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God, Evil, and Suffering - Does God Really Care?Mike Edwards Please see my website: for additional writings on subjects within this book as well as other topics All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible: Today’s New International Version, Copyright 2005 by the Zondervan Corporation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the author. Updated December 17, 2018The gods of the nations in biblical times were described as either male or female. By contrast, the Jews did not speculate about the gender of God. God is referred to as father and a pregnant woman crying out in labor (Isaiah 42:14). In the Old Testament the word for God’s spirit is feminine. The Greek noun for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is gender-neutral. Female and male best describe God’s image (Genesis 1:26), though it is doubtful God has a vagina or penis. We may best capture God’s essence when we think of God as our Perfect Parent as opposed to our Heavenly Father, especially for those who have a poor example of an earthly father. Unfortunately, most languages do not have gender-neutral pronouns. Because of this frustration, sometimes I will use God a second time in a sentence than She/He. I have also decided to begin using the gender neutral pronouns their/they/them when referring to God. CONTENTSIntroduction3Why Does It Matter We Understand God’s Role In Suffering?4My Story5Section I: Does The Bible Really Say God Is Mysterious, Incomprehensible, Or Unjust?Is God A Mystery?7Does The Book Of Job Support God Is Incomprehensible or Unjust9Section II: Why, God?What Is A Brief Answer To Evil, Suffering And God’s Goodness?12Did God Create Evil?14Did God Foreknow About Evil Before Creating?16Why Did God Risk Creating? 18Does God Cause Suffering? 19Why Can’t God Intervene More In Suffering?21What Is God’s Response?22Final Words24Appendix A: Is God Rational Humanly Speaking?25Appendix B: Why Doesn’t God Intervene In Natural Disasters Since Human 26 Freedom Not Involved?Appendix C: Questions For Discussion27Bibliography28Introduction Providing a satisfactory answer to the coexistence of evil, suffering, and God’s goodness is difficult, but answers to certain questions help reason if God is caring or uncaring. Can we begin to understand evil, suffering, and God goodness or is God simply a mystery? Where does evil originate from? Did God know evil would come into the world before creating? Why did God risk creating if God knew evil and suffering would or could happen? Does God cause suffering that has resulted from so much evil in the world? If God does not cause suffering, why can’t God intervene more in suffering? What is God’s response to all the evil and suffering in the world? The words “evil” and “suffering” are often interchangeable. Where there is evil there is suffering; where there is suffering there is evil. (I address briefly evil in nature as opposed to human evil in an Appendix.) The Bible is where many ideas about God, evil, and suffering originate. I argue that the Bible does not say God is a mystery or incomprehensible when it comes to evil. I also believe God did not create evil, God creating was a risk any parent would take, God does not cause suffering, and God doesn’t intervene more because true love is uncontrolling. (See Chapter 3 for a summary of chapters to come.) Many suggest there aren’t answers to the age-old question of “Why, God.” Not everything about God is necessarily explainable and faith may be required, but I don’t believe God says “I am God, you aren’t, so shut up!” Some answers just are not acceptable to the heart or brain when it comes to understanding a supposedly, loving God. It is suggested we are made in God’s image, so why would God be any less loving than a perfect human parent? Most non-Bible or Bible-oriented folks agree that God must be or is the perfect Lover. The most obvious way to understand such a God is to assume perfect human and God love are one in the same. Thus, I do not accept certain traditional beliefs such as Hell. Hell is not a translation but substitution for certain Hebrew and Greek words. Hell is an invention over the centuries to scare people into submission and obedience. Gehenna translated as Hell in the New Testament, is a proper noun that requires no translation. Gehenna is the name of a real, literal, this-world valley nearby Jerusalem that has a history. These matters are important because I do not believe a good God could possibly be a sadistic torturer, thus evil. Explanations about God, evil, and suffering must be rational to the human mind. Some answers given by those who believe Scriptures are inspired by God aren’t comforting or convincing. I will argue that God is not a mysterious, incomprehensible Deity. I write to spiritual seekers who have been turned off by teachings about God's nature that are false or disputable. I also write for those who lack intimacy with their Creator because of certain understandings about God's character. Why follow or seek wisdom from Someone you do not respect or trust? There are countless interpretations of the Bible, so I err on the side of God is love according to human reasoning. (See Appendix I how perfect human and godly love are one and the same.)Why Does It Matter We Understand God’s Role in Suffering? Beliefs matter. One’s beliefs about race or gender can lead to inequalities. Personal beliefs about what God is really like can either alienate us or draw us closer to God. What we teach about God can make it difficult for others to turn to God. Some people may be more open or intimate with God if less confused about certain characteristics of God. Why follow a God you don’t understand or you think is irrational or immoral? Rational and relationship coherence is important when it relates to God’s character. Close relationships, either personal or spiritual, are what inspire us to be the kind of persons we deep down desire to be. Spiritual pursuers may not agree with many Christian beliefs for good reason. It could make a difference for some if they discovered that the Bible doesn’t teach men have any authority over women and there really is a difference between Christianity and strains of other religions that proscribe certain oppressive gender roles and prohibitions. What if you discovered Hell is a human invention and God is not a sadistic torturer, trying to scare people into submission and obedience. Hell as endless torture is not biblical and must be rejected. What different beliefs would make a difference in your relationship with God and in your conversations with others if you discovered there was a biblical alternative? We are in need of reformation of some of our beliefs about God. We must consider other opinions and test our beliefs against Scripture and moral intuitions. The Pharisees believed for self-serving reasons than the desire to know their Creator better. Their representation of God was unacceptable to Jesus. I hope any beliefs you have that are stumbling blocks for you or others will be reconsidered. When there are two debatable interpretations that can stand up to scrutiny, we must err on the side that portrays God as the most relational to the human spirit and comprehensible to the human mind. Some may turn away from God for selfish or apathetic reasons and not because of some confusion or disenchantment with God’s character, but bad theology or lack of answers can make it difficult for many to turn to God. Many reject God because of their understanding of God’s role in suffering. Since suffering is inevitable in our world, our answers must not unnecessarily make others angrier toward God. “Why, me!” can turn into "why God do you not love me.” When someone is hurting, the last thing they may want to discuss is God and their suffering. We sometimes need to shut up and be present and available to just help. God gave Job time rather than in the beginning saying “get it together.” When we lose a loved one, we don’t want to always hear “someday we will see them in heaven.” We want to be with our loved one NOW! I suggest we develop a theology of suffering ahead of time for ourselves and others should they seek answers. Suffering is inevitable in the world we live in. Let’s be prepared to answer how God loves us, so to not be alienated but drawn closer to the great Comforter. Preparing ahead of time can be the best preparation for future challenges such as a career, marriage, or even a crisis. Most will experience a crisis at some point in life; all of us will face death one day. How does one prepare in the event they suffer the death of a child or hear they have life-threatening cancer? One’s faith obviously can play a critical role during difficult times. Most think of God as being able to control all things, so we may ask why God doesn’t control our suffering. What one believes about God’s role in suffering can determines whether they push God away or accept God’s help during a crisis.My Story I grew up going to church. Some years my parents took me to a meeting both Sunday morning and night and Wednesday evening. I continue to go to church on Sundays while in college and of course the year while attending Seminary. We took our children to a meeting on Sundays when they were young. We encouraged them to attend smaller meetings within the building with people their own age, but they mostly chose to hang with their parents in the big room where adult sang and listen to preaching. We let our children when older decide whether to go to the meetings on Sunday. I have for a long as I can remember questioned what I was taught at these meetings about God according to the Bible. For instance, I was always told God encourages a husband to be a loving leader rather than a loving servant toward their wife. I came to realize best friends don’t need a leader whether married or not. I had seen that “give us men an inch and we will take a mile.” There were other views over the years I was taught that I begin to doubt, such as God being a hellish torturer after death to those that didn’t believe. I begin to experience in meetings, when sharing what I believed, being more divisive than encouraging to fellow followers. I didn’t feel a freedom or openness to believe as God lead but to believe what those in authority taught. I wasn’t forced to believe but why attend if not being encouraged to develop your own beliefs. I was better off if I didn’t do “church” and try something different in my relationship with God. I am not sure if I went to church out of guilt all those years, but not going to church didn’t feel like a choice. The institution of church worked for me for years and continues to work for many, but people need to feel free than obligated to pursue God on their own terms. Obligatory relationships are seldom life transforming. One reason that I started a Blog around 2008 was to encourage people to think about and discuss God and spirituality more openly. I think some people are less inclined to do so because God-folks often have conversations with a hidden agenda to convert them to their own beliefs. I became convinced that certain characterizations of God can discourage others from seeking God. Certain beliefs can turn us and others we speak to away from God. Let’s discuss our views gracefully to work out our own convictions with as much consistency as possible. I am convinced our Creator deeply desires to have a relationship with each one of us, thus empowering us to love others as we want to be loved. We can know in our hearts what a good God should be like without the Bible, just as rational people can agree on evil and non-evil. When writing I reference the Bible some or not at all to relate to those familiar or not familiar with the Bible. But the Bible can be used to claim anything according to our interpretation. I eventually developed some core beliefs about God that I am convinced are true. God is not an angry egomaniac lover, God is not a Bible worshipper, God is not a sexist, God is not a homophobe, God is not a genie who overrides freedom when we pray, etc. The main issue that I thought the most of early on was trying to understanding how God isn’t an evildoer by creating or not controlling suffering. I am convinced many views taught about God’s role in evil and suffering rightly turn many away from God. Thus, why I wrote this book. Section IIs God Mysterious, Incomprehensible, Or Unjust?1Is God A Mystery? The Bible as a whole doesn’t declare God a mystery. We will discuss the Book of Job specifically in the next chapter. There is no specific mention of a “mystery” or mysteries in the Old Testament as it relates to God. The OT does mention certain actions God will take in the future known only by God, or God ways are “higher” than our ways. A brief survey of a few OT passages often cited to suggest God’s ways are mysterious will not confirm God so mysterious to be unexplainable or incomprehensible to the human mind. In Genesis we read how Joseph’s provocative ways led to brotherly jealousy. Joseph’s brothers entertained murderous thoughts and eventually sold him into slavery, only for Joseph to rise to power in Egypt. It is suggested Genesis 50:20 speaks to God’s mysterious ways when Joseph says to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of lives.” Another possible translation could also read: “You meant to harm me, but God used it for good…) God never initiates evil to accomplish good. It isn’t a mystery how God’s positive influence of others can bring good from evil. There isn’t that mysterious how God accomplishes their purposes and promises, despite allowing Pharaoh freedom. If Pharaoh had no choice, why would Moses even bother to communicate God’s will to Pharaoh (Ex 6:28)? The Bible says about God: “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” (Ex 7:3). But numerous times in the story it is said Pharaoh hardened his own heart: “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go” (Ex 8:32). Only a mindless writer would contradict themselves in practically the same breath. Idioms in other languages are difficult to recognize much less understand. When we say “the Devil made me do it,” we aren’t saying that one didn’t have the freedom to make decisions. God hardening is not forcing one against their will but a way of expressing God excepting one’s resolve to do evil. The story reveals that Pharaoh chose evil. A current example may be the life of Charles Colson and his sentence to prison after the Watergate matter. I might write: “God sent Charles Colson to prison ahead of time to accomplish great things for prisoners and their families for this generation and generations to come.” Chuck Colson’s imprisonment wasn’t a preordain event and human choices weren’t circumvented by God. I am suggesting that God can accomplish great things based on events that happen through the free will decisions of others. Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us, and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” The context suggests the secrets things were not mysterious but the unrevealed future and how God was going to keep their promise to Israel. Moses had just reminded his readers of God promise to Abraham that God will use Israel to bless all nations (Deut 29:13, i.e. Gen 12:1-3). Yet, future generations will see the calamities that have fallen on the Israelites land (29:22-24) because of rebellion against God’s ways (29:25-28). How can God keep their word when Israel is so rebellious? The secrets things revealed much later was that God raised a Savior from Israel to save and bless all. God’s plans cannot be thwarted, despite Israel’s rebellious ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 says about God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The context suggests God’s thoughts and ways are higher because God is more righteous than us. God encourages us to listen to them (v. 3), and seek them which implies God can be found and is not a mystery (v.6). God exhorts readers to forsake their wicked ways and thoughts and turn to God’s higher, righteous ways and thoughts so God can forgive them (v.7). God and Mystery in the New Testament The word mystery or mysteries is referenced about 27 times in the New Testament in two main contexts. First, a brief survey of these passages will not suggest Jesus spoke in parables because God’s ways were mysterious. Scriptural truths remain mysterious and hidden to those that choose to not see. God’s truths are not given to a select few but for any that have ears to hear. Secondly, OT prophecies were a mystery only because details of Christ’s fulfillment of prophecies were not fully known until the events happened in New Testament times. Jesus’ teachings were not purposely hidden but rejected and not pursued. Parents can speak the truth to their children until blue in the face and be looked upon as creatures from outer space. There may be a better way to speak the truth than in a straightforward manner in hopes one will eventually understand. King David didn’t listen to God, so God sent Nathan to confront in a form of a parable. Only then did David stop rejecting the truth. Mark 4: 11-12 doesn’t suggest Jesus kept secrets: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be every seeing but never perceiving…” Jesus isn’t playing favorites who can hear or not hear. In the same context Jesus says: “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (verse 9). God’s direct message is only perplexing sometimes to one’s heart but not the mind. The deep truths of the faith are obtainable (I Tim 3:9). The mystery of Christ is the second main reference to mystery in the NT. God’s plan of salvation through Christ didn’t become fully revealed until NT times. Paul says: “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2: 3-4). God doesn’t hide wisdom and knowledge from others; they are hidden because they are not sought openly. God told Abraham they intended to save all nations through Israel (Gen 12:3). Such knowledge was not fully understood until things came to pass in Christ. The religious of Jesus’ time chose to not understand because they rejected Christ (I Cor 2: 7-10). The mystery is not how God elects some for salvation and excludes others. Multiple passages reveal the details that were not understood in its entirety before Christ, that God has chosen Christ to reach the world through the chosen nation of Israel. God all along didn’t choose Israel as the only nation to save; God choose Israel to save the world. It is not favoritism when all win. Paul says to the Jews: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not think you are superior…” (Romans 11:25; i.e. Rm 16:25-26). When the Jews or we think God’s gift is exclusive we may think we are better than others. God revealed this mystery more fully to NT readers how all Jews and Gentiles are to share in God’s blessings made possible through Christ (Eph 3: 3, 4, 9, i.e. Col 1:26-27, 2:3, I Tim 3: 16). 2Does The Book Of Job Support God Is Incomprehensible or Unjust? One plausible interpretation regarding the moral of Job’s story isn’t that God’s ways are beyond human comprehension. The Book of Job does not tell us to shut-up because we cannot possible understand God for we have the brain of a clam. Why would God seek to be understood if God is unintelligible or a mystery? The Book of Job reveals that God is not unjust or uncaring just because God doesn’t constantly control undeserved suffering. Job 2:10 hints of things to come in the story: “shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” The story of Job is about undeserved suffering, for God defended Job’s uprightness (1:8). In this story God allows Satan to test Job severely. God rejected Job’s friends’ assumption that if the righteous suffer this is evidence of sin and God’s displeasure. This was a common belief in biblical cultures. Is cancer because of sin in one’s life? Please! Jesus debunked the nonsense that physical or natural tragedies are always God punishing sin (John 9:3, Luke 13:1-5). Always blaming suffering on individual sin is misguided. God also rejected Job’s assumption that the wicked are judged or the righteous rewarded immediately. Both God and Job knew his innocence: “…why should I not be impatient…Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment. Why must those who know him look in vain for such days” (21:4, 24:1)? Job had to wonder if God cared or lost control by allowing him to suffer so much undeservingly. Where was justice? What do we assume about God when our problems are not wiped away? God wasn’t declaring to be a mystery: “who is that that obscures my plans with words without knowledge” (38:2)? Job was questioning God’s justice and seemed to understand and be satisfied when he heard God voice (42:1-6). God said to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him...would you discredit my justice (40:2, 8)? God is not unjust because the righteous suffer here on earth. Eventually, righteousness and injustice have a way of being judged by reaping what you sow. Job eventually acknowledged: “I know you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (42:2). God may know a thing or two about how to run a free world that has chosen to rebel again their Creator. God doesn’t give Job a tongue lashing for trying to understand them. Job eventually realized despite his suffering God had not abandoned him. Suffering, as a result of freedom, had to become a part of God’s story. We readers have the advantage of hindsight that Job didn’t. God did not avoid suffering. Jesus’ sufferings lead to changes in billions of lives. God didn’t reprimand Job for seeking to understand God. Job hinted that the righteous must always be rewarded in this life and should never experience undeserved suffering or at least not too much. Job wanted God to tell him where he was guilty. God didn’t think Job was guilty. God is just and caring despite suffering. God doesn’t react to suffering, inevitable in a free world, in the same way that we humans do. I try to spare my children of suffering without thought to what the long-term benefits may be to not interfere. Genuine, positive changes can’t be forced but must be freely chosen. What possible good can come from our undeserved suffering as God shows mercy and patience to the world in hopes of changes for the better? Our undeserved suffering can impact the lives of others facing similar circumstances. Jesus’ sufferings, not His miracles and power, made a greater impact in the world. God’s response to evil and suffering in a free world is the slow, necessary way of the Incarnation. God proved they would do anything to turn as many people from evil as possible while still allowing the freedom to choose at our and God’s expense. The Cross demonstrates the length to which God will go to influence us to trust in God. Jesus’ death was God’s attempt in human flesh to win our hearts over and convince us of God’s love for our own good. The truth is suffering, though not caused by God, can be a way to loosen the grips of evil on us. Vulnerability can lead one to reflect inwardly and seek transformation. It is true the wicked or the righteous will not always get what they deserve in this life. Suffering can kill the body but the grave is not our destiny. We can look forward to, and become perhaps better prepared as a result of suffering, to a place one day where there will be no suffering. Suffering was only avoidable if God had not created or given humans freedom. Freedom is necessary for the highest good in relationships as forced love is hardly authentic. God can still be just and compassionate despite that the righteous suffer. Our demands for an all-powerful, invulnerable God comes at the expense of trusting God know best how to run the universe and change as many lives as possible through their own volition. God apparently values mercy and forgiveness more than instant justice. I must admit that why God doesn’t intervene more isn’t always easy to understand or accept. We can’t know all the factors involved that God can see and know. What we do know is that God never wants us to suffer undeservingly and God always wants to answer prayer, but God has constraints because of freedom. When God doesn’t perform a miracle or when God’s doesn’t answer our prayers, there may be factors involved that we can’t totally comprehend at this time. Section IIWhy, God?3What Is A Brief Answer To Evil, Suffering And God’s Goodness?Why It Matters We Understand God’s Role In Suffering Bad theology or lack of answers can make tragic times worse. “Why, me!” can turn into "why God do you not love me.” Many may reject God because of their understanding of God’s role in suffering. Suffering is inevitable in our world and many seek answers. Our answers to suffering don’t have to make others angrier toward God. Let’s be prepared to answer for ourselves and others how God loves us despite evil in the world, so we are not alienated but possibly drawn closer to the Creator. God Is Not A Mystery We can understand God when it comes to suffering. The Bible or the story of Job doesn’t declare God a mystery. Why would God even bother to seek a relationship if we can’t understand God? Jesus didn’t speak in parables because God’s ways were mysterious. Jesus’ teachings were not purposely hidden but rejected. Sometimes, there may be a better way to speak the truth than in a straightforward manner in hopes one will eventually understand. Certain prophecies were said to be a mystery only because details of fulfillment were not known fully until the events happened in New Testament times. Job Does Not Support God Is Incomprehensible Or Unjust God and Job knew he was innocent. God simply rejected Job’s assumption that the wicked are judged or the righteous rewarded immediately. God doesn’t give Job a tongue lashing for trying to understand God. God answered Job when he reached out to God. Job was finally comforted as he realized despite his suffering God still was just and had not abandoned him. Job accepted God knew best how to run a free Universe. God Does Not Create Evil The presence of evil in our world is obvious, but evil is not something created. Evil originates in the hearts of human beings. Evil is a corruption of a good thing – human life created by God. God knew the first step toward them may be a step away in disobedience, but God desired people who could freely relate to God in love than out of fear. Evil could have only been avoided if God had not created at all or at least not given humans the freedom to choose. No amount of good resulting from evil justifies the evil actions of others, but was God’s risk in allowing freedom necessary to obtain the highest good in relationships?God Did Not Foreknow About Evil Before Creating God did not preordain evil. It is untenable to think God willed evil. We do not protect God’s sovereignty by suggesting nothing happens outside the will of God. Also, God not having foreknowledge of an unknown future gives more integrity to passages that speak of God grieving, relenting, giving another chance, etc. It is not heresy to ask if God knows the future if the future is open and unknowable. Some may believe God knows the future while somehow preserving the integrity of freedom. Others prefer to believe God doesn’t know the future because it empowers them to relate to such a God. Which viewpoint about God and the future draws you closer to God?God’s Risk Creating Was Worth It God knew the risks of freedom for the possibility of intimacy as do human parents. Are we wrong to bring children into a world hoping they will want to reciprocate our love while knowing our children could suffer at the hands of others or cause suffering to others? One cannot be forced to freely believe. Our foreknowledge of such risks does not keep us from having children. God is not going to let a few rotten apples spoil the relationships God has with millions and millions of people. Suffering could only have been avoided if God had not created at all or at least not given humans the freedom to choose. Few argue that no freedom is better than freedom. Freedom is necessary for the highest good in relationships. To destroy freedom is to destroy free love. To destroy freedom is to destroy the good that results from free, moral decisions which are not possible without freedom. God Does Not Cause All Suffering We don’t protect God’s sovereignty by suggesting nothing can happen outside the will of God. God did not foreordain evil ahead of time to accomplish God’s good purposes and declare their glory. This view is morally indefensible and must be rejected to protect the very character of God. Suffering results from either personal or natural evil. Misguided freedom does not create a fair world for humans or God. Freedom gone awry has cause progressive deterioration both of human nature and the physical world.? God cannot be responsible for suffering by creating any more than a parent is responsible for a child’s choice. God’s Can’t Intervene More Because God’s Love Is Uncontrolling God clearly values ongoing freedom because of all the suffering allowed in the world. Freedom, rather than control, is necessary for genuine relationships. Authenticity, the highest good in relationships, is impossible without freedom. Without freedom we could accuse God of not creating the “best” world. Freedom allows human to develop qualities of moral character that cannot be created initially. The uncontrolling love of God is a better explanation than God “allows.” When we say God allows, it gives the impression God stands by when God could stop evil. Who admires those who stand by in the name of freedom while individual rights are being violated? God can no more control others than God can choose not to love them perfectly. God can only stop evil with the help of others while not violating their freedom. God’s Response To Suffering God’s response to evil and suffering is the slow, necessary way of the Incarnation. The Bible as a whole suggests the Cross was not to satisfy some need in God at the expense of Jesus but to satisfy a need in us at God’s expense. The Cross was to change our attitude about God, not God’s attitude toward us. When evil was chosen suffering, deserved or undeserved, became part of God’s story to inspire a better world. 4Did God Create Evil? If God is the Creator of all things and evil exist, how is God not the Originator of evil? The presence of evil in our world is obvious. In the beginning the Bible says God told Adam: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die” (Gen 2:17). Loving parents always seek to warn their loved ones of dangers ahead. Freedom misused could be the demise of Adam and Eve and future generations. Whether the tree of knowledge is real or not, we usually don’t speak of trees as possessing evil. You can’t see, touch, feel, smell or hear evil. In this story the writer clearly states evil originates with the thoughts of the human heart (Gen 6:5). Evil is not a thing that is created. Norman Geisler gives a few examples of this in his book If God, Why Evil:Evil is like rust to a car. Rust is a corruption of a good thing (iron), but rust does not exist in and of itself. It is a privation or lack in a good thing. A totally rusted car does not exist; it is just a brown spot on the pavement. Nonetheless, rust is real – it’s a real lack in a good thing, as anyone who’s had a very rusty car knows… Moths can corrupt a woolen sweater, but holes do not exist in themselves. They exist in other things. Evil is a real corruption, but it is not a real thing (substance)” (20). It is evil when we have murderous thoughts, but we don’t say such a thought is a created thing. Evil only exists and comes out in the open as a result of decisions made by humans. Evil is a corruption of a good thing – human life created by God. God does not give us the desire for evil. James 1:13-15 explains in detail the origins of evil: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone, but each of you is tempted when you are dragged away by your own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Psalm 5:4 says: “For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness…” If we say God created evil, we are logically saying God thinks evil is worth creating. This is nonsense and offensive to a good God. We intuitively understand that evil originates from the hearts of humans. Evil stems from misguided desires. God is incapable of being the originator of evil because of God’s character. Isaiah 45:7 is used to suggest God created evil: “I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things” (KJV). The NKJV now uses the word “calamity” rather than evil. The TNIV uses the word “disaster.” This is the best translation because in the first part of the sentence light is contrasted with darkness. The opposite of peace is not evil but calamity. Word meanings are often best determined by the context. What is this calamity that God creates? It isn’t the immorality that we often associate with evil. The writer’s viewpoint is that God subdues nations (v.2) who are makers of idols (vs. 16, 20). God will use Israel as promised Abraham to bless all nations, but even Israel doesn’t always acknowledge God (v. 5). The writer is arguing that God creates calamity, not evil, in the form of discipline even with the nation of Israel. Discipline though is unnecessary when nations aren’t immoral. Lamentations 3:37-38 is similar to Isaiah 45:7 and other passages like it: “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mount of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” These passages don’t declare God the author of evil or source of all calamities arbitrarily. The writer had just remarked that God “does not willingly bring affliction or grief to any human being” (v. 33). God’s decrees of calamity are always conditional. These passages are frequently in the context of God’s warnings of punishment of evildoers. When punishment is necessary God always does so with a heavy heart. In the Lamentations passage moral injustices or evils are said to come from the hand of evildoers (v. 34-36). One reason for suggesting God is the originator is evil, contrary to a rational understanding of a good God, may be an assumption about God’s sovereignty. Many suggest nothing can happen outside God’s will, not even temporarily, so God is only sovereign if God preordained evil in the beginning or at least controls evil. The word sovereign did not originate with the biblical languages. “Sovereign” doesn’t even appear in the KJV translation. The NIV often replaces God with Sovereign and translates Lord God as Sovereign Lord. Scriptures do not define what sovereignty means, so we need to be aware of our assumptions as we look for contextual clues. Maybe God doesn’t have to control to be in control. It is not possible to explain God as the originator of evil biblically or morally. The designer is responsible for the design, but humans do things not intended by design. Cars become killing machines when driving drunk. This does not make the Designer responsible for decisions made while driving the car. God created life and intended it for good. If we claim God created evil than God willed evil. Do we really want to say every act of immorality is God’s will, or that God’s created evil which tempts us only to sin? This is clearly not the biblical case. God does not foreordain, order, or require evil to accomplish their Will. I proudly stand accused of wanting to absolve God of any blame when it comes to evil and suffering. God did not create evil or desire suffering. The Bible states in the beginning God gave man and woman the freedom to rebel. God then chose to accept the hand dealt. Where there is a human will there will be always the possibility of rebellion. People can be free and choose to not create evil; people can’t be free without the ability to create evil. Evil exists because of misdirected human desires; misdirected desires exist because of freedom. 5Did God Foreknow About Evil Before Creating? Some theists believe that not only did God know we would rebel against God, which has resulted in so much suffering, but that God actually preordained evil and the fall of the human race before it actually happened. It is untenable to think God willed evil. It has been said God plans good or bad to happen to accomplish their good purposes and declare their glory. Skeptics can rightly ask why God could not show God’s goodness by not requiring evil. Genesis 6:5-6 says: “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth…The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” If it was even possible for God to will evil, the writer of Genesis would be suggesting God grieved what God intended all along. God did not plan or foreordain evil. God also not having foreknowledge of an unknown future gives more integrity to passages that speak of God grieving, relenting, or giving another chance. It is not heresy to ask if God knows the future if the future is open and unknowable. God knows what they are going to do in the future, but that doesn’t mean the future isn’t open. A fixed future is not required from a biblical viewpoint. If God already knows what someone is going to do, are they truly free to do anything different? God, unlike humans, does not have to control to be in control. Many prefer to believe God knows the future because it provides more comfort to them in a chaotic world. It helps them to feel more secure that God already knows what is going to happen and how God will respond. Many prefer to believe nothing can happen outside the will of God as opposed to the possibility that God can experience disappointment. It may be more comforting for some to believe God is in control of our personal sufferings. For others believing God is controlling one’s suffering leads to focusing on “why or what is God punishing me for” or “God, do you really love me.” Many can better relate to a God that doesn’t have to know or control the future. Many feel a known future and genuine freedom are contradictory. An open future can best preserve the integrity of human freedom and responsibility. Even God cannot create life in its very essence, impossible to exist without death, violence, suffering, and struggle and yet there be genuine free will. Not even God can force genuine love. Prophecies such as the virgin birth or resurrection were brought about by God’s miraculous powers and did not violate anyone’s freedom. Many struggle with what appears to be God pulling strings in heaven as to what tragedy we may or may not experience. Did God really select which people would escape the 911 terrorist attacks? God can still be God though not causing or controlling tragedies. We do not have to argue God knows the unknowable to somehow protect God’s character. God is still God though God cannot fit a square into a round circle or force true love. An unknown future can best explain the stories in Scriptures and preserves the integrity of freedom and human responsibility. We could say God knows what’s going to happen but still engages with us; it is simply harder for many to relate to. We do not have to argue God knows the unknowable to protect God’s character. God can still be omniscient (all knowing) and not know the future, if the future is not fixed. God knows what is knowable. God knows what we are thinking and even planning. God is superior to humans in knowing all the possibilities of decisions that can be made by others and be fully prepared for what they will do. It can be argued the biblical writers did not know anything about the future being predetermined or known. Whether you believe God knew evil and suffering was going to happen or not before God created, God certainly did not create evil. Traditional views of God wish to explain evil so that God remains all powerful as opposed to vulnerable. Some receive comfort that God controls all circumstances in their life despite freedom, but this logically suggests God brings physical or sexual abuse into a child’s life. Another viewpoint expresses a God who chooses to be vulnerable by taking risks rather than being controlling. God’s vulnerability appears from the very beginning: “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled” (Genesis 6:7). God did not secretly will a rebellion against themselves so they could ride in on a white horse and save the world.6Why Did God Risk Creating? God understood the risks of freedom for the possibility of intimacy as do human parents. God cannot destroy evil or prevent suffering without destroying freedom. We bring children into the world hoping they will want to reciprocate our love, but they will have a choice to do otherwise.?God at least brought humans into a perfectly created world. We parents bring children into an already corrupt world knowing for sure they will at some time suffer and death is inevitable. Our foreknowledge of such risks does not keep us from having birth. God is omnipotent but this does not mean God can do absolutely anything. God cannot create life in its very essence, impossible to exist without death, violence, suffering, and struggle and yet there be genuine free will. God cannot force genuine love. God cannot cause it to rain and not rain in the exact same spot. Suffering could only have been avoided if God had not created at all or at least not given humans the freedom to choose. Few argue that freedom is an evil thing and not a good thing. If God did not allow freedom, we could accuse God of destroying the good that results from free, moral decisions which are not possible without freedom. Damn if God does; damn if God doesn’t! Personal evil can be explained because of freedom. Even physical evil sometimes is the result of choices. Improper cultivation or overgrazing causes arid conditions, which leads to suffering as a result of poor economic and social conditions. God knew we might choose to abuse our freedom. God also knew real trust could only emerge when one is free to reject God. ?God knew the first step toward them may be a step away in disobedience, but God surely desired people who would relate to them in love than obey God out of fear. If you love something you must set it free. If it comes back it is yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours in the first place. Even if God knew ahead of time what choices Adam and Eve would make, God is not going to let a few rotten apples spoil the relationships God has with millions and millions of people. God certainly did not plan suffering for some greater purpose. The good that results never justifies any evil, but God has not abandoned us and works with choices made by humans. The only way God could have stopped evil was to not have risked creating. Is nothing better than something? The two are not really comparable. We must either argue that it is a better world with freedom or without freedom. We can be free and choose to not sin. We cannot be free without the choice to sin. God cannot destroy evil without destroying freedom. Few argue the better choice is for God to create robots. God chose to create freedom but at least God has solutions as we will see. 7Does God Cause Suffering? So much suffering results from either personal or physical evil. Evil clearly originates in the hearts and minds of human being; evil it not something created by God. A great deal of suffering is either self-inflicted or inflicted upon us by others because of individual, immoral choices. Certain sufferings need no explanation to rational people. If we commit adultery, we should expect “all hell to break loose.” Any other attitude is arrogance. If we fail on the job as parents, don’t expect your children to visit when they are older. If we do not lead by example in the work place, do not expect your employees to follow. Evil is present because there are evildoers. God gave the opportunity for all to either love or hate. What is sicker than torturing and killing millions of people simply because of their nationality or the family they were born into? There have been many similar horrific evils such as the Holocaust throughout the centuries of humankind. But, one person killed or abused due to evil is tragic. What is more horrific than when an adult sexually abuses a young child for years, threatening further harm if they tell anyone of their dirty little secret? In our world today, millions of people are starving to death. I read once that if only enough good people acted together, we could prevent much of world hunger. Much of suffering is either self-inflicted or inflicted by others, whether it be in the life of one person or in the lives of millions of people. The Flood story suggests wiping out evil and starting over doesn’t cause evil to go away. Even the curses mentioned in Genesis were not caused by God but result from choices made. It is suggested God appointed husband as leader over this wife after sin. “To the woman he said…Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (Gen 3:16). God is not prescribing roles as a result of Adam and Eve’s choice to alienate themselves from God; God is describing problems that can results in relationships where sin exists. Blessings or non-blessings happen naturally as a result of following God’s guidance which is always in our best interest. God did not cause or commend woman to desire man more than God and man to rule over a woman. Selfish men do that naturally. Failure to heed God’s warnings leads to natural curses. Jesus debunked the nonsense that birth defects, or other physical tragedies, are always due to God punishing the parents for their sin (John 9:3). In Luke 13:15 Jesus did not credit God for the falling of the tower killing eighteen. We must not play God and declare current natural disasters are God’s judgment. It should never be implied that natural evil is a result of personal sin. People give birth to a deformed infant or fight cancer that clearly is no fault of their own. God doesn’t select which women to have breast cancer. Do we really think God always chooses which children are to die from starvation? We certainly understand God doesn’t cause the evil resulting from men choosing to sexually abuse children. No biblical passage clearly states that God is the Creator or cause of all events in our lives. This is an assumption based on one’s understanding of God’s sovereignty. God, simply because they are the Creator, does not have to be the Cause of all things to be God. God doesn’t stand idly by though. God does not abandon us. We learn as biblical history unfolds that God will work to use suffering to accomplish good if we will work with God (Rom. 8:28). We wish God could simply build anti-human elements into nature to protect the innocent from suffering from natural disasters such as earthquakes that often kill thousands of innocent people. If God manufactured natural disaster God doesn’t cause so only deserving people were affected, it could be argued God should do the same for moral evil – God should make sure only the guilty suffer and not innocent bystanders when people use their freedom to violate the rights of others. God is not some sadist, always preplanning who is to suffer and who isn’t. God cannot just manufacture events so suffering only impacts those who deserve it. Asking God to control all our circumstances is to ask God to negate or manipulate freedom, which really isn’t freedom. (I will start the discussion of natural disasters in Appendix) The view that God causes evil or suffering, rather than God is determined to bring good from the evil choices of others, is morally and emotionally indefensible. God didn’t create suffering; God doesn’t cause suffering. Suffering results from either personal or natural evil. Misguided freedom does not create a fair world for humans or God. Freedom gone awry has cause progressive deterioration both of human nature and the physical world.? Evil is not some grand scheme by God! Suffering became part of God's story if God was to allow freedom. 8Why Can’t God Intervene More In Suffering? Some question why God doesn’t at least intervene more with evil if God truly loves. Thomas Oord in his book The Uncontrolling Love Of God offers the best answers I have come across to the age-old question of evil. Freedom is the only path which brings the most joy to authentic relationships. Freedom, not control, is necessary for true love. “Controlling love” is an oxymoron and not love at all. God can no more act controlling than God can act unloving. Humans are tempted to control to avoid pain for themselves or others. It is impossible for God to create without freedom or to create and control. God can no more control than God can lie. Since God’s love is uncontrolling, God cannot stop evil resulting in so much suffering. What God’s love can do is to inspire individuals to personally change and to freely intervene for good for others. God influences in all the appropriate ways, but divine love limits divine power. Just as loving parents desire their children freely reciprocate their love as opposed to feeling manipulated, God doesn’t seek a relationship out of obligation. Being awestruck doesn't always last in relationships. God wants it to be all about our choice and not about God’s control. We ask why God did not take Hitler out of this world, but Hitler was enabled and chosen by many who could have stopped him. God’s constant interference might prevent a superior world from emerging as a result of limiting the moral development and improvement of free creatures. This explanation for many may make God seem less powerful unless it is compared with the love of parents who do not control their child, thus demonstrating a greater degree of love. God’s love is greater than the greatest imaginable. If I don’t stop my children from hurting themselves or others, it may be the only hope they have of eventually freely choosing good and experiencing the joy which comes from it. God can’t, because of uncontrolling love, is a better explanation than God “allows.” Some say God doesn’t cause evil, but allows it, to bring about a greater good. Thomas Oord in his upcoming book God Can’t - How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, or Other Suffering reminds us greater good isn’t always served from rape, torture, betrayal, murder, deception, corruption, incest, and genocide as if part of some grand plan. From this twisted perspective, evil is good! How can we justify God doing nothing if God could control evil in the first place? God cannot control evil but God can inspire others for good. God can no more control than God can choose not to love perfectly. What about miracles though? God seemingly does intervene sometimes. I admit it may be easier to explain God’s uncontrolling nature if miracles could always be refuted. God may be able to perform some miracles and answer prayers while still balancing the gift of freedom and uncontrolling love. We can’t know all the factors involved that God can see and know. God is always working to heal but so many factors are involved. Conditions in our body are not always right. Various biological and environmental factors are involved. If God can’t control human freedom, maybe it is not a stretch to say God can’t control non-human factors as well. I am convinced God will intervene by all means whenever circumstances will allow. 9What Is God’s Response? God doesn’t create evil, God took risk for intimacy reasons, God doesn’t cause suffering, and God intervenes more than given credit for through the actions of others. God obviously doesn’t prevent freedom or annihilate people at the first hint of opposition. God is always exhorting us to flee from evil. It is a no-win situation for God. If God interferes only sometimes, we complain the times God doesn’t interfere. If God controls the world to ever minute detail, which God would have to do to control suffering, we would cry “oppression.” Miracles may actually prevent a better world from developing as a result of moral improvement of free creatures. Then, we would accuse God of not creating the “best” world. God’s response to evil and suffering in a free world is the slow, necessary way of the Incarnation. God has an unchangeable purpose through history to rescue as many as possible, no matter how bad it gets. God is always seeking to “break through” to human beings to restore what has been lost. God proved he would do anything to oppose our rebellion while preserving our freedom by offering Jesus’ life. Jesus’ miracles turned heads but not hearts; Jesus’ suffering changed the world forever. Jesus’ life and resurrection allows us to feel freedom from guilt and empowers us to be all God created us to be. Some will only die for a good person; Jesus died for all. Jesus sought to influence and persuade us of our own volition. God did not stop Jesus’ undeserved suffering as well. There was no greater torture during those days than dying on a Cross. We usually don’t justify killing people who make claims to be God, but the religious at that time were intimidated and thought they were better off if Jesus was dead than alive. Well, we know the end of the story. Jesus promised to rise from the dead. No other religious figure has even dared to make such a promise. Reliable, historical evidence suggests that Jesus was dead and that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Such faith is not based on a future promise but a past event hard to deny. The traditional, legal view of the story of the Cross does not convey God’s real intentions. Jesus didn’t die to appease God so God could be emotionally free to love us. Jesus didn’t have to die so God could start forgiving sins. Forgiveness by God happened before the Cross. Jesus forgave sins before His death. Do we really think God was so mad at sinners that God had to kill their own Son? If someone wronged me and I could only satisfy my anger by killing my child, what does that say about me as a parent? God was not like other gods who had to be appeased for no good reason other than their own selfish desires. God didn’t interfere with Jesus’ suffering and death for relational reasons. The Bible as a whole suggests the Cross was not to satisfy some need in God at the expense of Jesus but to satisfy a need in us at God’s expense. Talking about the Cross in legalistic terms rather than relational terms doesn’t convey God’s true love to those who don’t know God. Law court judges care to impart justice; a biblical judge cared to liberate and persuade to do right. God’s actions were to restore not judge. The Cross is not about payment but empowerment from sin and death. The Cross is not a one-time act of justice. Jesus exhorts us to take up the Cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23). The Cross is an act of continual love to influence us to trust in God. God wants us to know they always have our best interest in mind. The Cross demonstrates the length to which God will go to prove this. Jesus bought in! Jesus’ death was God’s attempt in human flesh to win our hearts over of their own volition. The Cross was to change our attitude about God, not God’s attitude toward us. God was willing to be vulnerable to convince us of Jesus’ message that God only wants what is best for us and those we come across. The Cross empowers us to be comfortable with God despite our guilty feelings. The Cross demonstrates how destructive sin is, that forgiveness is not without a cost. Suffering, rather than miracles, is sometimes the only way to loosen the grips of evil on us. Our suffering may be the only way to lead us and others to our Creator’s unconditional and unbelievable love. Vulnerability leads one to reflect inwardly and seek transformation. In summary, God hurts as much as human parents when their children suffer. A parent isn’t sadistic just because they don’t squash freedom to avoid all suffering. Suffering, which is inevitable in the world we live in, does enables us to reach others in ways our prosperous times don’t. It is not necessarily true that if God instantly stopped all suffering, whether from personal or natural evil, the world would be better off. Thomas Oord in this upcoming book God Can’t - How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, or Other Suffering suggests that God can’t prevent evil singlehandedly (Chapter 1). The book concludes that God needs our cooperation in intervening in evil (Chapter 5). Believing God can’t prevent evil moves us past thinking God causes or allows pain, tragedy, and abuse. We shouldn’t blame God for the evil God can’t prevent. If you accept this you can move on to believing God feels our pain (Chapter 2), God works to heal (Chapter 3), and God squeezes every bit of good from bad (Chapter 4). Final WordsI am sure I did not ask or answer all your questions. I may not have explained something well or as in detail as you wanted. I hope I have raised further questions for you to seek answers. See Appendix C as a beginning for questions for discussions in a group. Please browse my website for further information if desired at ? You may be seeking a relevant theology for your own suffering currently or for the future. You may be seeking answers to have an explanation for others who question you about evil and God’s goodness. I have sought to provide untraditional responses to this age old question. Traditional responses are often not satisfactory. Appendix AIs God Rational Humanly-Speaking? All believe God must be perfect love if God exist – even atheists. A less than morally, perfect God isn’t worth believing in. The Bible frequently uses the analogy of God as a perfect, loving Parent, thus assuming we have some knowledge of what such love is. Why would the Bible use such an analogy unless perfect human and God’s love are one in the same? Imperfect love is evil in the eyes of a perfect God. We can expect answers to questions about God to be rational and moral from a human perspective. We know Hell, as a place where God tortures people forever for not believing, is irrational morally. God or human parents would not use punishment for such sadistic purposes with no restoration possibilities. It turns out the popular concept of Hell is not found in the Scriptures. Hell is not a translation but a substitution for certain Hebrew and Greek words. Gehenna, which is translated as Hell in the New Testament, is a proper noun that requires no translation. Gehenna was a real valley nearby Jerusalem with a history that served as a burning, worm-infested dump for dead carcasses. Gehenna served as a warning to Jerusalem during Jesus’ lifetime of the upcoming Roman siege and Nero’s destruction. We know Selective Election where God elects certain individuals for eternal life, thus foreordaining many millions of humans to eternal damnation without any choice, is irrational. God’s love cannot be different than what we demand of ourselves and contrary to human understandings of rational love. Earthly parents would be accused of immorality if they showed similar favoritism toward their children. There is no quota on God’s grace. To suggest selective election is biblical is indefensible exegetically and morally. God cannot ask us to be impartial (James 2:1) and yet God show favoritism. God is the perfection of the human parents we have always desired. God is often declared a mystery to explain certain biblical interpretations contrary to ideas of a loving God. Suggesting evil sometimes is good isn’t mysterious but nonsensical. Biblical passages used to imply God is a mystery when it comes to dealing with evil only suggests God’s ways are “higher” or more moral. Jesus didn’t use parables to convey God was mysterious. Jesus was only trying to speak the truth in another way for those who chose to not see truth initially. Parents know directness doesn’t always work with children. When humans seek to justify their evil behaviors because they are irrational or immoral, we don’t call them mysterious. We call them evil. When two debatable interpretations in Scriptures exist, we must err on the side that portrays God as the most relational and rational to the human?mind. We can question God’s role in suffering through rational lenses as we attempt to understand God. We know though that God values freedom; God values forgiveness rather than instant justice. Though we may not be able to understand completely God, evil, and suffering, we can pursue rational, moral understandings from a human perspective. Appendix BWhy Doesn’t God Intervene In Natural Disasters Since Human Freedom Not Involved? It is more difficult to discuss why God doesn’t intervene more with natural disasters since nature doesn’t have a human soul. Why doesn’t God like any good parent intervene more in such evils, since human freedom isn’t involved? We can at least suggest human evil that accounts for a great deal of human suffering is because of bad choice made by cruel and lawless people. Evil resulting from nature is much more complicated. It is important to at least begin the discussion. Freedom is necessary for authentic relationships. “Controlling love” is an oxymoron and not love at all. God, like parents, had a choice – to not create or to create knowing suffering was a possibility in the pursuit of intimacy. It is impossible for God to lovingly create and control. What God’s love can do is influence in all the appropriate ways, but divine love limits divine power. Yet, natural disasters don’t involve living beings where freedom is necessary for authentic love. I do not wish to suggest physical evils such as disasters of nature, diseases, or accidents can always be traced directly to a human’s freedom to inflict pain upon themselves or others. It does seem human accumulated mismanagement of the earth over thousands of years has brought some destruction through hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and earthquakes. I read that the earth is constructed of tectonic plates and when they collide, what is atop them can be destroyed.? I doubt the shifting of these plates underground is related to the changing mood of God!?When tectonic plates under the earth collide, atop them may be a particularly densely populated, poorly constructed city where authorities only sought to make money out of greed. Could money have been spent otherwise to put a better warning system in place? Human mismanagement hardly explains all the causes of natural disasters. Claiming natural disasters are always God’s judgment is nonsense. Furthermore, if God can but doesn’t intervene sometimes doesn’t that suggests God’s love is arbitrary and lead to guessing which disasters are God’s judgment It is possible that it was necessary for God to set up freedom when creating humans and nature. Love requires freedom. The “butterfly effect” suggests that the flap of a butterfly wing in one part of the world can influence weather in another part of the world at some time in the future. Can God no more control butterfly wings than humans to be loving? Freedom may be necessary for a creation act to be loving. If God cannot take away your freedom, maybe it is not a stretch to say God can’t control cells, organisms, etc. Please see: HYPERLINK "" \o "God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils" God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils by Thomas Jay Oord What we do know is that God never wants us to suffer undeservingly, but God has constraints because of freedom. When God doesn’t perform a miracle or when God’s doesn’t answer our prayers, we can’t know all the factors involved why God acts the way God does. What I am convinced of is that God feels our pain and hurts as much as humans when they suffer. God is committed to bringing as much good as possible out of evil. Our demands for an all-powerful, invulnerable God comes at the expense of trusting God know best how to create a free universe and influence as many lives as possible through their own volition. Appendix CQuestions For DiscussionWe may not discuss God, evil, and suffering because we believe God did not intend us to be able to understand. We might as well try anyway though because we already make assumptions about God and such beliefs lead to certain feelings about God which impact our behaviors. The Bible is often used to try to convince others we are right and their opinions are wrong. Interpretations are fallible. Christians show no love if they are unable to listen to the opinions of others different than theirs and have rational discussions. We may come away convinced of an opinion different than ours and be for the better, or we may simply agree to disagree. Discussing openly what God is really like can draw us closer to God and impact our lives and those we interact with.Why does it matter for us and explaining to others if we can understand God’s goodness and the presence of evil and suffering?Does the Bible declare that God is a mystery and it is futile for us humans to try to understand God?What is the moral of the story of Job?Is evil a created thing and where does evil originate from?Does it matter if God knew evil would definitely happen by creating?Were the risks of God creating reasonable?Does God cause suffering or how can suffering be explained?Why doesn’t God interfere more miraculously?Why did Jesus choose to die on the Cross?Why didn’t God create Adam and Eve to not sin?Can God be sovereign but not control or guarantee final decisions and outcomes?Is it possible for God to foreordain evil and not be evil?If Hell does not exist and is a substitution rather than translation for Gehenna, how does this belief impact my life and how I speak to others about God?If there is no sin in heaven, why didn’t God create heaven on earth in the beginning?BibliographyGeisler, Norman. If God, Why Evil? Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 2011Kaiser Jr.., Walter C. Hard Sayings Of The Old Testament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988Oord, Thomas Jay. The Uncontrolling Love Of God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2015Oord, Thomas Jay. God Can’t - How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, or Other Suffering, Not Yet Published ................
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