William Lee Boyd

The Search for God: a Hopeful Journey of Faith and Reason William Lee Boyd

Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Is He then impotent? Is God able to prevent evil but not willing? Is He then malevolent? If is both willing and able, whence then is evil? These ancient questions posed by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, in 300 B. C. E., have yet to find a satisfactory answer. A prominent Indianapolis Presbyterian minister sat across from his wife in their living room. It was 10 days before Christmas in 1996. This scene would not have been unusual save for the fact that both the pastor and his wife were bound tightly in chairs, facing each other, by two intruders. Blood slowly coursed down their faces from blows from a gun butt. One of the intruders raised an ax above the head of the pastor?s wife and plunged it downward, burying the blade in her skull. As the pastor watched in horror, he thundered with rage at the attackers. Then, the ax blade fell into the skull of the pastor, were it remained until the police discovered the couple many hours later. This event actually occurred. The question is, why did it happen? The paradox of a loving and benevolent God who exists in apparent unity with the stark and thunderous reality of evil is a deep mystery. Perhaps the world simply is the best of all possible worlds He was capable of creating? The Bible says it was God alone who, in the beginning, knew the difference between good and evil. Is He then the author of both? Is His curse on mankind for disobedience in the Garden of Eden the core of evil? Or, is the Old Testament account of creation an epic myth? The Search for God and His ?Unconditional Love? explores the mystery of a benevolent, loving and personal God in the light of the fact that enough blood has been shed in His name or at His direction to float all the navies of the world. Whence then is evil?