The heavy rains in Bangalore yesterday made it difficult for many to attend the bible study. However, those who did engaged in a quite soul searching discussion about the existence of evil. We were dealing with Revelation 6.9-17. While the passage describes the opening of the fifth and sixth seals of the scroll, we barely even got through the first of these.

At the opening of the fifth seal, John sees, under the altar, the souls of those who had been martyred for their faith. And they ask God, “How long before you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” I was making the point that the martyrs recognized that vengeance was God’s prerogative. However, recent events in India, currently vivid in the minds of the public, took the discussion in a different direction. I refer specifically to the horrible rape and murder of 8 year old Asifa Bano.

The questions we were faced with were: Did God allow such a horrible thing to happen? Was God not able to stop it from happening? Where was God when the little girl was being abused?

These are age-old questions. They concern the nature of God. Is he all knowing or can he be caught unawares? Is he all loving or are there limits to his love? Is he thoroughly good or is there a limit to his goodness? Is he all powerful or are there limits to what he can do?

When I say these are age-old questions, I do not for even an instant intend to minimize the horror faced by Asifa. I do, however, want us to accept that this is unfortunately not the first time that such unthinkable evil has raised its head. Asifa’s ordeal was not the first of its kind on earth. And quite frankly, if we accept what the bible says about the extent and depth of evil in the human heart, we will have to concede that it will not be the last!

I can understand when non-Christians wonder how such atrocities could happen. But I wonder what we have been teaching in our churches when Christians wonder how such atrocities could happen. Do we not know that the human heart is deceitful to the core? Do we not know that the scriptures clearly tell us that the intentions of humans are evil?

We Christians have placed our faith in the only person who was completely innocent, but who was abused, ridiculed and murdered. The crucifixion of Jesus is a clear indication of how deep human depravity is. But just recognizing how depraved humans are and specifically how horrific Asifa’s experience was does not answer the questions that continue to plague us. How can a good, loving, all knowing, all powerful God not stop such atrocities?

Many atheists would say that the existence of such evil proves that there is no God – at least no God they feel deserves our worship and reverence. But what is the alternative?

If there is no God then we are products of accidents and there is no such things as good and evil. Then we cannot place our morality above that of the men who abused Asifa. Atheism cannot take a high ground on such matters because there is no reason for which one person’s morality should trump another’s.

And if there is a God, what kind of world do they want? Do they want a sterilized world in which there is no evil? This would be possible. But it would mean that humans would have no power to choose for God, to ensure that no evil happens, will have to dictate everything that happens lest someone of his/her volition chooses to abuse another person. We would, in effect, be puppets on a string, with God the puppeteer calling all the shots.

I am pretty sure that no atheist can demonstrate why his/her morality is more valid than someone else’s. And I’m also quite certain that no atheist would like a world in which we do not have the power to choose what we do.

The simple fact is that, in order for love to exist, there must be the possibility of rejecting that love. God loves his creation unconditionally. But in order for us to truly love him in return, we should be able to reject his love. And acts such as the abuse meted out to Asifa are extreme examples of the rejection of God’s love for they abused God’s child, one who God created with love and joy. Their acts violated Asifa for sure. And their acts also were their ‘no’ to God’s love embodied in that little girl.

But isn’t this too high a price to pay just for humans to be able to return God’s love? Can the ends justify the means? In what way can such acts be understood? And where is God’s justice in all of this?

If there is no more to Asifa than the decay of her body, then there is no justice in this world. And frankly, we Christians should pack up our bags, close our churches and find something else to occupy ourselves.

But we believe there is something more. We await the resurrection from the dead. But this is not simply an event by which we are given a new life to live. That is an impoverished view of this great hope. The resurrection rather is the enactment of God’s justice. All of us will be raised. And all of us will be judged. Some who call Jesus ‘Lord’ right now may find themselves on the wrong side of the judgment. But whatever the outcome for each of us, the resurrection is when God finally sets things right. The resurrection is the event through which God finally heals the world of the destruction caused by sin.

If we look forward to the resurrection only because we will then have eternal life, we have a quite pitiable view of what God’s purposes are. God’s work does not center around any one of us – not me, not you. You and I are part of his plan, but not the most important part of it. The important part is God’s justice. So believing that somehow, in a mysterious manner that I cannot comprehend, there is God’s justice for Asifa, I continue anticipating the resurrection.