Saint Augustine. If you don't know the name then I feel sorry for you. He is one of the most profound theologians of the Christian Faith and his most famous work "Confessions" is a beautiful story of his transition from sinner to saint. At the moment I am about half-way through this seminal work, but it has challenged me in my personal walk with God in a way that few books have.
The most interesting point of note I have come across recently was an observation that Augustine made while trying to discern where evil comes from. He writes that he began with the assumption that "God allows evil to happen" and then worked from that idea. This is a very human thing to do. It is so simple to attribute to God the mistakes that humans make, and this is exactly the conclusion that Augustine comes to. He states that it is not that God allows evil to happen, rather it is that God allows humans to choose our own actions, and we choose evil. Evil is easy, it is simple, and in the modern world it often gives the most immediate benefits. The man who lies to an employer will gain the job over the one who tells the truth (if the liar is not found out). The spouse who has an affair will reap the immediate rewards of carnal pleasure. The person who cheats on an exam will receive a better grade than the one who took their test honestly.
Evil is simple, and it works perfectly in a fallen world. God gave us a choice to do good, or to do evil, and we naturally choose evil. (Romans 3:23). It is a struggle to choose good, no matter what hollywood tells us with their heroes in white hats who always choose the right thing to do. The world is not so black and white. We sin. It's our nature. God does not wish it so. He does not allow evil to happen, we do. If we blame God for the bad things that happen in this world, then maybe we should go out and try to fix it instead of spending all our time wearing holes in the knees of our pants trying to "search out God's reasons" God is unsearchable; however, he has given all of us the tools to choose good and fight evil, but when we do nothing we are allowing bad things to happen simply by way of our own inactivity.
Now, before you jump on me, I am not belittling prayer in any way, shape, or form. Prayer is one of, if not the most important parts of life. It has real-world power that cannot be contested, but James wrote, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." (James 2:26) We must act upon what calls us to action, because all of the conviction in the world is absolutely worthless if we do nothing.
St. Augustine may not have had the perfect answer for why evil is present, but it is still something to think about.
