"When a good God allows evil," says someone on Facebook. I was wondering what that statement means. Does it mean that God is responsible for everything that happens either by His perfect will or permissive will? Is this permissive will the logical conclusion to divine sovereignty?
Divine sovereignty does not necessarily mean divine letting. The laws of nature set by God takes effect in this life. Consequences of human actions do not make God responsible for them through what some call divine letting. God can definitely do something in His own sovereignty either by natural laws or by his new covenantal laws. God's sovereignty takes in effect in and through both laws.
This is where prayer becomes meaningful. It calls on God to action based on the new covenant governing the new creation engendered by grace in Christ Jesus. But God doesn't allow evil to happen. He can act on it in His sovereignty and by His power change the situation. But far be it for God to allow it.
Evils happen as consequences of human actions in general. While there are instances when God personally and volitionally allows evil to happen, but such is not the norm. The thinking that God allows all evils to happen stems from a wrong notion of divine sovereignty.
Whether God allows evil to happen or not, God remains
sovereign. Nothing is negated of God and His sovereignty when evils happen. For
everything falls within His given laws, where outside them absolutely nothing
happens. It is outrageous of us to say that God allows evil to happen, when he
does not.
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