THIS PAGE IS DESIGNED TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CTM SERIES COMPANION — GROWTH GROUP STUDY #4
This is a really complex issue that you won’t be able to cover in one growth group study. If you’ve been directly affected by some kind of evil which is painful for you, please talk to your growth group leader and/or a member of the ministry team. If you want to do some more thinking about this question for yourself or to be able to talk to your friends, there are a list of resources at the end.
Getting Started
If you haven’t already seen it, watch the next video in the CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER SERIES.
If the meaning of life is love in relationship with God and each other, why are our relationships so broken? why is there so much evil, pain and suffering in the world? You don’t have to look too far or closely to see terrible things happening.
What kinds of evil acts and events anger you the most?
Many people and religions say that good and evil need each other to exist like two sides of a coin or yin and yang. How would you define good and evil? On what basis do you make the distinction between the two?
WATCH THE TWO VIDEOS ASKING WHAT IS GOOD & WHAT IS EVIL.
How do these two videos make the distinction between good and evil? Do you agree? How well does this fit your experience and your definition from above?
In Genesis 1 and 2 we read the account of creation, as God creates everything and he says it’s good. Genesis 1v31—“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” There was no evil. But, it doesn’t take long for this to change.
Read Genesis 3
If evil is the corruption of good, how is that evident in Adam and Eve’s story?
What is the end result of their evil decision?
Some people might wonder if it’s fair that we are condemned as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, but as you keep reading the Genesis story, we see murder and death almost straight away. Genesis 5 shows that death came to (almost) everyone in Adam’s family line. And by the time we get to Genesis 6v5, we read that evil infect’s every human heart.
Genesis 6v5—“The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
Who is responsible for the evil that exists in our world right now? Where does evil live?
WATCH THE VIDEO – Why Is there evil?
Some people say the existence of evil proves there is no God, or at the very least He is distant and doesn’t care. But how is the existence of evil powerful evidence that God not only exists but is Good?
How does the evil we do affect our relationship with God and relationships with each other?
READ ACTS 2v22-41
We often think the presence of evil means God is powerless, but how does Acts 2 show that’s not the case?
When evil is evident in our own lives, what does Peter say we should do?
Sometimes there aren’t easy answers to evil, pain and suffering in our lives, and of course we aren’t responsible for all the evil in the world. But if evil seeks to turn us away from God, why should we turn to him?
READ REVELATION 21v1-8
How does God’s promise of a new heaven and earth provide hope in the midst of evil, pain and suffering now??
Share one thing that’s been helpful for you as you’ve thought about the question?
Share one thing that needs to change in response to what we’ve discussed?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES to help you think through the question in more depth:
BOOKS:
Little Black Books: Suffering and Evil — Author: Scott Petty
If I Were God, I’d End all the Pain, Struggling with evil, suffering and faith (3rd Ed.) — Author: John Dickson
VIDEOS:
The Moral Argument For God
Dr. Reaksa Himm, How Do I Heal from Evil? — Apologetics Canada 2014
At first glance, Reaksa (RICK-sah) may seem like an ordinary man but his story is anything but ordinary. He was born and raised in a large middle class family in Cambodia. In 1977, at the age of 14, he had to watch as 13 members of his family were murdered in the Killing Fields* at the hand of the Khmer Rouge**, the communist regime that had taken power in Cambodia. Reaksa himself was almost killed in the incident but he managed to flee to Thailand, where he spent five grueling years surviving refugee camps and hiding from death squads. Eventually, Reaksa’s journey took him to Canada where he became a follower of Christ. After this life-changing event and many agonizing years of internal turmoil, he returned to Cambodia. He sought and found the two soldiers responsible for the death of his family and his own near-death… and he forgave them