O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you 'Violence!' and you will not save?" Habakkuk 1:2

War, racism, poverty, disease, genocide, rape, violence… is God in all of this suffering?

The Holocaust took the lives of approximately 6 million Jews. Terrible indeed! History books tend to communicate this act of genocide as a one time offense in modern history that must never be repeated. But is this really an isolated incident?

How soon we forget that up to 6 million people died under Stalin and another 20 to 50 million under Mao, the Chinese communist. Pol Pot's regime claimed the lives of some 2.5 million. As recently as 1994 the mass murder in Rwanda reached 800,000.

Of course, the problem of evil is much more diverse than human on human suffering. Sources tell us that there are some 40 million worldwide infected with AIDS, a number that rises 5 million per year. And all of this says nothing of natural disasters: droughts, malnutrition, and floods that claim the lives of thousands every year.

Where is God in all of this pain?

By no means are we the first generation to ask this difficult question. Upon seeing the evil in the streets Habakkuk cried, "O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you 'Violence!' and you will not save?" (Hab. 1:2). A similar look at injustice caused the psalmist to pray, “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?" (Psa 82:2). Even the martyrs under the altar in the book of Revelation are left wondering: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:10).

Numerous questions revolve around the problem of evil. If God is good and all powerful why does He tolerate suffering? Why does God allow pain and suffering into my life? Will there ever be a day when God will stamp out evil completely?

Over the next several weeks I will be writing on the problem of evil. My purpose is not to say all that can be said on the subject. I only wish to offer some pastoral help to those struggling with the issues of evil, suffering and injustice.

Before moving forward it might be good to define what I mean by "evil." In the English language evil is almost always defined in moral categories: bad behavior, bad motives etc … In this sense, a hurricane cannot be evil since it is not a moral being. However, the biblical concept of evil is much broader in that it contains both primary and secondary causes. It can refer to all of the effects of the Fall. Consider how some of the biblical authors use the word evil (rah). I use the KJV here for its consistency in translating the Hebrew word rah as evil.

• Joshua 23:15 "Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things [disaster, tragedy, suffering], until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you."

• Jeremiah 32:23 "And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil [disaster, tragedy, suffering] to come upon them."

Jeremiah 11:17 is of special importance since it use the word evil (rah) in both senses.

• Jeremiah 11:17 "For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil [disaster, tragedy, suffering] against thee, for the evil [bad character] of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal."

In this series I will use the word evil in this broader sense. Thus, the problem of evil may mean bad character, but it can also refer to natural disasters, sickness, loneliness, divorce, or any other such results of the Fall.