In debating the existence of God, people tend to assume that ‘bad’, meaning misfortune, and ‘evil’, meaning malevolence, are the same. Without bickering unduly about what words to use, we can still point out a clear distinction between malicious harm, or evil, and what I would call providential harm. When I punish my child, for example, the act is experienced as harmful by the child. He or she protests, becomes upset, and may even feel angry at the ‘injustice’ of it. But with time and maturity, the child comes to know that the punishment was not malicious; there was no evil intent. Rather the parent’s desire to guide, protect, and improve becomes apparent as the child grows older, and his/her trust in that parent may even grow stronger with the realization that not all ‘harm’ is harmful.
Here we are using ‘harm’ in two ways. The first sense is basically physical and emotional, and relates to events and feelings. We feel sorrow at the death of our aged mother or infant daughter, for example. Yet we can also say that ‘Maybe this was better for her.’ And what we indicate by that is the latter sense, a spiritual realm in which pain and feelings are dissolved in the water of a stronger solution, namely the growth of the soul and its ultimate happiness.
For the atheist who denies the existence of an Everafter, the occurrence of adversity or tragedy makes no sense for precisely this reason: there is no ultimate beyond, no recompense or rationale in another, higher plane of being. Atheists who insist that a perfect being, namely God, and a natural catastrophe, for example, cannot coexist are arguing thus because they only have this one dimension. It is not actually evil that excludes the possibility of God, but rather their frame of reference, their initial prejudgement that this is all reality is. Once you open the doors and windows and let in some other-worldly light, however, the problem of evil looks appropriately small.
On the Day of Resurrection, the happiest of the worldly unbelievers will be brought, and it will be said, “Dip him once in the Fire.” So he will be immersed in it, then he will be asked, “You there! Have you ever been happy?” He will answer, “No; I have never felt happiness.” And the believer who suffered the greatest hardship and distress will be brought, and it will be said, “Set him once in Paradise.” So he will be placed in it, then he will be asked, “You there! Have you ever had hardship or distress?” He will answer, “No, I have never felt hardship or distress.” (Sunanub-ni Majah, Book 37, Hadith 4464)
يُؤْتَى يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِأَنْعَمِ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ فَيُقَالُ اغْمِسُوهُ فِي النَّارِ غَمْسَةً . فَيُغْمَسُ فِيهَا ثُمَّ يُقَالُ لَهُ أَىْ فُلاَنُ هَلْ أَصَابَكَ نَعِيمٌ قَطُّ فَيَقُولُ لاَ مَا أَصَابَنِي نَعِيمٌ قَطُّ . وَيُؤْتَى بِأَشَدِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ضُرًّا وَبَلاَءً . فَيُقَالُ اغْمِسُوهُ غَمْسَةً فِي الْجَنَّةِ . فَيُغْمَسُ فِيهَا غَمْسَةً فَيُقَالُ لَهُ أَىْ فُلاَنُ هَلْ أَصَابَكَ ضُرٌّ قَطُّ أَوْ بَلاَءٌ فَيَقُولُ مَا أَصَابَنِي قَطُّ ضُرٌّ وَلاَ بَلاَءٌ
Regarding the chain of reasoning mentioned earlier, we therefore can reply as follows:
- However great the suffering we see or experience in this world, we cannot justly term it evil. We may call it bad, harmful, tragic, or catastrophic, depending on how we feel, but it could still turn out to be ultimately better for us. We simply do not know enough to judge.
- A compassionate God would want to make these unfortunate events work towards our spiritual growth.
- An omniscient, omnipotent God would be able to prevent these from occurring, but doing so could leave us drifting endlessly in a galactic Teletubby daycare facility.
- Yes, an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God is the leading option for monotheists.
- The existence of GOD and the existence of misfortunes do not clash. GOD exists to comfort the believers in their misfortunes, and to welcome the unbelievers who find this life unbelievably bad as soon as they decide to return – to His Life.
- Therefore God could exist. (Nothing proves GOD, for nothing is equal to Him.)
The discontented atheist will not take this good news lying down, however. ‘You have hardly mentioned the truly damning charge against God,’ he will say – ‘the existence of moral evil. If God is both All-Knowing and All-Powerful, how can He escape responsibility for that?’
The GOD You Already Know 