|
Why Do Bad Things Happen?
How Can God Be Good if He Allows All This Evil?
When we contemplate the evil and anguish in the world, it is quite common to complain, “How can a good God allow bad things to happen?” In frustration, some people conclude that either God must be the cause of evil or there isn’t any God at all. Before you draw such conclusions, wouldn’t it be fair to consider the matter from God’s point of view?
The Bible reports that God created the first man and woman with a quality no other creature had — free will. They were not robots programmed to follow orders. Nor were they slaves obeying out of fear. Instead, our first parents were created good and were granted the freedom to choose to love and obey God simply because He was worthy of such respect. Unfortunately, they decided to disobey God, and the result is the troubled, aching world we see today.
At this point you might object, “Are you asking me to believe that old story about Adam and Eve in the garden and the snake that talked them into eating the forbidden fruit?”
Yes, I am, because it really happened. I know that you might feel like shoving this booklet in the wastebasket, but please hear me out. It can’t hurt to keep reading to gain a complete picture of what the Bible says about evil.
We generally view freedom as positive, don’t we? We cheer when an oppressive regime yields to the will of the people. We delight to see poor people enjoy a good education and well-paying jobs. We take pleasure in innovative artists who refuse to be limited to tired, old styles. Desiring to give us true freedom, God created Adam and Eve with free will. If He hadn’t, we would all be robots, and no one would like that.
Although you may find it hard to accept the Bible’s story of humanity’s fall into sin, the present day evidence supports it.
-
God does not manufacture bombs and drop them on cities. Humans do!
-
God does not misuse the tillable land of the earth, resulting in famines and malnutrition. People do.
-
God does not abuse children. People do.
-
God does not transmit the AIDS/HIV virus. People do.
-
God has not invented a million and one ways to sin. We have!
It hurts our pride to admit it, but the blame lies with us. We constantly seek our own selfish purposes at the expense of others. Try as we may, we have not and cannot create a utopian civilization.
After Adam and Eve disobeyed, God told them that life would be hard. Adam would have to toil to support his family. Eve would experience pain in childbirth. And worst of all, when their lives had run their tired course, they would die. Death is the ultimate and certain tragedy stalking each of us. None of us are going to get out of here alive. Every human death adds to the mounting evidence that men and women are tainted with evil, and that life on this earth is not as God originally intended it to be.
|
