September 10, 2025 • 31 mins
When historians in the future list the worst tragedies of our time, what will they mention? Covid? Terrorism? Katrina? Somewhere on that list will probably be school shootings. We have asked the question “Why?” repeatedly in this series. If anything defies our ability to make sense out of human behavior, this crime does.
This is one of those subjects people almost unanimously agree on in one sense and completely divide on in another. They agree that the deaths of innocent people, especially children, is a terrible thing. But they disagree about who is really responsible and what actually causes this atrocity.
This episode challenges us to look deeper than typical mainstream and social media narratives about this lingering problem in society.
Read about this subject
- Scripture: I John 3:12; Ezekiel 18:14; Matthew 15:19
- Will It Survive?
Listen to more on this subject
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredWord to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
Why would a person take a gun andshoot innocent people– people he’s
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never even met, even children?
Everybody seems to be weighing inon this question, from psychologists
to lawmakers to religious leaders.
Atheists and believersalike try to figure it out.
Lawmakers and law enforcementofficials attempt to stop it.
Nurses and therapists do whatthey can to help families heal.
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But it keeps happening.
For some of us, this isa much different world.
Oh, there was killing when we weregrowing up, but usually there was a
reason that made sense on some level.
Men got mad at each otherand someone ended up dead.
Soldiers fought and died in battle.
But the kind of random, senselesskilling we see today was rare.
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What are we to make of this as Christians?
Some aspects of this evil are almostimpossible for any decent person to
fathom, but the basics are clear.
The problem today is that fewpeople are talking about them.
There is evil—real evil—in the world.
When I say real evil, I mean thingsthat are evil period, without any
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question or room for discussion.
It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.
It doesn’t matter how anyone feels.
There are some things that are objectivelywrong regardless of human opinion.
You’re not hearing anyone say it’sright to kill little children.
Of course, it’s wrongto kill innocent adults.
But there is something especiallyheinous about murdering a child.
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And the vast majorityof people believe that.
People on all sides of debateabout right and wrong come
together on that part of the issue.
They disagree about what caused it.
They have different viewsabout who’s to blame.
But no one says it is a good thing towalk to a school and shoot children.
But the problem is that mostof these people never think
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about why this is wrong.
Is it wrong just because thereis a human law against it?
Is it wrong merely because we havestrong feelings about this act?
Do we call it evil only because themajority of people think it is evil?
No!
It is evil pure and simple.
It is evil in a real, absolute sense.
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It is not evil because human beings sayit is evil, and if every human being
on the face of the earth said that itis a good thing to murder children,
that still wouldn’t make it right.
And that leads us to the question a lotof people don’t want to think about.
If human beings don’t decide thismatter of right and wrong that
we’re talking about, then who does?
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The answer is obvious.
Murder is not just a sin against humanbeings, it is first and foremost a
violation of the law of Almighty God.
You see, there are people whosay they can’t decide whether
they believe in God or not.
They say there’s not enough evidenceone way or another to decide.
If you ask them if God exists,they say no one really knows.
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But when a tragedy like a schoolshooting occurs, they voice their
opinion and they are clear about it.
They say this is wrong.
They say that those childrendidn’t deserve to die.
Whether they feel sorry for theperpetrator and blame society for
making him what he is, or whetherthey think the shooter ought to be
punished, they are sure about one thing.
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What happened to the childrenwas just plain wrong.
My experience is that if you ask anatheist or an agnostic why something
like this is wrong, they look atyou like you’ve lost your mind.
“What do you mean why is it wrong? Anysane person knows it is.” They look
at everything on a horizontal level.
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They refuse to think vertically.
They don’t want to think aboutthe fact that God is offended
when evil like this takes place.
If they do, they know they can’tlive as an atheist or an agnostic.
Either God exists, and there isreal evil in the world because he
defines it, or there is no God, andnothing is really, absolutely evil—
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even the killing of little children.
I’m not saying it’s a badthing that people get upset.
They should be.
It certainly would be a harshworld if most people were not
angry about atrocities like this.
So I’m definitely not complaining.
But I am saying that it is sad thatpeople have to feel this kind of outrage
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before they are shocked to their senses.
I am saying that they ought to feelrighteous indignation about other evils.
And I am saying that thereis a bigger picture that most
people are not thinking about.
Evil is real.
But so is death.
And everyone of us will die.
Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed to mento die once, but after this the judgment.
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The problem I am addressing is notrecognizing God in times of tragedy.
Oh sure, people turn to Godwhen something bad happens.
They cry as all of us do.
They pray to God.
They pray for the families of victims.
But the outrage onlylasts for a day or two.
Then they’re back to their oldroutine of living a selfish life.
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They don’t change.
They don’t turn to God and givetheir lives to him in obedient faith.
They live as though this lifeis the only life there is.
When these tragedies occur, people shouldlend a helping, compassionate hand.
They should be angered and outraged.
But they also need to think deeperabout these questions we are raising.
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They need to reflecton their own mortality.
That’s what Jesus toldsome Jews in Luke 13.
They were telling him about thedeath of some Galileans, and he
told them to look at themselves.
He said, “unless you repent,you will all likewise perish.“
Some do.
They decide to read their Bible.
They may become Christians, or, if theyhave fallen away, they may be restored.
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But many others make no change exceptfor a temporary pause in their busy life.
This is the dimension that needsto be addressed, and that’s why
I’m raising these questions.
And in regard to most discussionsabout this awful problem, many
who talk so boldly about it fallway short in how they look at it.
The answer to this problem isnot to take guns out of the
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hands of law-abiding citizens.
We’re fortunate to live in our country.
We have the second amendmentthat gives us the legal right
to bear arms for protection.
Many in the world don’t enjoythat right and couldn’t afford
one even if it were legal.
But supposedly educated people andpowerful politicians tell us the
answer is to make firearms illegal.
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Anyone with an ounce of perception cansee that they use these tragic killings
as an opportunity to push their agenda.
But common sense, thousands ofyears of history and experience
show how devious their plans areand how foolish their thinking is.
If we take guns away from law – abidingcitizens, who will have them?
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The government and criminals.
And if weapons should be taken away fromcitizens because some abuse them, then
what about knives, hammers and even rocks?
What about other things that arenot considered to be weapons,
but are sometimes used as one?
Cars and trucks kill people everyday – and sometimes drivers use
them intentionally to kill people.
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The hijackers on 9/11 usedplanes to kill 3000 people.
Should we scrap every planeand forget about flying?
Medications save lives, butthey can and do kill people.
The Bible is very clear about this.
Early in the book of Genesis, Godsaid there is a difference between
murder and capital punishment.
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He said that we have the right to killanimals for food in Genesis 9:1-5.
But taking a man’s life isdifferent because, unlike animals,
we are made in the image of God.
Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoever sheds man'sblood, By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God He made man.”This is not the first time murder
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is mentioned in the Bible, but it isthe first time the death penalty is
specifically recorded in Scripture.
And implied by this penalty isthe authority of the government
to use that punishment.
Paul taught this in Romans 13.
He said in verse 4 that governmentsderive their authority from God.
He said they bear the sword,and and God gives them the right
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to use it to execute criminals.
The Bible says that when crimeis not punished, it gets worse.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, “Because thesentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heartof the sons of men is fully set in them
to do evil.” Notice that he doesn'tjust say the evil must be punished.
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He says that it must bepunished speedily or swiftly.
You won't find the law of God in the OldTestament allowing lawbreakers to use
the system to delay their punishment.
Rulers sometimes failed in theirduty to execute justice, but the law
of God demanded swift retaliation.
Jesus Himself taught that we havethe right to use weapons—even
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deadly weapons—to defend ourselves.
In Luke chapter 22, the night beforeHe was crucified, Jesus talked with
his disciples about what they wouldneed after He accomplished His mission.
“And He said to them, ‘When I sentyou without money bag, knapsack, and
sandals, did you lack anything?’ Sothey said, ‘Nothing.' Then He said
to them, ‘But now, he who has a moneybag, let him take it, and likewise
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a knapsack; and he who has no SWORD,let him sell his garment and buy one.
For I say to you that this which iswritten must still be accomplished
in Me (10:08):
“And He was numbered with the transgressors.” For the things concerning
Me have an end.’ So they said, ‘Lord,look, here are two swords.’ And He
said to them, ‘It is enough.’” Jesusis talking about real literal swords.
There is absolutely no reason to say thatHe is using the word sword symbolically.
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What would that mean anyway?
What on earth in this contextwould a sword possibly “symbolize”?
The disciples sure didn'tthink He was speaking in some
kind of figurative fashion.
When Jesus told them they wouldneed a sword, they said that
they had with them two swords.
They were talking about real swords.
Jesus said that wasenough for the time being.
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They would need more later, but atthat moment two swords were sufficient.
The fact is, some of the discipleswere already bearing arms, and they
were doing so with His permission.
We know that one of them wasPeter because he used it rashly
a little while after this.
Judas Iscariot led a mob carrying clubsand swords to the garden to arrest Jesus.
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Peter pulled his sword and cutoff the ear of one of them.
Jesus told Peter, “Put your swordin its place, for all who take the
sword will perish by the sword” [Matt.
26:52]. Remember that Jesus told thema short while before this that if they
didn't have a sword, they were to buy one.
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He certainly didn't tell them to buya sword to keep it as a souvenir.
He didn't mean for them to wearit by their side and never use it.
Jesus cannot be telling Peter here that itis wrong to use a sword for self-defense.
He wouldn’t contradictwhat He just said earlier.
He is telling Peter that this was notthe time or the place for using it.
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All that happened that night andthe day after was a fulfillment of
the prophecies of the Old Testament.
It was necessary forthese things to happen.
Then Jesus warned Peter thatthose who take the sword will
perish or die by the sword.
He is not talking about a man, let's say,who is in his house defending his wife
and children from a vicious attacker.
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Jesus is talking about people whouse deadly weapons rashly without
thinking about what they're doing.
He is talking about people who use thesword as a way of life indiscriminately.
Sometimes there are other,and, better courses of action.
But those who live by thesword, die by the sword.
When Jesus told the disciples to buy asword, they understood the difference
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between a sword and a pruning hook.
They knew that Jesus was not tellingthem they would need something like
a machete to clear small trees.
Everyone in those days understood whata sword was and what its purpose was.
A sword was used to take life.
Of course, some people then usedswords for the wrong reason.
They murdered innocent people.
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Jesus knew this and so did the disciples.
But Jesus was not against owninga weapon of deadly force just
because some people misused them.
He didn’t say that using forcein self-defense is wrong.
He told the disciples to buy a sword!
That is equivalent to telling Christianstoday to use a gun—or, a knife, a stick, a
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rock or even your feet and fists to defendyourselves and especially your loved ones!
This is the point where someare quick to quote what Jesus
said in the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Judgenot, that you be not judged.” That
has nothing to do with defendingyourself against a brutal attacker.
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Jesus is talking about beinghypocritical in judging others.
This is where He talks abouthaving a plank in your eye
while you criticize someone forhaving a speck in his eye [Matt.
7:1-5].
Then there is Matthew 5:39 where Jesussaid, “But whoever slaps you on your
right cheek, turn the other to him also.”This is what is known as a hyperbole—a
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deliberate, intentional exaggeration foremphasis. This is common in the Sermon
on the Mount. Just a few verses earlier,Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you
to sin, pluck it out…And if your righthand causes you to sin, cut it off” [Matt.
5:29-30]. Jesus cannot mean that weare to literally pluck out our physical
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eye or cut off our physical hand.
Why would anyone assume that Jesusmeans for us to literally turn the
other cheek when we know He didn’tmean for us to literally cut our hand
off just a few verses before this?
Then in Matthew 6, Jesus talks abouthypocrites “sounding a trumpet” [Matt.
6:2]. Does anyone think He is talkingabout a literal brass trumpet, or
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a horn used for the same purpose?
He says we are not to let our “left handknow what our right hand “is doing [Matt.
6:2-3]. Does anyone todaythink He means this literally?
If these verses are figures, thenit shouldn’t be strange that turning
the other cheek is a hyperbole.
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Jesus’ words in Luke 22:36 about buying asword give us permission from God to own
a sword or a gun to protect ourselves.
The Second Amendmentrecognizes that right.
It says that “the right of thepeople to keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed.” But the SecondAmendment didn’t GIVE US that right.
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God did.
The Second Amendment merely [andthankfully] acknowledges that right.
That is a distinction that Americans—evenAmerican Christians—sometimes forget.
Why do things like school shootings occur?
Guns are not to blame.
It’s the people who misuse them, andgetting rid of guns is not the answer.
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Even if that were possible, criminalswould still find a way to kill.
They were doing that longbefore guns were invented.
People are to blame, not guns.
But that brings on a whole differentset of questions and issues.
The typical narrative today isthat the shooter is a victim.
He or she has been abused, perhapsseverely, as a child, and has been bullied
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and tormented by classmates at school.
He or she has traumatic internalstruggles with gender identification,
severe anger issues, and strongfeelings of hopelessness and suicide.
When they kill other people, theyare lashing out at life itself.
And the subtle insinuationis that others are to blame.
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Society is at fault.
The shooter is not just avictim of circumstances; he is
a product of his environment.
This pseudo–psychologicalnonsense has been around for
well over 100 years in America.
Clarence Darrow, who defended John T.Scopes in the famous evolution trial in
Dayton Tennessee in 1925, spoke to theinmates in the Chicago County Jail in
1902 (17:14):
“There is no such thing as a crime as the word is generally understood.
I do not believe there is anysort of distinction between
the real moral condition ofthe people in and out of jail.
One is just as good as the other.
The people here can no morehelp being here than the people
outside can avoid being outside.
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I do not believe that people arein jail because they deserve to be.
They are in jail simply becausethey cannot avoid it on account of
circumstances which are entirely beyondtheir control and for which they are in
no way responsible.” I wonder what hewould have said if one of these inmates
had murdered his wife or his child?
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I wonder what he would say about schoolshootings if he were alive today?
The modern field of psychology isstill stuck on the nature or nurture
approach to explaining human behavior.
Psychologists tell us thatpeople do what they do for one
of two reasons or possibly both.
One is that they inheritconditions that cause them to act.
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Homosexuals, some insist,are born that way.
They don’t choose theirsexual orientation.
Drunkards are not to blame fordrinking because their genetic
makeup decides their path in life.
And, violent criminals are the same.
They are born with preconditionsthat cause them to behave
violently and they cannot avoid it.
The other factor is the one we justmentioned: a person’s environment
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makes him what he is—his parents andupbringing, childhood experiences,
health issues, standard of living,education, community attitudes, cultural
expectations and national demandsall form his character and behavior.
Applied to malicious acts of random,ruthless violence, this nature
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and nurture approach creates unduesympathy for the shooter and lessens
or removes responsibility from him.
It is true that ourenvironment influences us.
The way we grow up and the way weare treated or mistreated affects us.
It is also true that conditions of ourbody create challenges in our behavior.
These influences can be so strongthat a person can feel powerless
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to avoid where they lead.
But God didn’t make usor the world that way!
Humanistic psychologists neveradmit the third and most important
factor in human behavior (19:35):
free will.
God made us in His image, that is,in His spiritual likeness [Gen.
1:26]. That is why we have the capacityto reason, to feel emotions, to have
a conscience, and to make choices.
The Bible teaches from beginningto end that we act as we do
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because of our own free will.
In Joshua 24:15 the leader of Israel said,“And if it seems evil to you to serve the
Lord, choose for yourselves this day whomyou will serve…” Moses told the Israelites
in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven andearth as witnesses today against you,
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that I have set before you life and death,blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life…” The book of Hebrews says, “By faithMoses, when he became of age, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy
the passing pleasures of sin” [Heb.
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11:24-25].
There is an old proverb that says,“Like father, like son.” But that
is a proverb, a general truism.It doesn’t happen every time.
A son has the power within him tobe better than his mean father.
Ezekiel 18 is a powerfullesson on this point.
This chapter talks about agood man that has a bad son.
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Then that bad son has a son.
And what did that son do?
Remember, this is the son of the evilman in verses 10-13 and the grandson
of the good man in verses 5-9.
What kind of man did he become?
He became what he chose tobe, just as all of us do.
This son in verse 14 “sees all thesins which his father has done, and
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considers but does not do likewise.”This is an encouraging verse.
It gives hope to children raisedin bad homes by mean parents.
The son in verse 14 saw what hisfather did and thought about it.
He decided not to be like his father.
The Bible takes us to schoolin the field of psychology with
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the story of Cain and Abel.
Beginning in Genesis 4:3 the Bible says,“And in the process of time it came to
pass that Cain brought an offering ofthe fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Abel also brought of the firstbornof his flock and of their fat.
And the Lord respected Abel andhis offering, but He did not
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respect Cain and his offering.
And Cain was very angry,and his countenance fell.
So the Lord said toCain, ‘Why are you angry?
And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well,sin lies at the door.
And its desire is for you, but you shouldrule over it.’ Now Cain talked with Abel
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his brother; and it came to pass, whenthey were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother and killed him.”
All the explanations [or, we mightsay excuses] that modern psychologists
give for criminal behavior goout the window in this story.
Cain didn’t have bad genes.
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He didn’t have abusive parents.
His brother was a good man; Cain couldhave been too if he had wanted to.
They didn’t live in a bad neighborhoodbecause they didn’t have any neighbors.
Cain didn’t give in to peer pressureor hang out with the wrong crowd.
So why did he kill his brother?
According to what we read intextbooks, current studies in
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psychology cannot answer this question.
But, the Bible does, and the answerit gives is plain and simple.
It’s found in I John 3:12.
That verse says we are not to be like“Cain who was of the wicked one and
murdered his brother. And why did hemurder him? Because his works were evil
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and his brother's righteous.” Thereare no alibis or excuses in this verse.
Cain killed his brotherbecause of envy and spite.
He chose to murder Abel.
Nobody and no thing forced him oroverwhelmed him and made him do it.
He did it out of his own free will.
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The same applies to anyone whomurders today, including a young
man who kills others at school.
He may have been influenced by any numberof factors, but at the end of the day he
made the decision to pull the trigger.
This needs to be mentioned more oftenbecause some of those responsible
for recent school shootings andother attacks were homosexuals
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and transgender individuals.
When media sources report this, theydo so because the word is already out.
So, they reluctantly admit the sexualorientation of the perpetrator.
But they focus on how the killerwas mistreated and bullied and
made fun of by other young people.
Again, it’s the same old approach: something in his environment (24:39):
undefined
caused him to be this way.
God describes these choicesfrom a different perspective.
While experts say the root of the problemis physical, God says it is spiritual.
While men say something outside causedhim to do evil things, God says it
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is what is inside him, in his soul.
Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceedevil thoughts, MURDERS, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness,blasphemies” [Matt. 15:19]. Murder comes
from within. Solomon said, “For as hethinks in his heart, so is he” [Prov.
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23:7]. This is why Jesus warnedagainst harbinger anger and resentment
which lead to more anger and contemptand finally end in murder [Matt.
5:21-26]. That is what happened to Cain.
His fury burned until he struckout at his brother and killed him.
There are only a few times in theBible where homosexuals speak.
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One is in Genesis 19.
This is the story of Sodom.
Two angels came to Lot’s house.
When the men of Sodom, both youngand old and in between, came to
Lot’s house, they demanded thatLot send out the two angels so that
these men could have them sexually.
When Lot tried to strike a compromiseby shamefully offering his two
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daughters, they became enraged.
They said, “This one came in to stayhere, and he keeps acting as a judge;
now we will deal worse with you thanwith them” [Gen. 19:9]. They did the
same thing we see today in protestsfrom the gay community: anyone who
disagrees with them is being judgmental,and, they become aggressive and even
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violent when they don’t get their way.
Another case is in Judges 19.
A traveling Levite was staying inthe home of an old man in Gibeah.
That evening some perverted men inthe city came to the door and demanded
that the old man bring out the Leviteso that they could sexually abuse him.
What happened after this isshocking, but is shows how degraded
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and animalistic men become whenthey are ruled by vile passions.
They are driven by pure rage and lust.
In Romans 1 Paul takes usdeeper into the soul of people
in this perverted lifestyle.
They can see from nature that God exists.
Verse 20 says they can clearlysee this and there is no excuse
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for not believing in God.
But, he says in verse 21, some turnedaway from God even though they knew Him.
They chose to worship idols instead.
As they moved further away fromthe Creator in their minds, they
turned to homosexuality—men withmen and women with women [vv.
26-27]. As a result, God let them go.
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Paul said God gave them up.
In verse 28 he said because “they did notlike to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind.”In Greek this means they tested the true
God and didn’t want that kind of God.
So they rejected Himand served other gods.
In response God gave them over to amind that was tested and rejected.
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That means a worthless, debased mindthat is not fit to make moral judgments.
These people knew that God exists.
They knew that their sin wasagainst the nature He created.
But they deliberately andresentfully turned away from Him.
They became like animalsin their moral condition.
An animal only knows what he craves, andif you deny him, he will turn on you.
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This is the part of the homosexualmindset that you don’t hear
about in the mainstream chatter.
Violence is more common and morenatural in homosexuality than
what we are being led to believe.
When men and women are angry at God,angry at life, angry with others
and angry at themselves, they arebound to explode at some point.
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And, for those acts theyare fully responsible.
It is ironic that all of our knowledgetoday has not brought us any closer
to answering the question “Why?”As we end this study of the problem
of evil, we’ve come full circle.
God exists.
There are some things we canunderstand about this issue
and some things we do not.
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As for those questions that wecan find no satisfying answer for,
we must do as Job did and humbleourselves before the Creator.
We must remember that if we don’teven understand how and why God
operates His universe, then we arein no position to be angry with
Him and criticize Him for allowingbad things to happen in this life.
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Solomon said there is nothingnew under the sun [Ecc.
1:9]. A story from 1899illustrates this point well.
David Lipscomb had a nephew namedWilliam Lipscomb, who was a principal
in a public school in Dallas Texas.
Times were hard, and the schoolwas having financial problems.
They were forced to make somecuts in their budget and relieve
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some employees from their jobs.
One of those workers wasa man named John Carlisle.
He was the main janitor of the school.
He evidently blamed WilliamLipscomb for losing his job.
One day he went out and got drunk.
That night a meeting was takingplace at a church in Dallas.
William Lipscomb and his wife andchildren we're sitting toward the front
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of the building during the worship.
Carlisle came in with a pistol,walked up to where William
Lipscomb was sitting, and shot him.
Lipscomb died a couple of days later.
David Lipscomb wrote a brief articleabout this tragic loss to the family
in the Gospel Advocate, July 20, 1899.
He reflected on his nephew's life,saying that Will, as he called
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him, was always a good boy growingup and had grown into a good man.
He was saddened that his wife and fourchildren were left alone without him.
He said., “He was not quite 40 years ofage, and he seemed to have before him
a life of usefulness and happiness. Itseems a strange Providence that one of
his character and usefulness should beslain by a drunken demon, yet things
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sometimes so happen in this world. Wemust learn submission, and trust the
great Judge and Ruler of all things toadjust matters at the final judgment.”
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast on ourwebsite and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
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Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
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share what you've learned with others.
Why would a person take a gun andshoot innocent people– people he’s
(00:21):
never even met, even children?
Everybody seems to be weighing inon this question, from psychologists
to lawmakers to religious leaders.
Atheists and believersalike try to figure it out.
Lawmakers and law enforcementofficials attempt to stop it.
Nurses and therapists do whatthey can to help families heal.
(00:41):
But it keeps happening.
For some of us, this isa much different world.
Oh, there was killing when we weregrowing up, but usually there was a
reason that made sense on some level.
Men got mad at each otherand someone ended up dead.
Soldiers fought and died in battle.
But the kind of random, senselesskilling we see today was rare.
(01:03):
What are we to make of this as Christians?
Some aspects of this evil are almostimpossible for any decent person to
fathom, but the basics are clear.
The problem today is that fewpeople are talking about them.
There is evil—real evil—in the world.
When I say real evil, I mean thingsthat are evil period, without any
(01:24):
question or room for discussion.
It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.
It doesn’t matter how anyone feels.
There are some things that are objectivelywrong regardless of human opinion.
You’re not hearing anyone say it’sright to kill little children.
Of course, it’s wrongto kill innocent adults.
But there is something especiallyheinous about murdering a child.
(01:46):
And the vast majorityof people believe that.
People on all sides of debateabout right and wrong come
together on that part of the issue.
They disagree about what caused it.
They have different viewsabout who’s to blame.
But no one says it is a good thing towalk to a school and shoot children.
But the problem is that mostof these people never think
(02:08):
about why this is wrong.
Is it wrong just because thereis a human law against it?
Is it wrong merely because we havestrong feelings about this act?
Do we call it evil only because themajority of people think it is evil?
No!
It is evil pure and simple.
It is evil in a real, absolute sense.
(02:30):
It is not evil because human beings sayit is evil, and if every human being
on the face of the earth said that itis a good thing to murder children,
that still wouldn’t make it right.
And that leads us to the question a lotof people don’t want to think about.
If human beings don’t decide thismatter of right and wrong that
we’re talking about, then who does?
(02:52):
The answer is obvious.
Murder is not just a sin against humanbeings, it is first and foremost a
violation of the law of Almighty God.
You see, there are people whosay they can’t decide whether
they believe in God or not.
They say there’s not enough evidenceone way or another to decide.
If you ask them if God exists,they say no one really knows.
(03:16):
But when a tragedy like a schoolshooting occurs, they voice their
opinion and they are clear about it.
They say this is wrong.
They say that those childrendidn’t deserve to die.
Whether they feel sorry for theperpetrator and blame society for
making him what he is, or whetherthey think the shooter ought to be
punished, they are sure about one thing.
(03:36):
What happened to the childrenwas just plain wrong.
My experience is that if you ask anatheist or an agnostic why something
like this is wrong, they look atyou like you’ve lost your mind.
“What do you mean why is it wrong? Anysane person knows it is.” They look
at everything on a horizontal level.
(03:57):
They refuse to think vertically.
They don’t want to think aboutthe fact that God is offended
when evil like this takes place.
If they do, they know they can’tlive as an atheist or an agnostic.
Either God exists, and there isreal evil in the world because he
defines it, or there is no God, andnothing is really, absolutely evil—
(04:19):
even the killing of little children.
I’m not saying it’s a badthing that people get upset.
They should be.
It certainly would be a harshworld if most people were not
angry about atrocities like this.
So I’m definitely not complaining.
But I am saying that it is sad thatpeople have to feel this kind of outrage
(04:40):
before they are shocked to their senses.
I am saying that they ought to feelrighteous indignation about other evils.
And I am saying that thereis a bigger picture that most
people are not thinking about.
Evil is real.
But so is death.
And everyone of us will die.
Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed to mento die once, but after this the judgment.
(05:02):
The problem I am addressing is notrecognizing God in times of tragedy.
Oh sure, people turn to Godwhen something bad happens.
They cry as all of us do.
They pray to God.
They pray for the families of victims.
But the outrage onlylasts for a day or two.
Then they’re back to their oldroutine of living a selfish life.
(05:25):
They don’t change.
They don’t turn to God and givetheir lives to him in obedient faith.
They live as though this lifeis the only life there is.
When these tragedies occur, people shouldlend a helping, compassionate hand.
They should be angered and outraged.
But they also need to think deeperabout these questions we are raising.
(05:45):
They need to reflecton their own mortality.
That’s what Jesus toldsome Jews in Luke 13.
They were telling him about thedeath of some Galileans, and he
told them to look at themselves.
He said, “unless you repent,you will all likewise perish.“
Some do.
They decide to read their Bible.
They may become Christians, or, if theyhave fallen away, they may be restored.
(06:08):
But many others make no change exceptfor a temporary pause in their busy life.
This is the dimension that needsto be addressed, and that’s why
I’m raising these questions.
And in regard to most discussionsabout this awful problem, many
who talk so boldly about it fallway short in how they look at it.
The answer to this problem isnot to take guns out of the
(06:32):
hands of law-abiding citizens.
We’re fortunate to live in our country.
We have the second amendmentthat gives us the legal right
to bear arms for protection.
Many in the world don’t enjoythat right and couldn’t afford
one even if it were legal.
But supposedly educated people andpowerful politicians tell us the
answer is to make firearms illegal.
(06:55):
Anyone with an ounce of perception cansee that they use these tragic killings
as an opportunity to push their agenda.
But common sense, thousands ofyears of history and experience
show how devious their plans areand how foolish their thinking is.
If we take guns away from law – abidingcitizens, who will have them?
(07:16):
The government and criminals.
And if weapons should be taken away fromcitizens because some abuse them, then
what about knives, hammers and even rocks?
What about other things that arenot considered to be weapons,
but are sometimes used as one?
Cars and trucks kill people everyday – and sometimes drivers use
them intentionally to kill people.
(07:38):
The hijackers on 9/11 usedplanes to kill 3000 people.
Should we scrap every planeand forget about flying?
Medications save lives, butthey can and do kill people.
The Bible is very clear about this.
Early in the book of Genesis, Godsaid there is a difference between
murder and capital punishment.
(08:00):
He said that we have the right to killanimals for food in Genesis 9:1-5.
But taking a man’s life isdifferent because, unlike animals,
we are made in the image of God.
Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoever sheds man'sblood, By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God He made man.”This is not the first time murder
(08:23):
is mentioned in the Bible, but it isthe first time the death penalty is
specifically recorded in Scripture.
And implied by this penalty isthe authority of the government
to use that punishment.
Paul taught this in Romans 13.
He said in verse 4 that governmentsderive their authority from God.
He said they bear the sword,and and God gives them the right
(08:47):
to use it to execute criminals.
The Bible says that when crimeis not punished, it gets worse.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, “Because thesentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heartof the sons of men is fully set in them
to do evil.” Notice that he doesn'tjust say the evil must be punished.
(09:10):
He says that it must bepunished speedily or swiftly.
You won't find the law of God in the OldTestament allowing lawbreakers to use
the system to delay their punishment.
Rulers sometimes failed in theirduty to execute justice, but the law
of God demanded swift retaliation.
Jesus Himself taught that we havethe right to use weapons—even
(09:33):
deadly weapons—to defend ourselves.
In Luke chapter 22, the night beforeHe was crucified, Jesus talked with
his disciples about what they wouldneed after He accomplished His mission.
“And He said to them, ‘When I sentyou without money bag, knapsack, and
sandals, did you lack anything?’ Sothey said, ‘Nothing.' Then He said
to them, ‘But now, he who has a moneybag, let him take it, and likewise
(09:57):
a knapsack; and he who has no SWORD,let him sell his garment and buy one.
For I say to you that this which iswritten must still be accomplished
in Me (10:08):
“And He was numbered with the transgressors.” For the things concerning
Me have an end.’ So they said, ‘Lord,look, here are two swords.’ And He
said to them, ‘It is enough.’” Jesusis talking about real literal swords.
There is absolutely no reason to say thatHe is using the word sword symbolically.
(10:31):
What would that mean anyway?
What on earth in this contextwould a sword possibly “symbolize”?
The disciples sure didn'tthink He was speaking in some
kind of figurative fashion.
When Jesus told them they wouldneed a sword, they said that
they had with them two swords.
They were talking about real swords.
Jesus said that wasenough for the time being.
(10:53):
They would need more later, but atthat moment two swords were sufficient.
The fact is, some of the discipleswere already bearing arms, and they
were doing so with His permission.
We know that one of them wasPeter because he used it rashly
a little while after this.
Judas Iscariot led a mob carrying clubsand swords to the garden to arrest Jesus.
(11:17):
Peter pulled his sword and cutoff the ear of one of them.
Jesus told Peter, “Put your swordin its place, for all who take the
sword will perish by the sword” [Matt.
26:52]. Remember that Jesus told thema short while before this that if they
didn't have a sword, they were to buy one.
(11:37):
He certainly didn't tell them to buya sword to keep it as a souvenir.
He didn't mean for them to wearit by their side and never use it.
Jesus cannot be telling Peter here that itis wrong to use a sword for self-defense.
He wouldn’t contradictwhat He just said earlier.
He is telling Peter that this was notthe time or the place for using it.
(11:59):
All that happened that night andthe day after was a fulfillment of
the prophecies of the Old Testament.
It was necessary forthese things to happen.
Then Jesus warned Peter thatthose who take the sword will
perish or die by the sword.
He is not talking about a man, let's say,who is in his house defending his wife
and children from a vicious attacker.
(12:21):
Jesus is talking about people whouse deadly weapons rashly without
thinking about what they're doing.
He is talking about people who use thesword as a way of life indiscriminately.
Sometimes there are other,and, better courses of action.
But those who live by thesword, die by the sword.
When Jesus told the disciples to buy asword, they understood the difference
(12:45):
between a sword and a pruning hook.
They knew that Jesus was not tellingthem they would need something like
a machete to clear small trees.
Everyone in those days understood whata sword was and what its purpose was.
A sword was used to take life.
Of course, some people then usedswords for the wrong reason.
They murdered innocent people.
(13:06):
Jesus knew this and so did the disciples.
But Jesus was not against owninga weapon of deadly force just
because some people misused them.
He didn’t say that using forcein self-defense is wrong.
He told the disciples to buy a sword!
That is equivalent to telling Christianstoday to use a gun—or, a knife, a stick, a
(13:28):
rock or even your feet and fists to defendyourselves and especially your loved ones!
This is the point where someare quick to quote what Jesus
said in the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Judgenot, that you be not judged.” That
has nothing to do with defendingyourself against a brutal attacker.
(13:50):
Jesus is talking about beinghypocritical in judging others.
This is where He talks abouthaving a plank in your eye
while you criticize someone forhaving a speck in his eye [Matt.
7:1-5].
Then there is Matthew 5:39 where Jesussaid, “But whoever slaps you on your
right cheek, turn the other to him also.”This is what is known as a hyperbole—a
(14:15):
deliberate, intentional exaggeration foremphasis. This is common in the Sermon
on the Mount. Just a few verses earlier,Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you
to sin, pluck it out…And if your righthand causes you to sin, cut it off” [Matt.
5:29-30]. Jesus cannot mean that weare to literally pluck out our physical
(14:38):
eye or cut off our physical hand.
Why would anyone assume that Jesusmeans for us to literally turn the
other cheek when we know He didn’tmean for us to literally cut our hand
off just a few verses before this?
Then in Matthew 6, Jesus talks abouthypocrites “sounding a trumpet” [Matt.
6:2]. Does anyone think He is talkingabout a literal brass trumpet, or
(15:02):
a horn used for the same purpose?
He says we are not to let our “left handknow what our right hand “is doing [Matt.
6:2-3]. Does anyone todaythink He means this literally?
If these verses are figures, thenit shouldn’t be strange that turning
the other cheek is a hyperbole.
(15:23):
Jesus’ words in Luke 22:36 about buying asword give us permission from God to own
a sword or a gun to protect ourselves.
The Second Amendmentrecognizes that right.
It says that “the right of thepeople to keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed.” But the SecondAmendment didn’t GIVE US that right.
(15:44):
God did.
The Second Amendment merely [andthankfully] acknowledges that right.
That is a distinction that Americans—evenAmerican Christians—sometimes forget.
Why do things like school shootings occur?
Guns are not to blame.
It’s the people who misuse them, andgetting rid of guns is not the answer.
(16:06):
Even if that were possible, criminalswould still find a way to kill.
They were doing that longbefore guns were invented.
People are to blame, not guns.
But that brings on a whole differentset of questions and issues.
The typical narrative today isthat the shooter is a victim.
He or she has been abused, perhapsseverely, as a child, and has been bullied
(16:30):
and tormented by classmates at school.
He or she has traumatic internalstruggles with gender identification,
severe anger issues, and strongfeelings of hopelessness and suicide.
When they kill other people, theyare lashing out at life itself.
And the subtle insinuationis that others are to blame.
(16:51):
Society is at fault.
The shooter is not just avictim of circumstances; he is
a product of his environment.
This pseudo–psychologicalnonsense has been around for
well over 100 years in America.
Clarence Darrow, who defended John T.Scopes in the famous evolution trial in
Dayton Tennessee in 1925, spoke to theinmates in the Chicago County Jail in
1902 (17:14):
“There is no such thing as a crime as the word is generally understood.
I do not believe there is anysort of distinction between
the real moral condition ofthe people in and out of jail.
One is just as good as the other.
The people here can no morehelp being here than the people
outside can avoid being outside.
(17:35):
I do not believe that people arein jail because they deserve to be.
They are in jail simply becausethey cannot avoid it on account of
circumstances which are entirely beyondtheir control and for which they are in
no way responsible.” I wonder what hewould have said if one of these inmates
had murdered his wife or his child?
(17:56):
I wonder what he would say about schoolshootings if he were alive today?
The modern field of psychology isstill stuck on the nature or nurture
approach to explaining human behavior.
Psychologists tell us thatpeople do what they do for one
of two reasons or possibly both.
One is that they inheritconditions that cause them to act.
(18:16):
Homosexuals, some insist,are born that way.
They don’t choose theirsexual orientation.
Drunkards are not to blame fordrinking because their genetic
makeup decides their path in life.
And, violent criminals are the same.
They are born with preconditionsthat cause them to behave
violently and they cannot avoid it.
The other factor is the one we justmentioned: a person’s environment
(18:40):
makes him what he is—his parents andupbringing, childhood experiences,
health issues, standard of living,education, community attitudes, cultural
expectations and national demandsall form his character and behavior.
Applied to malicious acts of random,ruthless violence, this nature
(19:02):
and nurture approach creates unduesympathy for the shooter and lessens
or removes responsibility from him.
It is true that ourenvironment influences us.
The way we grow up and the way weare treated or mistreated affects us.
It is also true that conditions of ourbody create challenges in our behavior.
These influences can be so strongthat a person can feel powerless
(19:26):
to avoid where they lead.
But God didn’t make usor the world that way!
Humanistic psychologists neveradmit the third and most important
factor in human behavior (19:35):
free will.
God made us in His image, that is,in His spiritual likeness [Gen.
1:26]. That is why we have the capacityto reason, to feel emotions, to have
a conscience, and to make choices.
The Bible teaches from beginningto end that we act as we do
(19:57):
because of our own free will.
In Joshua 24:15 the leader of Israel said,“And if it seems evil to you to serve the
Lord, choose for yourselves this day whomyou will serve…” Moses told the Israelites
in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven andearth as witnesses today against you,
(20:18):
that I have set before you life and death,blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life…” The book of Hebrews says, “By faithMoses, when he became of age, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy
the passing pleasures of sin” [Heb.
(20:39):
11:24-25].
There is an old proverb that says,“Like father, like son.” But that
is a proverb, a general truism.It doesn’t happen every time.
A son has the power within him tobe better than his mean father.
Ezekiel 18 is a powerfullesson on this point.
This chapter talks about agood man that has a bad son.
(21:02):
Then that bad son has a son.
And what did that son do?
Remember, this is the son of the evilman in verses 10-13 and the grandson
of the good man in verses 5-9.
What kind of man did he become?
He became what he chose tobe, just as all of us do.
This son in verse 14 “sees all thesins which his father has done, and
(21:28):
considers but does not do likewise.”This is an encouraging verse.
It gives hope to children raisedin bad homes by mean parents.
The son in verse 14 saw what hisfather did and thought about it.
He decided not to be like his father.
The Bible takes us to schoolin the field of psychology with
(21:50):
the story of Cain and Abel.
Beginning in Genesis 4:3 the Bible says,“And in the process of time it came to
pass that Cain brought an offering ofthe fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Abel also brought of the firstbornof his flock and of their fat.
And the Lord respected Abel andhis offering, but He did not
(22:10):
respect Cain and his offering.
And Cain was very angry,and his countenance fell.
So the Lord said toCain, ‘Why are you angry?
And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well,sin lies at the door.
And its desire is for you, but you shouldrule over it.’ Now Cain talked with Abel
(22:34):
his brother; and it came to pass, whenthey were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother and killed him.”
All the explanations [or, we mightsay excuses] that modern psychologists
give for criminal behavior goout the window in this story.
Cain didn’t have bad genes.
(22:56):
He didn’t have abusive parents.
His brother was a good man; Cain couldhave been too if he had wanted to.
They didn’t live in a bad neighborhoodbecause they didn’t have any neighbors.
Cain didn’t give in to peer pressureor hang out with the wrong crowd.
So why did he kill his brother?
According to what we read intextbooks, current studies in
(23:17):
psychology cannot answer this question.
But, the Bible does, and the answerit gives is plain and simple.
It’s found in I John 3:12.
That verse says we are not to be like“Cain who was of the wicked one and
murdered his brother. And why did hemurder him? Because his works were evil
(23:39):
and his brother's righteous.” Thereare no alibis or excuses in this verse.
Cain killed his brotherbecause of envy and spite.
He chose to murder Abel.
Nobody and no thing forced him oroverwhelmed him and made him do it.
He did it out of his own free will.
(23:59):
The same applies to anyone whomurders today, including a young
man who kills others at school.
He may have been influenced by any numberof factors, but at the end of the day he
made the decision to pull the trigger.
This needs to be mentioned more oftenbecause some of those responsible
for recent school shootings andother attacks were homosexuals
(24:19):
and transgender individuals.
When media sources report this, theydo so because the word is already out.
So, they reluctantly admit the sexualorientation of the perpetrator.
But they focus on how the killerwas mistreated and bullied and
made fun of by other young people.
Again, it’s the same old approach: something in his environment (24:39):
undefined
caused him to be this way.
God describes these choicesfrom a different perspective.
While experts say the root of the problemis physical, God says it is spiritual.
While men say something outside causedhim to do evil things, God says it
(25:00):
is what is inside him, in his soul.
Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceedevil thoughts, MURDERS, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness,blasphemies” [Matt. 15:19]. Murder comes
from within. Solomon said, “For as hethinks in his heart, so is he” [Prov.
(25:23):
23:7]. This is why Jesus warnedagainst harbinger anger and resentment
which lead to more anger and contemptand finally end in murder [Matt.
5:21-26]. That is what happened to Cain.
His fury burned until he struckout at his brother and killed him.
There are only a few times in theBible where homosexuals speak.
(25:47):
One is in Genesis 19.
This is the story of Sodom.
Two angels came to Lot’s house.
When the men of Sodom, both youngand old and in between, came to
Lot’s house, they demanded thatLot send out the two angels so that
these men could have them sexually.
When Lot tried to strike a compromiseby shamefully offering his two
(26:08):
daughters, they became enraged.
They said, “This one came in to stayhere, and he keeps acting as a judge;
now we will deal worse with you thanwith them” [Gen. 19:9]. They did the
same thing we see today in protestsfrom the gay community: anyone who
disagrees with them is being judgmental,and, they become aggressive and even
(26:31):
violent when they don’t get their way.
Another case is in Judges 19.
A traveling Levite was staying inthe home of an old man in Gibeah.
That evening some perverted men inthe city came to the door and demanded
that the old man bring out the Leviteso that they could sexually abuse him.
What happened after this isshocking, but is shows how degraded
(26:52):
and animalistic men become whenthey are ruled by vile passions.
They are driven by pure rage and lust.
In Romans 1 Paul takes usdeeper into the soul of people
in this perverted lifestyle.
They can see from nature that God exists.
Verse 20 says they can clearlysee this and there is no excuse
(27:13):
for not believing in God.
But, he says in verse 21, some turnedaway from God even though they knew Him.
They chose to worship idols instead.
As they moved further away fromthe Creator in their minds, they
turned to homosexuality—men withmen and women with women [vv.
26-27]. As a result, God let them go.
(27:36):
Paul said God gave them up.
In verse 28 he said because “they did notlike to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind.”In Greek this means they tested the true
God and didn’t want that kind of God.
So they rejected Himand served other gods.
In response God gave them over to amind that was tested and rejected.
(28:00):
That means a worthless, debased mindthat is not fit to make moral judgments.
These people knew that God exists.
They knew that their sin wasagainst the nature He created.
But they deliberately andresentfully turned away from Him.
They became like animalsin their moral condition.
An animal only knows what he craves, andif you deny him, he will turn on you.
(28:25):
This is the part of the homosexualmindset that you don’t hear
about in the mainstream chatter.
Violence is more common and morenatural in homosexuality than
what we are being led to believe.
When men and women are angry at God,angry at life, angry with others
and angry at themselves, they arebound to explode at some point.
(28:47):
And, for those acts theyare fully responsible.
It is ironic that all of our knowledgetoday has not brought us any closer
to answering the question “Why?”As we end this study of the problem
of evil, we’ve come full circle.
God exists.
There are some things we canunderstand about this issue
and some things we do not.
(29:09):
As for those questions that wecan find no satisfying answer for,
we must do as Job did and humbleourselves before the Creator.
We must remember that if we don’teven understand how and why God
operates His universe, then we arein no position to be angry with
Him and criticize Him for allowingbad things to happen in this life.
(29:30):
Solomon said there is nothingnew under the sun [Ecc.
1:9]. A story from 1899illustrates this point well.
David Lipscomb had a nephew namedWilliam Lipscomb, who was a principal
in a public school in Dallas Texas.
Times were hard, and the schoolwas having financial problems.
They were forced to make somecuts in their budget and relieve
(29:51):
some employees from their jobs.
One of those workers wasa man named John Carlisle.
He was the main janitor of the school.
He evidently blamed WilliamLipscomb for losing his job.
One day he went out and got drunk.
That night a meeting was takingplace at a church in Dallas.
William Lipscomb and his wife andchildren we're sitting toward the front
(30:13):
of the building during the worship.
Carlisle came in with a pistol,walked up to where William
Lipscomb was sitting, and shot him.
Lipscomb died a couple of days later.
David Lipscomb wrote a brief articleabout this tragic loss to the family
in the Gospel Advocate, July 20, 1899.
He reflected on his nephew's life,saying that Will, as he called
(30:36):
him, was always a good boy growingup and had grown into a good man.
He was saddened that his wife and fourchildren were left alone without him.
He said., “He was not quite 40 years ofage, and he seemed to have before him
a life of usefulness and happiness. Itseems a strange Providence that one of
his character and usefulness should beslain by a drunken demon, yet things
(31:02):
sometimes so happen in this world. Wemust learn submission, and trust the
great Judge and Ruler of all things toadjust matters at the final judgment.”
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast on ourwebsite and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
(31:22):
or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providingChristian education since 1975
in Cookeville, Tennessee, offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
Study at your level.
Aim higher and get in touch with us today.
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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel