#916 Demons and Natural Evil
December 01, 2024Dear Dr Craig:
What is your opinion of a Fall of the Angels hypothesis that would help explain natural evil in the world? Mentioned by UK Anglican priest Rev Michael Lloyd in his book, "Cafe Theology", it basically describes the possibility that there is some reality to the biblical language of angels and demons. There was some sort of fall of angels prior to creation that involved the rebellion of these free will entities in the spiritual realm against God. This rebellion somehow distorted the whole way in which material creation developed "luring it away from God's original harmonious purposes, and introducing division, pain, predation, cruelty, and killing". Presumably, this rebellion also introduced entropy into the universe along with disease, earthquakes, and so forth. Humans, instead of being part of the solution to undo these effects, often join the rebellion.
When I first read this hypothesis, I dismissed it as ad hoc and hokum. Then I discovered that Alvin Plantinga argued the case for the Fall of the Angels in a 1978 book, "God, Freedom, and Evil." It does appear to have theological explanatory ability that God is not the architect of suffering. It is also pastorally helpful in that suffering is not the work or the will of God.
Sincerely,
Mark
United States
Dr. craig’s response
A
As my Defenders lectures on “Angels and Demons” in the locus Doctrine of Creation make clear, I do take seriously the biblical worldview that angels and demons exist. Moreover, I think that it is plausible that what we call demons are, in fact, fallen angels, angels who freely sinned and so now find themselves opposed to God and his work. It seems to me that these demonic creatures are bent on the harassment and destruction of God’s people in this world. Furthermore, I agree with you that human sin very frequently compounds the problem of natural evil completely out of proportion.
That being said, I am more inclined to attribute to demonic influences the moral evil in the world rather than the natural evil. As you note, it seems very implausible to attribute to demons natural processes like earthquakes and hurricanes as well as animal predation and pain, since these are part and parcel of a good world operating according to natural laws. Certainly, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, according to which entropy increases over time, cannot be the result of demonic influence, since it is essential for a life-sustaining universe like ours!
Notice that Alvin Plantinga, in appealing to demons to explain natural evil, was merely appealing to the logical possibility, not the truth, of such an account in order to defeat the logical version of the problem of evil, which held that the co-existence of God and evil is logically impossible. That being said, it is true that Plantinga sees no reason to think that demons could not be behind some natural evils.
In general, it seems to me neither philosophically justified nor biblical to think that “God is not the architect of suffering” and “suffering is not the work or the will of God,” since that would be to deny the sovereignty of God, who is under no obligation whatsoever to give us pain-free lives. So I do not think that it is very productive to speculate on whether some natural evil might be the product of demonic influence. We are simply not in a position to know the ultimate sources of what we suffer but are called upon to bear patiently our suffering until God calls us home to a life of incomprehensible joy.
- William Lane Craig