“SINCE EVIL AND SUFFERING EXIST A LOVING GOD CANNOT”
The Case for Faith! Lee Strobel…
Couple of Quotes…
Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how come evil’s in the world?
Epicurus, philosopher
The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith, and has been in every generation. Its distribution and degree appear to be entirety random, and therefore unfair. Sensitive spirits ask if it can possibly be reconciled with God’s justice and love.
John Stott, theologian
I’ll never forget the experience I had with a dermatologist friend of mine (Bruce Connor) who openly wept because of the suffering he was experiencing firsthand in his practice. How can God be allowing this? Why doesn’t He heal if He can? What can we do about it? I don’t know if I can follow a God like this? If we turn our back on God Bruce – in heaven’s name who do we turn to?
Hardships, suffering, heartbreak, man’s inhumanity to man—these were my regular diet as a young itinerant. This was the grit and pain of life, up close and personal. I’ve looked into the eyes of a young mother who had just been told that her only daughter had been molested; I’ve listened to courtroom testimony describing gruesome horrors that had been perpetrated against innocent victims, I’ve visited noisy and chaotic prisons, the trash heaps of society; low budget nursing homes where the elderly languish after being abandoned by their loved ones; paediatric hospital wards where emaciated children fight vainly against the inexorable advance of cancer; and crime riddled inner cities areas where drug trafficking and drive by shootings are all too common. Nothing prepared me for the Metharé Slums of Kenya in January of 2004…lining both sides of the noisy, filthy, congested alleyways, as far as the eye could see, were small cardboard and tin huts, situated right next to the road where buses and cars would spew their exhaust and soot. Naked children played in the open sewage ditches that coursed through the area. People with missing limbs or bodies contorted by deformities sat passively in the dirt; insects buzzed everywhere! It was a horrific scene, a place where, one taxi driver told me, people are born on the sidewalk, live their entire lives on the side walk, and die a premature death on the sidewalk. Where is God in these hell holes?
We recently emerged from a century unprecedented in its cruelty and inhumanity, where victims of tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse-tung are numbered in the tens of millions. The vastness of the cruelty numbs our minds, but then occasionally we come across a story that personalizes the horror and makes us shudder anew.
We read stories like that—horrible evils like the Holocaust, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the genocide of Rwanda, and the torture chambers of South America, the Bali bombing and 9/11—and we can’t help but wonder: Where is God?
We watch television coverage of earthquakes and hurricanes in which thousands perish, and we wonder: Why didn’t God stop it?
We read the statistic that one thousand million people in the world lack the basic necessities of life, and we wonder: Why doesn’t God care?
We may suffer ourselves with persistent pain or aching loss or seemingly hopeless circumstances, and we wonder: Why doesn’t God help?
If He is loving and if he is allpowerful and if he is good, then surely all of this suffering should not exist. And yet it does.
What’s worse, it’s often the innocent who are victimized. “If only villains got broken backs or cancers, if only cheaters and crooks got Parkinson’s disease, we should see a sort of celestial justice in the universe,” wrote agnosticturnedChristian Sheldon Vanauken.
Christian author Philip Yancey begins his celebrated book on suffering with a chapter appropriately titled, “A Problem That Won’t Go Away”.
This is not just an intellectual issue to be debated in sterile academic arenas; it’s an intensely personal matter that can tie our emotions into knots and leave us with spiritual vertigodisoriented, frightened, and angry.
One writer referred to the problem of pain as “the question mark turned like a fishhook in the human heart.”
Does the presence of suffering necessarily mean the absence of God?
Is this obstacle to faith insurmountable? To believe wholeheartedly in a loving and omnipotent Father, do I have to paper over the reality of evil, pain and suffering around me?
The question of suffering and the presence of evil are two issues that can be discussed together.
It is a question that is a problem for only a person who believes in God! Please notice the question or the statement as you rightly put it, people blame God as no doubt your relatives have done. The point to take note of is that the pagan or unbeliever does not have a person to complain to with their question, rather, they need to figure out why there is suffering in the first place!
When a person allows for the existence of God, then they are confronted with this problem of "How could God allow evil or suffering?"
Ravi Zacharias said…If the question of evil and suffering is raised against the very existence of God, then there is a philosophical problem to be faced! You see to assume there is evil, is to assume there is good; to assume there is evil and good is to assume there is a moral law to tell the difference; to allow that there is a moral law, we must find out whose law is it? There must be a moral law giver! Who is that? To accept that there is evil does not dispense with God!
There are only a number of possibilities that are available to explain the world as we know and understand it. It might be suggested......
1.That there IS no world at all, rather than this world!
The problem here is that this alternative does not explain our existence and the world that we do live in or...
2. That God create a non-moral world like that of the rest of the animal kingdom.
You know a kind of dog eat dog existence, a literal survival of the fittest. Who of us would want to live in this kind of world?
3. That God create a world of limited freedom
A world whereGod made us do the things that were right and in the best interest of mankind. A world where God would only create those that would choose God! The problem with this is that you could never experience love, because love caused is not love at all. We would be nothing more than puppets on a string. God could create a world like this but we would be nothing more than a machine. God apparently thought it worth the risk of creating us as we are, with the freedom to exercise choice
4. That this is the best of all possible Worlds
The best of all possible ways to usher in the best of all possible worlds.
We must never forget the Bible teaches that when God created man, he created him in His image, perfect! Man was not created as an evil being! Man was given the freedom of choice. He was given the ability to obey or disobey God.
If man had chosen to obey God there would not have been a problem, nor would there be the problems that we face today. Much of the suffering we see in the world today is the result of either mans personal rebellion against God's standards or the accumulated result of mans sin and its effect upon the world. God intended for man to enjoy a great relationship with Him. The tragedy is that the first man rebelled and we have all been in support one way or another since then!!
Evil came into this world through man's disobedience. This is what the Apostle Paul mentioned
Romans 5:12 (NIV) “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
The fact is that no man is an island, totally isolated and able to live for or by himself. Seeing man has disobeyed and broken God's standards, evil and suffering pervade the universe in many ways.
We must not overlook the presence of evil in us all. It's important to note that God could stamp out all evil at a moments notice if that was His desire. It is good to have the reminder of Jeremiah who said…
Lamentations 3:22, 23 “Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
You see, if God were to rid the world of all evil and suffering at midnight tonight, who of us would be here in the morning to talk about it? God would do a complete job!! None of us would escape!!
Cause and Effect Principle!
Simply put, because of sin, the breakdown of the perfect world that God created, we all in some way are affected. Motor vehicle accidents, poison chemicals, airplanes etc. are good examples.
These things along with a myriad of others because they are man made etc. are prone to malfunction, accident, or misuse. God didn't make the plane, but there is the cause and effect principle at work that often means accidents and tragedies.
God has done Something!
On the positive side of the discussion, God has done something about the problem of evil and suffering. He gave His son to die for the evil of man.
Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.”
The consequences of evil for eternity was forever removed through Jesus' death on the cross for us. All rebellion against God is forgiven and God gives us the power to choose to do what is right. God hasn't been watching from a grandstand. He knew the problems man faced and through Christ intervened and did something about it at great cost. The Christian then…
Romans 8:28 "Knows that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
He is able to trust God no matter how bleak the circumstances. His hope extends beyond this life.
It is clear too that some sickness and suffering is allowed by God as punishment and judgment. It seems from the Bible that God allows this with a view to shaping our character or restoring us to a position of fellowship with Him. Nowhere is there the indication as you rightly point out that God is there just wanting to zap us because we are evil.
In my personal search for an answer to your question it has led me to several conclusions
- Evil and suffering is a fact.
- We have played a part in it.
- That’s why the innocent and little children are accepted by God because they are not accountable for their lives. The bible teaches that a person is alive in their relationship with God before their understanding of the truth (Romans 7v9).
- The only practical solution to the problem of evil is God's solution, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel tells of the time in a concentration camp he witnessed a hanging. Somebody muttered while witnessing this atrocity, “Where is God? Where is He?” Wiesel said a voice within him answered, Right on the gallows, where else?
Only because of the Cross is such an answer possible. This is the wonder of the Gospel – God, who alone is sovereign and holy, triumphed not in spite of evil, but through it, and now beckons us to trust in His purpose and character.
But, there is an added truth. When Jesus was on the cross, in agony He cried,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).
Just when Jesus, to all appearances, was abandoned in isolation, He was in reality in the centre of His Father’s will.
Evil and suffering are not identical terms
Somewhere we have lost sight that pain is the most potent indicator of what evil does, and must lead us to the Cross of Christ, through which we arrive at the Resurrection. There love stands confirmed and all tears will be wiped away, because all evil ceases.
At least for the Christian there is an answer. For the sceptic, even the question is unjustifiable.
I want to encourage you to love your friends and loved ones. As you have opportunity, share the hope and love of Christ. Point them to the only real solution, a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I wrote this article and sent it to the West Australian and published it in the Contact etc. after 9/11 I would like to read it to you…
Why 9/11?
An answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God's image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centred and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt.
Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.
God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it, evil would vanish. But God doesn't want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.
Yes, God could have kept the terrorists from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God also would have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.
You may hear misguided minds say, "This must have been God's will."
Nonsense!
In a world of free choices, God's will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don't blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: "Love your neighbour as yourself."
In heaven, God's will is done perfectly. That's why there is no sorrow, pain or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God's will everyday. It isn't automatic.
This is why Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
The Bible explains the root of evil:
"This is the crisis we're in: God's light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness ... because they were not really interested in pleasing God" (John 3:19, Message).
We're far more interested in pleasing ourselves.
There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often chooses to ignore what God wants us to do.
We were made for a relationship with God, but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide and direct us through our grief. But it's your choice.
Peter Kreeft. Making Sense Out of Suffering.Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant, 1986.
Philip Yancey. Where is God When It Hurts?Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1990.
Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes, When God Weeps.Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1997.
Luis Palau. Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?New York: Doubleday, 1999.