The Wickedness of Man
by Gene Johns 

I recently read a post by a Christian friend. It was a quote from an English Presbyterian minister, theologian, and biblical commentator of the late 17th and early 18th centuries—Matthew Henry.

The quote was, in part:

“The wickedness of man, and the patience of God, as it were, contend which shall be most wonderful.”
—Matthew Henry (1662–1714)

Now, I may not be the sharpest knife in the kitchen drawer, but I’m not a butter knife either. Yet I must admit his words left me flummoxed. What is he talking about?

So, I did what a lot of people do these days: I asked AI for clarification. The result was:

In modern English, Henry is essentially saying:

Human wickedness and God’s patience seem to be competing with each other to see which is more astonishing.

In other words, Henry sees two remarkable things:

1. Human beings can behave with extraordinary wickedness.
2. Yet God shows extraordinary patience by allowing them to continue living rather than immediately punishing them.

Thanks, AI.

The translation from old-fashioned English into modern-day American English was a big help. It also brought into focus something in Henry’s statement that I take issue with—his characterization of mankind as wicked while seemingly exempting God from the same judgment.

Let me explain.

Before I go any further, let’s define wickedness. One definition of wickedness is morally wrong, evil, or deliberately harmful behavior—actions or attitudes that violate accepted standards of goodness or morality.

There may be other definitions of wickedness, but I will accept that one for the purpose of this discussion.

No doubt, the history of mankind is full of morally wrong, evil, and deliberately harmful behavior. One name that immediately comes to mind and meets all those descriptions is Hitler. He is probably the person most people think of when describing wickedness in world history. Of course, there are many others.

But here is one name I associate with wickedness that I am sure you didn’t see coming—God.

Wait. What? Did I just call God wicked?

Yes, I unapologetically did.

Here is why.

There are many actions attributed to God in the Bible that, by the definition above, I consider wicked. I could cite many of them, but there is no need to belabor the point. A few examples will suffice.

My first example of the wickedness attributed to God is the killing of the Egyptian firstborn because Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites. There were no restrictions on age, so the firstborn would not have been limited to adults. They could have included infants, toddlers, and children.

God did not even limit the slaughter to Pharaoh, government officials, slaveholders, soldiers, or Egyptians who personally participated in Israel’s oppression. The punishment extended throughout Egypt, even to “the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon,” meaning people with no apparent role in Pharaoh’s decision were also affected.

By ordinary standards of morality, killing innocent people because of the actions of someone else would be considered wicked. Yet when God does it in the biblical account, he continues to be described by his followers as loving and compassionate.

Another example is found in 1 Samuel 15:2–3, King James Version (KJV):

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

Again, God commands the killing of women and children—not to mention animals that could hardly be held responsible for anything. If anyone other than God ordered the killing of men, women, infants, and children, we would consider it barbaric and criminal.

My last example—and there are many more—is probably the grandest example of them all.

Genesis 6:7 (KJV) says:

“And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

Wait. The perfect, all-knowing God regretted making mankind? The KJV says “it repenteth me,” while modern translations commonly use words such as “regretted.” But either way, it raises an obvious question: How can an all-knowing God regret creating mankind if he knew beforehand what mankind would become?

And because of mankind’s wickedness, according to the story, God destroys virtually everything on Earth with a flood.

Can you imagine the horror and fear children would have experienced? God is said to be loving and compassionate, yet the biblical account has him choosing an extraordinarily violent way to end life.

Children would have watched parents drown. Parents would have watched children drown. Imagine the fear and trauma. An all-powerful God could presumably have ended their lives instantly and painlessly. Yet, according to the story, he chose a flood.

By any standard we ordinarily apply to human conduct, destroying virtually the entire human population would constitute mass killing on an unimaginable scale. Yet because the actor in the story is God, the action is not called wicked.

There is one saving “grace”—a figure of speech, not a statement of belief—about these examples of God’s wickedness: I don’t believe they actually happened.

There is little or no independent historical or archaeological evidence that these events occurred as described in the Bible. My argument is not that God literally committed these atrocities. I am judging the character of God as he is portrayed in the biblical narrative. If we are going to call mankind wicked based on certain actions, then it seems reasonable to apply the same moral standard to actions attributed to God.

The three examples I mentioned come from ancient biblical stories. But the question of God’s responsibility does not necessarily end in ancient times—at least not if one believes God is real and the Bible is the “Word of God.”

How could God bear responsibility for suffering today?

Consider diseases, cancer, viruses, birth defects, deformities, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and other natural catastrophes. If God created the world, knows everything that will happen, possesses the power to intervene, and nevertheless allows these things to occur, then it seems fair to ask what responsibility he bears for the resulting suffering.

Isaiah 45:7 (KJV) says:

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”

Some modern translations render the Hebrew word translated as “evil” in the KJV as “calamity” or “disaster” rather than moral evil. Fair enough. But that does not eliminate the problem. Even with that translation, God is portrayed as taking responsibility for calamity.

Matthew Henry’s statement contrasts the wickedness of mankind with the patience of God. In my view, that applies a moral standard to mankind that is not applied equally to God.

Is wickedness within mankind?

Yes, it is.

But if God created mankind, where did mankind’s capacity for wickedness come from? Man may choose whether to act wickedly, but according to the Bible, God created man with the capacity to make that choice.

Perhaps Genesis 1:27 (KJV) is more revealing than we realize:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Perhaps mankind’s wickedness is simply a reflection of the one who made them.

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