The Christian worldview concerning this central problem is utterly unique. When compared to other belief systems, it is singularly profound, satisfying, and comforting. In fact, in the end, I’m convinced the Christian worldview is the only one that adequately deals with evil and suffering.

We live in a post-Christian era. Among Westerners, especially, the Christian worldview is increasingly unpopular. Non-Christian worldviews are winning the public relations war, replacing Christianity’s seemingly old and repressive way of thinking with more positive, progressive, and inclusive ideologies. People suppose the Christian faith has been tried and found wanting, when in fact, to paraphrase G. K. Chesterton, they have been repeatedly told it’s wanting and therefore have never tried it.

Popular culture, despite its shallowness, has a far-reaching influence on the average person’s worldview. This entertainment-driven and self-gratification-obsessed blend of pop psychology, pop philosophy, and pop theology has become its own worldview. Never have people needed to hear the biblical worldview more—and perhaps never have they been more culturally conditioned to dismiss it.

The fact that there are fewer nominal Christians today is good. It’s better for people to deny the Christian faith outright than to profess it in weak and shallow ways. Many have become immune to Christianity by contracting a mild and unbiblical form of it. Some find, as C. S. Lewis did, that after getting far enough away from a false Christianity, they can see with fresh eyes what true Christianity is—a dynamic and persuasive competitor in the marketplace of ideas.

Everyone has a worldview, inconsistent and superficial though it might be. Non-Christians often raise concerns about evil and suffering as if they present a problem exclusively for the Christian worldview. But every worldview must attempt to account for them. As I have compared the Christian worldview to others, I have found it both comprehensive and satisfying. I believe the greatest test of any worldview is how it deals with the problem of evil and suffering. And Scripture’s redemptive story passes that test with remarkable depth and substance.   

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