God’s Will and His Permission
Question:
If everything happens by the will of God, and nothing occurs on earth except by His command alone, then why does God not prevent evil before it happens?
Answer:
Before answering, we point out that your question contains some errors.
It is incorrect to say that nothing happens on earth except by His command. On earth, errors and evils, crimes and injustices sometimes occur—are all these by His command?! Certainly not. On earth there is killing, adultery, theft, deceit, and lying… did God command all of this? Of course not. And does God will this? Of course not.
Therefore, the phrase “everything happens by the will of God” is theologically incorrect, because “everything” includes evils as well. And evils cannot happen by the will of God, for God does not will evil.
God desires only good. “He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” So all the good that happens on earth, whether to people or by people, happens by the will of God. But evil does not.
So what, then, is the position of evil in relation to God’s will?
God, who granted (the human being) freedom of will, allows him to do as he wishes, whether good or evil; otherwise he would be compelled.
Thus, the good that he does is by the will of God, but the evil that he commits is by God’s permission, not by His will. And there is a difference between God’s will and His permission: His will is entirely for good, while permission aligns with the freedom of will that God granted to some of His creatures.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Kiraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Forty-Seven) – 25-11-1977
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