I will explain why there is evil in this world. God did what is sensible. The world is, as the Hebrew Bible states, “Good.” It gives people free will. Humans cause evil in three ways.
The world is created with duality
Opposites are generally two sides of the same thing. For example, love and hate are related. They are two ends of the same emotion. Love can lead to hate and vice versa. It is the cause of many divorces when married couples fail to realize they moved from one end of their feeling to the other. Even when people remember this fact, they forget they can help themselves by moving from one extreme on the continuum to the other.
This fact of nature was recognized in ancient times. While non-existent in Greek theology, Janus was seen as having two faces in Roman theology. He was the god of doors, gates, and transitions. He was the middle ground between dualities such as life and death, beginning and end, youth and adulthood, rural and urban, and barbarism and civilization. Romans turned to this god to ensure that their transition from one end of life’s pole to another, such as war to peace, was successful.
This fact of nature may explain why many people fail to understand why there is evil in this world. They do not see that evil is part of the duality of good and evil. Winds and hurricanes can be harmful, but they also clean the air. Lightning can cause harm, but it also does good. Rain causes floods, irrigates the ground, and gives us water. The challenge is to learn how to use and balance these forces. I do not know how God thinks; perhaps He thought as follows: I can create humans who will always have an easy life, where people always enjoy pleasures, a life without any problems. But if I did so, people would be senseless puppets, just senseless mechanical robots.
Instead of making puppets, God created a world with duality where people are challenged to grow in their thinking and behavior. Those who pay attention will find the world given to them is fascinating. They will recognize the challenges and will enjoy engaging in them. They will seek to improve themselves and all creation.
This understanding that the world was created with duality and with challenges to humans to work to bring matters to the right side of a continuum is consistent with the way the Torah teaches its lessons. The Hebrew Bible, the Torah, was written for the generation to which it was given to help people live a good life. It is filled with hints on how the presented laws can be changed. For example, the Torah allowed sacrifices, slavery, punishment by an eye for an eye, and taking a female captive during a war. Still, it always sets boundaries and hints to encourage change. A close reading of the Torah reveals that it opposes these things and desires the opposite.
Thus, the world is not filled with evil per se. It is filled with duality and challenges, with free will and promptings for humans to face challenges, learn how to behave with them, enjoy the learning, and use better behavior to improve individuals and all God made available.
It is impossible to create a perfect law
It must also be understood that creating a perfect law or rule that will never hurt anyone is impossible. Circumstances will arise when a statute or rule that is good for society will harm individuals. This is part of nature. If laws always resulted in good, there would be no free will. This is why Maimonides differentiated morality from rationality in his Guide for the Perplexed 1:2. Morality is not the truth. Morality is the best idea applicable at certain times in certain localities for the best situation for humans. An excellent moral law is not crossing a street against a red light. But there are occasions when it makes good sense to do so, as when one is pursued by a person who wants to kill you. An intelligent person would not follow the moral law. Maimonides, as did Nietzsche in later times, suggested that the intelligent man, whom Nietzsche called the Übermensch, would act according to reason.
Humans who fail to use reason create evil.
If it is easy, it is probably wrong
Clearly, acting according to the prior understanding is not easy. People fail to realize that if a thing is easy, it is probably wrong. When they take the easy approach, they are furthering evil.
In short, the world is good. It is designed to give humans free will. Humans have produced evil because they have not acted properly.
I agree with you entirely that the world is, as the Bible states, “very good.” It gives people free will. I think this is true. Not only do we have the free will to choose between right and wrong, but we also have the free will to how we will view any given situation that life throws upon us, including natural disasters and even death. That is, we can view the situation as half full or half empty, a blessing or a curse.
Regarding natural evils. We agree that the world was created with dualities. For example, hurricanes clean the air and lightning shines forth light, even though these natural phenomena may harm people. Earthquakes, volcanoes, lightning, inundations, are all the result of the operation of physical laws. The world works according to the laws of nature. A lion killing a zebra is not evil, it is nature. Thus, the world is not evil per se. Humans must face challenges to learn how to improve themselves and the world. An example was the great Genevan philosopher, Rousseau.
In a letter to Voltaire, Rousseau wrote, “Should it be said then that the order of the world ought to change according to our whims, that nature ought to be subjected to our laws, and that in order to disallow it an earthquake in some place, we have only to build a City there?”
In reply to the earthquake of Lisbon, Rousseau notes, “nature did not construct twenty thousand houses of six to seven stories there, and … if the inhabitants of this great city had been more equally spread out and more lightly lodged, the damage would have been much less and perhaps of no account…”
In summary, he is saying that it is foolish to think we have the ability to prevent an earthquake. The world works according to the laws of nature. But Rousseau offers a possible solution. People should be more spread out and not congregated. Thus, Rousseau used his intelligence (and free will) to improve himself and society.
Thank you for agreeing with me. I wonder. did I solve the problem of theodicy that troubled so many ancient people?
In summary, he is saying that it is foolish to think we have the ability to prevent an earthquake. The world works according to the laws of nature. But Rousseau offers a possible solution. People should be more spread out and not congregated. Thus, Rousseau used his intelligence (and free will) to improve himself and society.
Isn’t it foolish to assume u ccan predict where an earthquake can go?
We can’t predict when murder and rape and lightening will strike.
There is a difference between events in nature and human activities.
I think you may have solved the problem of theodicy. I like Maimonides’ and Rousseau’s answers – and with yours, we finally solve the problem that has bothered people for centuries. I like to think so. I also agree that there is a difference between natural events and human activities.
Steve, I think Rousseau would agree with you. It would be foolish to assume we can predict or have the ability to prevent an earthquake. Although today we do have the ability to predict when and where an earthquake or volcano will erupt, this has saved thousands of lives when police evacuate people from a nearby active volcano. Although, it is true that we cannot predict a murderer or rapist’s actions or when and where lightning will strike.
Thank you for what you wrote.I like to think I solved the age-old problem of theodicy.
Dear Israel,
Thank you for coming up with this post.
I love it!
I especially love the part where u combine leibiniz and Rambam
Thank you Steve.You arevery kind.
I DEMAND MORE CONTENT!
Thank you so much rabbi.
Thank you Steve.
Am in agreement with all your observations, dear Rabbi Israel Drazin; evil is initially external to an individual and can be interpreted as the desire to do wrong. However, if not resisted or controlled, this desire and ability to do evil eventually becomes part of an individual’s nature. The struggle against and triumph over evil, or the failure to resist it, therefore, becomes a measure of a person’s character and moral strength. Additionally, the presence of evil serves as a contrast to good deeds and behaviors. The suffering as a result of evil can also be seen as tests, where people are given the chance to practice patience, resilience and maintain their belief in G-d. Best: stephen
I am happy that you agree with me that evil in this world results from human misbehaviors.
United States perspective: 1. World is not good. The invasion at the border, not an established official language (English), massive debt ( 1Trillion added to the debt every 90 days), crime at an all-time high, humans have become savages, etc.
I think one of the biggest reasons for these results and more. Throwing G-d out of decades ago, and now we see the outcomes. Individuals see themselves as gods, is roughly 80% secular, and the Jews are around 90% secular.
Will it reverse course??? No!
Imagine if everyone could only keep & honor the 10 Commandments (statements)
I think we agree that the world is good but evil is the result of human misbehavior.