Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Renewing Your Mind
Episode: The Problem of Evil
Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Ligonier Ministries (Nathan W. Bingham introducing R.C. Sproul’s lecture)
Featured Speaker: Dr. R.C. Sproul

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode features a classic teaching from Dr. R.C. Sproul exploring one of the most challenging questions posed to Christianity: "If God is all-powerful and all-good, why does evil exist?" Dr. Sproul unpacks various historical, philosophical, and biblical approaches to the problem of evil—explaining why the question is so perplexing and how Christians should thoughtfully engage with it.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Why "The Problem of Evil" Matters

• Dr. Sproul starts by noting that atheists frequently raise the problem of evil as a chief objection to Christian belief.
• The existence of evil is often called the "Achilles heel" of the faith (01:42).

2. Prerequisites for the Problem of Evil

• "What must there be for evil to be a problem? The good." (00:05)
• Evil presupposes the existence of good; without a standard of ultimate goodness, the problem itself evaporates.

3. Historical Philosophical Responses (Theodicies)

• Definition: Theodicy is "an attempt to justify God for the existence of evil in the world" (02:50).
• Two common but inadequate solutions:
  • Denying the reality of evil (calling it an illusion).
  • Arguing that evil is a necessary prerequisite for appreciating good, turning evil into a kind of good (03:45).

4. Leibniz's Philosophical Theodicy

• Distinctions:
  • Moral evil: lack of moral good ("because of actions of moral agents").
  • Physical evil: calamities, natural disasters.
  • Metaphysical evil: imperfection inherent in created, finite things (07:00).
• Leibniz’s thesis:
  • Moral evil flows from physical evil, which flows from metaphysical imperfection.
  • "I sin because I'm weak. I'm weak because I'm finite. And the only way I could be without sin would be if I could transcend... the limitations of finitude." (09:55)
  • God, according to Leibniz, cannot create a metaphysically perfect being (another God); thus, all created beings have inherent limitations.
  • The demand is not that God create a perfect world, but "the best of all possible worlds" (11:32).

5. Nuts and Bolts of the Critique

• Dr. Sproul critiques Leibniz’s argument as committing the fallacy of equivocation—changing the meaning of "evil" across categories.
• Result: The argument unwittingly excuses both God and man for moral evil, undermining accountability (14:10).
• Biblically, if metaphysical imperfection necessitates sin, then moral evil is inescapable, even in heaven—a conclusion at odds with Scripture (15:45).

6. Free Will Defense (and Its Challenges)

• Standard Christian response: God gave humans freedom, and evil arises from their (mis)use of that freedom (16:24).
• Problem: This still doesn't explain why Adam and Eve, initially good, chose evil.
• Various attempted answers (deception, coercion, nature of their will) are all found logically unsatisfying or biblically problematic (18:00).

7. The Inescapability of Mystery

• Dr. Sproul states there is "no satisfactory logical explanation for the sin of Adam."
• "This one perplexes the greatest minds of history, but it's the one that the Church has always taken—that man's disposition was only to the good, yet he chose evil... That's where I have to locate the mystery." (21:21)

8. Turning the Table: The Problem of Good

• Sproul points out the irony that, for evil to be a problem, good must exist first.
• "The problem of the existence of evil is one of the overwhelming testimonies to the existence of God." (22:25)
• Evil is always defined as a privation or lack of good—dependent on a standard of goodness provided by God.

9. The Limitations of Atheism/Nihilism

• If one tries to solve the problem by denying the reality of good (and hence evil), one is left with nihilism—a bleak conclusion.
• Most critics inadvertently borrow the concept of good from the theistic worldview to launch their objection.

10. Final Defense for Christian Apologetics

• Christians should admit the full weight and seriousness of the problem, not dismiss it.
• However, the existence of evil points to a transcendent standard—a necessary precondition for even talking about evil.
• Ultimately, while Christianity struggles with the question, atheism must explain how good and evil can be real at all.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "There is no ultimate problem of evil unless there is first ultimate goodness." (B, 00:13)
• "In my opinion, no one as yet has been able to adequately answer this question from a Christian perspective. So the first thing... a Christian must do... is... respond by saying, 'I don't know the answer to this question,' and acknowledge the seriousness of the question." (B, 02:17)
• "To err is human because we're finite by definition. We're not all powerful, we're not all wise. We are not all the things that God are." (B, 09:20)
• "You can't demand that [God] creates a perfect world. But if God is moral, if He is righteous, we can make the demand that God create the best of all possible worlds." (B, 11:32)
• "There's no satisfactory logical explanation for the sin of Adam... That's where I have to locate the mystery." (B, 21:21)
• "The problem of the existence of evil is one of the overwhelming testimonies to the existence of God. That's the irony of this argument, because there can't be a problem of evil unless there's first a problem of the good." (B, 22:25)
• "If you really think that evil exists, then you have a problem of explaining how evil can exist apart from the good. Ultimately, the only way you can account for ultimate goodness is in God." (B, 23:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:05–00:33: Framing the Problem of Evil
• 01:42–03:35: Historical objections; the theodicy explained
• 07:00–13:11: Leibniz's distinctions and argument dissected
• 14:10–16:24: Sproul’s critique of Leibniz and the biblical implications
• 16:24–19:50: The insufficiency of free will answers
• 21:21: The mystery at the heart of Adam’s fall
• 22:25–24:02: The “problem of good”; evil as testimony to God’s existence
• 23:45: Final argument—that atheism cannot meaningfully define evil without presupposing good

Conclusion

Dr. Sproul doesn’t shy from the intellectual and existential weight of the problem of evil—he insists Christians acknowledge its difficulty and resist simplistic answers. He critiques various theodicies, acknowledges the limits of human reason, and ultimately argues that the reality of evil paradoxically points us back to the need for a transcendent standard—God Himself.

Listeners are left not with easy answers, but with permission to embrace the mystery, humility in the face of the question, and confidence that even this toughest of objections does not undercut, but in many ways presumes, the reality of God.