Claim 5 of 8 · Case 06 · Problem of Evil
Scripture presents evil as running through every person, and God’s delay in ending it as patience that leaves room for people to turn back.
One claim from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
If God ended all evil tonight, who would be left standing? The biblical answer is uncomfortable. Evil is not only out there in other people. It runs through everyone, including us. On this reading, God holding back from ending all evil at once is not indifference. It is patience, giving people time to change course before the story closes. That reframes the complaint. When we ask why God does not just stop all evil, we may be asking why he does not stop us.
Backed by 2 pieces of evidence
Paul’s letter to the Romans on universal sin
This is what gives the closing question its bite: evil runs through all of us. If judgment fell on all evil tonight, none of us would clear the bar, which turns the problem of evil from a complaint about God into a mirror.
The second letter of Peter on God’s patience
This gives a direct scriptural reason why God has not yet ended all evil, which is one of the sharpest forms of the objection. The answer is not that God cannot act. It is that he is holding the door open.