It is precisely because God is omnipotent, benevolent and all-loving that He has used the evil inherent in the raw material of creation for man’s benefit. Man can and only could exercise his free will and responsibility in our world because of the presence of evil. Remove evil from our world, our lives and from the order of creation and man will become a robot. Evil presents man with an alternative choice which is the heartbeat of free will. Free will can only be exercised wherever there is a choice between at least two alternatives.
Evil and its nature ought not to be problematic for anyone. It seems as if they only become problematic when viewed in the fading light of orthodoxy. In fact, they are positive forces in our world and lives as succinctly expressed previously. They ought to bring us closer to God and ourselves and not to alienate us. They call on us to be strong and uncover us to the world as either at our best or at our worst. They let us reach for the stars or for the bowel of the earth.
