by Curtis L. Mattson

What is Evil and Where Does it Come From?

THESE TWO BIG QUESTIONS need to be tackled. (1) First of all, what is evil? (2) Secondly, where does it come from (or what causes it)? This post will discuss the second question first.

Evil—or more precisely, the results of evil—are like the shock waves from a bomb blast. (I was going to say are like ripples in a pond, but that’s much too peaceful an image.)

But before the discussion goes too far, certain questions must be answered to clarify things:

    • Are they caused by my action/inaction?
    • Are they caused by my family’s action/inaction?
    • Are they caused by my community’s action/inaction?
    • Are they caused by my country’s action/inaction?
    • Are they caused by an act of nature?
    • Are they caused by the effects of time?

This is a chart that someone gave me several years ago and I have found it extremely useful. It is not original to me. However, I do not know the source. My apologies.

But it is another way of categorizing suffering and its effects, from a biblical/spiritual point of view:

The Sources of Suffering

Sources
Who Is Responsible?
Who Is Affected?
What Is the Needed Response?
My sin I am Myself and others Repentance and confession to God
Other’s sin Person who sinned and others who allowed the sin Probably many people, including those who sinned Active resistance to the behavior while accepting the sinner
Avoidable physical (or natural) disaster Persons who ignore or refuse to take precautions Most of those exposed to the cause Prevent them if possible, be prepared if they can’t be prevented
Unavoidable physical (or natural) disasters God, Satan Most of those present Ongoing trust in God’s faithfulness

When suffering or troubles happen, do they always come from Satan? In Job’s story, his series of tragedies did come from Satan, but this is not always the case.

The chart above indicated the four main causes of suffering. Any one of these or a combination of them may cause suffering. If knowing why we are suffering will teach us to avoid the cause, then the causes are worth knowing. However, it is most important in order to know how to respond during suffering.

We’ll discuss the first question—What is evil?—in other posts.

Thanks for reading!

—Curtis L. Mattson, MDiv