Some people believe that man is basically good,

but that brings up a difficult question.

How could a good being who has no evil inclination

or disposition whatsoever in their soul or in their mind

ever choose evil? That's the problem.

The question of evil has been a major sticking point for many people.

In fact, there are those who reject God altogether because they say if God is good,

He would prevent bad things from happening.

Today, I'm renewing your mind.

We're wrapping up a week of messages by R.C. Sproul that we have never heard before.

They're from an archive that we reserve for our ministry partners.

And I'll tell you more about that a little bit later on.

But right now, let's listen to Dr. Sproul as he addresses this problem of evil.

I was playing ping pong in the freshman dorm of the college where I attended in the rec room.

And in the middle of one of the volleys, it struck me.

The question, how can I perfectly just and righteous God create

a creature that would incline itself in any way towards evil?

And I stopped right there at the table and began to think about it and tried to figure it out

and found no success in that endeavor.

This is a question that is called in theology, the mystery of aiquity.

Now, I'd like to say this morning that there have been all kinds of attempts to explain this difficulty.

And what I am going to try to do with you this morning is not to explain it,

...