Problem of Evil Answered in Waterdeep’s 18 Bullet Holes

Last updated on: February 8, 2024 at 3:46 pm by Dennis Knapp

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Problem of Evil Answered in Waterdeep’s 18 Bullet Holes 2024-02-08T15:46:42-06:00 Dennis Knapp

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Anyone familiar with contemporary Christian music understands that most lacks any real theological substance. Most seem like a typical love song with the words “God” and “Jesus” in place of the usual love interest of the singer/songwriter. One exception to this rule is 18 Bullet Holes by the husband-and-wife band Waterdeep. Aside from the beauty of the music, the lyrics reflect a true understanding of suffering and how Jesus enters our suffering and understands it. We see this reality also in the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 when he states:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Below, I share the words to this amazing song. As you read the lyrics, I recommend also listening to the music in the link provided above. I’ll be back at the end to offer a reflection. Cheers.

18 Bullet Holes by Don Chaffer

18 bullet holes in the body of a priest
They say he was eating a hot dog when the ammunition was released.
They say he was always fat and lazy but he was an awfully nice guy.
That’s just one more death to show you you never know when you’re gonna die.
You might be facing the beast

Sometimes, God, I feel like I’m living in a bone grinding mill
And every time I hear the sound I can barely stand still
It’s a thing I can’t quite make out sometimes but it seems to keep getting louder-
One more body from the valley of the dry bones getting ground up into powder
Against Your holy will

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Why don’t You come and help me out?
‘Cause I can’t even see clear

The funny thing about the way a girl gets destroyed
About the way that deal goes down
Is that everybody pretty much sees it coming at the sister
From all the way across town
And she isn’t always blinded, she isn’t always far astray
She just might not be thinking, she might be having a bad day
But when you choose, you choose, and when you drown, you drown

Last night I dreamed that You swallowed me into Yourself
And I was floating on the sea inside
When I landed on the shore, I saw all these people that I thought had died
I hadn’t seen some of them for ages
They had left without a single word
And when I said something to them, not a single one of them had heard

They were all looking right through everything like it wasn’t even there
Some were full of anger, some full of fear
And then I recognized that something very sad
But very beautiful was happening right here
They were all caught outside standing alone in a very heavy rain
And when a raindrop landed on my tongue
I didn’t need You to explain
That these were Your tears

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Oh, that’s right, You know so well
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear

Reflection

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Why don’t You come and help me out?
‘Cause I can’t even see clear

Oh, God, it hurts so bad to love anybody down here
Oh, that’s right, You know so well
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear
One thorny crown, three nails, and a spear

Indeed, it does hurt to “love anybody down here.” No one who truly understands suffering in our world denies this fact. However, we do seek to understand it, and for theists, how God allows it. On the other hand, atheists throw up their hands in the face of suffering and declare, “see God does not care, therefore, God does not exist.” And, if he did care, He’d “come and help me out…” The song, and St. Paul, answer in reply that He did “come” and we crucified Him. Through Christ, God entered our suffering, and experienced the worst of it firsthand.

The answer to the “problem of evil” is Christ Jesus.