Frank Turek, a Christian apologetics speaker, author and mentor to Charlie Kirk, visited the University as part of his college tour, “If God, Why Evil?,” on Thursday, hosted by Turning Point USA Alabama.
Turek focused on why suffering remains central to debates about Christianity, telling students that the question of evil cannot be separated from conversations about morality, free will and how tragedy shapes belief.
“Evil doesn’t disprove God,” Turek said. “You can’t call something evil unless there is good, and there can’t be good unless God exists.”
He said that the Christian explanation for suffering begins with free will.
“God didn’t want robots,” he said. “Freedom allows love, but freedom also allows evil. God is responsible for the fact of freedom, but humans are responsible for their acts of freedom.”
Caleb Elmore, a junior accounting major, said Turek’s comments about the purpose of the church and believers stood out to him most.
“The way he talked about building up believers really stuck with me,” Elmore said.
He added that he appreciated TPUSA’s range of speakers.
“I love that they bring people to talk about political issues, cultural issues and Christian topics all in the same room,” he said.
Turek referenced what he called the ‘ripple effect,’ arguing that tragedies can lead to outcomes people can’t see.
“You can’t say no good has come from it, because you don’t know,” Turek said.“A God outside of time can see the whole picture, even when we can’t.”
Turek said Kirk’s assassination was a “life-changing emotional event.”
“You will never forget where you were and what you were doing when you heard Charlie Kirk was shot,” Turek said.
Will Notarfrancesco, vice president of TPUSA Alabama, said the chapter was happy when Turek reached out about speaking because of his work and relationship with Kirk.
“We really like his work and him being so close to Charlie, that was the opportunity,” he said.
