that the eternal good that God is producing through His plan of developing His own righteous character in human beings is of such reality-altering significance, that it will outweigh all the evil mankind has ever committed or experienced. In fact, the Apostle Paul says just that in Romans 8:18:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:18–21).

Notice—the current sufferings we experience aren’t even worthy to be compared to the glory to come. In fact, notice too that Paul says that creation itself is suffering and will be delivered in that day to come. One of the curses of mankind’s sin in the Garden of Eden was that we removed God as the caretaker of creation, as if we can do it all ourselves without Him. God explains to Adam in Genesis 3:17–19 that creation will no longer be accommodating to man in any special way but will go its own course. Mankind needs to learn the full lesson that we NEED God, and that attempting to build a world without Him leads only to suffering—as we are then left vulnerable to the afflictions of nature, our own evils, and the twistings and persecutions of the devil.

If you’re a parent, you understand what God is doing, if you think about it. How many times must parents allow a child to experience a taste of the results of their own bad choices before they know the lesson will sink in? Well, in God’s case, He’s not just teaching one child, but all of humanity—and the lessons need to make an impact for eternity. The stakes of these lessons could not possibly be higher.

Yet, we have God’s promise that, at the time of restoration of all things, the glory that is revealed in the children of God will far outshine any evil that has ever been committed and any suffering that has ever been experienced such that they will not even come to mind any more, forever. We should all pray that time comes quickly.

So, to summarize an answer to this third attack, “Evil in the world is a consequence of man’s free will. Yet God is using our choices to achieve an eternal good that will far outweigh any suffering mankind has ever experienced.”

A Challenge to Prove God Exists

The fact is, we are living in an increasingly skeptical world in which God is being effectively shoved into a corner as the movers and shakers in society seek to create a civilization that pretends He does not exist. Faith in God is under continued and sustained assault.

If you will seek to know the God of the Bible and will be willing to set aside your own preconceived ideas, your own selfish desires and outlook, and embrace the way of life that Jesus Christ commands of those who follow Him, you can become convinced and convicted of the REALITY of the God who inspired that Bible.

You will increasingly begin to see in your life, day by day, the fruit of your choices, and that fruit will become one of the most powerful proofs of God’s existence you could ever hope to possess. And it can strengthen you in a way few things can and enable you to stand strong and tall whenever atheists attack.

Just as God challenges us in Malachi 3:10 to put Him to the test by obeying Him, I challenge you today to do the same. You won’t regret it.

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