Response to Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry “How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault? It is not right; it’s utterly evil… why should I respect a capricious, mean minded, stupid God who created a world that is so full of injustice and pain.”

If I refer back to St Augustine’s theodicy in response to this statement, he believes that freedom is the fundamental principle of evil and suffering because mankind abused their free will by disobeying God. This is seen in Adam and Eve rebelling against God in the Garden of Eden, therefore God did not create evil, He only created goodness but man spoilt it all by sinning and bringing evil into this world. Augustine argued that evil did not really exist as a thing in itself. Rather it is merely an absence of good. (Privatio boni) He claims that evil is a punishment of sin or an act of one person being sinful to another; none of that evil comes directly from God.

Stephen fry referred to the existence of bone cancer in children. In response, St. Irenaeus’ would say that suffering is a necessary part of God’s created universe; it is through suffering that human souls are made noble, as we develop, learn and mature through the bad things in life. The world is a ‘vale of soul making’.  We can also say that the human body is an extremely complex machine that has many faults right from birth, therefore we are put on this earth to be tested in many ways and this pain should strengthen our faith in Him.  Earth is not supposed to be perfect and full of perfect, free moral agents. This is why God created heaven and Hell. If you’re a good person, then you get to enjoy a forever-lasting afterlife in heaven. 

Fry describes the existence of underserved misery as "utterly, utterly evil." This is an interesting moral perspective, especially when viewed alongside Richard Dawkins' comments on the problem of suffering:

"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference."                                                                                                                                                              Dawkins articulates what happens if you take God out of your view of the world. In a godless universe we lose any concept of ultimate justice, good or evil. The universe is ultimately impersonal and indifferent to any of these concerns. Therefore, removing God from the equation does nothing whatsoever to eradicate the problem of evil and suffering in this world.

At the heart of the Fry's argument is the idea that the world that exists is as God intended it to be. He assumes that God deliberately created a universe with appalling suffering. But a central doctrine of the Christian faith is that God created a good and perfect world and after the fall of humanity nothing is fully as it should be. Rather than abandoning us when we make mistakes, God stepped into our history. Jesus died on the cross to bring forgiveness and reconciliation. He promises a future where evil is finally overthrown, however in the meantime we should follow in the footsteps of Jesus, showing the same love and grace to everyone.

S.C