XII 



THE PROBLEM OF EVIL 



i 



HOW has the problem of evil tried men's souls! 

 How have their gods failed to live up to the 

 character they have given them! How have they 

 confused our moral standards ! The trouble lies in a 

 misconception of the nature of evil, and in a false 

 idea of the universe itself. 



There is no problem of evil until we have made or 

 imagined an unnatural and impossible world. When 

 we have enthroned in the universe a powerful man- 

 made God who is the embodiment of all we call 

 good and the contemner of all we call evil, then we 

 have our insoluble problem. To help ourselves out" 

 we invent another being who is the embodiment of 

 all we call evil and enthrone him in regions below. 

 Upon him we saddle the evil, and thus we try to 

 run the universe with these two antagonistic prin- 

 ciples yoked together, and no end of confusion in 

 our religious ideas results. 



The moment we postulate an all-loving, all- 

 merciful, all-wise, and just being to rule the affairs 

 of this world, and place him in such intimate re- 

 lations with it that not a sparrow falls to the ground 

 without his will and cognizance, then, indeed, are we 



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