Book Review: If God, Why Evil?

Where Did Evil Come From? And Why Doesn't God Do Something About It?

The problem of evil is perhaps the most difficult question the Christian must face. If God is good and all-powerful, why is there suffering in the world? Can't God put an end to murder, rape, and starvation? What about earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis? Why couldn't a perfect God have made a perfect world?

In this concise but thorough book, Dr. Norman Geisler carefully answers these tough questions, using step-by-step explanations and compelling examples. He walks the reader through time-tested answers but also provides a new approach revolving around whether or not this world is the "best of all possible worlds." All this adds up to comforting news for believers: we can rest assured that God is both loving and all-powerful.

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I wish I had a dollar for every time a non-believing friend has asked me a variation of "If there truly is a God, why does He allow all these bad things to happen? Why are there starving children in the world?" And so on.

My standard answer is always, "I don't think we'll ever understand this side of Heaven."

While true, it's lacking. So when I had the opportunity to review this book I jumped at the chance. I thought that I'd be well armed with truthful and helpful responses.

I hate to say this, but I was disappointed in this book. It's certainly well written, however it's very intellectual and at times I found my mind wandering to other things and had to really force myself to concentrate on the subject matter.

I was hoping this book would have clear and simple answers to the question If God, Why Evil? It's not a book I could recommend to a non-believing friend, and that's really what I was hoping to get out of this book ~ the opportunity to pass it on to someone who could use it.

However, if you are a believer then you might very well enjoy the depth and theology in this book. It just wasn't for me.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.