In this issue I want to discuss how a Christian can turn this question around and challenge the questioner. The notion of evil, far from disproving God, can actually be used as an argument in favor of the existence of God, the biblical God. Any discussion of the objective evidences proving that the God expressed in nature is the God revealed in Scripture will be difficult, if not impossible, until and unless the person is willing to talk about the loss, the hurt, that led to his or her conclusion about God. If, on the other hand, someone argues that the existence of natural evil means the nonexistence of God, a discussion of the logic issues can lead to meaningful conversation. The head-on collision with logic becomes immediately obvious.
Evil is a nonentity unless goodness is also real.
The challenger may try to escape this line of reasoning by saying that morality is real by cultural consensus. This statement, of course, argues for a completely arbitrary morality. Such a morality has no transcendent or obligatory quality. Majority opinion might change a hundred years from now and decide that evil is actually good . Ironically, the unfolding of purely natural and accidental events should not trouble a nontheist at all.