Not the Author of Evil: How the Bible Holds Sovereignty and Agency Together

In episode 60, Who Causes Sickness? - Episode 060. I explored the question: "Who/what causes sickness?" One perspective that has been prevalent throughout Christian history is the notion that Satan, as a biblical entity, may be involved in causing sickness. 

Surprisingly, that's actually not the case.  It's surprising because the book of Job presents a narrative in which Satan is given permission by God to afflict Job with various trials, including illness. Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus encounters multiple individuals who are said to be possessed by demons, which are often associated with Satan and are believed to cause physical and mental ailments.  

So why do I say that Satan/demonic forces are not the cause of sickness?  Well, you can listen to the episode to get the full scoop on why I say that, but here's a few thoughts for consideration.  

God’s Sovereignty, Human Agency, and the Question of Temptation

The Bible does, in fact, cast God as sovereign over everything—sometimes directly, sometimes through secondary means. In fact, if you do a survey of sickness in Scripture, it’s not Satan or anyone else who is ultimately in control; it is God who permits and governs these things.

That might feel like a point in favor of Calvinism, but only if you also presume that humanity has no agency of its own and no participation in the matter.

Here’s an interesting thing: if you read the Dead Sea Scrolls, you’ll see the same kinds of patterns, but if you read Calvinism into them, you’d be sorely mistaken. The people of Qumran believed they were the elect righteous, but they also believed they had to do a lot to get there. They weren’t just God’s elect because He had chosen them; they had made choices to repent, align themselves with God’s will, and return to what they believed was “correct” worship.

Going back into the biblical context, sickness and calamity usually come as a result of judgment on human choices and desires. That’s not Calvinistic determinism. Even if you want to try to fit compatibilism in, it doesn’t quite work, because those judgments have a point—and that point is repentance.

This also highlights another reality: God will often turn away wrath and consequence when people act in accordance with His will or repent. That dynamic is all over the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament alike.

The book of Job is a fascinating case study. It shows us that we don’t always know why we suffer, and sometimes the simplistic answers of Job’s friends aren’t the reason at all. God is not beholden to us to explain Himself. He can test whom He will test, and how. But even in Job’s story, Satan is the immediate agent of affliction, while God sets the boundaries. The sovereignty of God never makes Him the author of evil; it shows that even suffering and calamity are woven into His larger redemptive purposes.

At the end of the day, the biblical picture is not of a God who tempts us into sin, but of a God who is sovereign enough to govern the arena in which temptation and judgment unfold—without being the source of evil Himself. Our call is to live faithfully within that tension, trusting His goodness even when His purposes remain hidden.

Appendix: Key Passages

James 1:13
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

1 Samuel 19:9–10
“Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.”

Job 1:8–12
“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?’ … Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

To learn more about this topic, listen to the podcast episode, "Who Causes Sickness? - Episode 060"
https://www.genesismarksthespot.com/who-causes-sickness-episode-060/.