I wrote: "Christ took all our sins upon Himself to bring us back into relationship with God."
Professor responded: "Why does God do this if we are the cause of the suffering?"
Good question. I don't think any of us will ever truly grasp how wide or how deep God's love and grace for us is.
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Posted below is the essay because someone asked to read it for a shortened answer to the question of why there is evil and suffering in the world. While I still recommend reading "A Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel, if you would like the "condensed" version, then sure go ahead. Although, here's a forewarning that my essay is six pages double spaced. (By the way, not sure why anyone would want to plagiarize it, but please don't anyways.)
The Coexistence of a Benevolent, Omniscient,
and Omnipotent God and Evil and Suffering
Many people deny the existence of a benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent God due to the existence of evil and suffering in the world. However, why must the existence of one mean the inexistence of the other? In this essay, I will elucidate on the coexistence of such a God as well as evil and suffering due to the concept of free will.
Augustine’s response to such a question led to the following reasoning: God created all things, and all things created by God are good. If evil is not good, then evil must not have been created by God. Moreover, if God created all things and God did not create evil, then evil is not a thing. Augustine reasoned that all things were made with goodness and thus evil itself does not exist. In other words, evil is the privation of goodness. This concept is similar to the scientific concept of coldness. Cold itself does not exist, but rather, cold is the absence of heat.
In order to explain the existence of evil and suffering, Augustine introduced the concept of free will. God gave humans free will. Thus humans have the choice to either react positively or negatively to a situation. Therefore, evil occurs not because one chooses to do evil. Instead, evil occurs when one does not choose the right course of action. Consequently, suffering is the result of evil. In Augustine’s reasoning there is a hierarchy of varying degrees of goodness. When one turns away from a greater good and chooses a lesser good, this choice can lead to doing evil and the consequence of such an action would cause suffering. Moreover, it is not the action itself that is evil, but it is the choice not to act upon the greater good and to choose the lesser good that is immoral. In the words of Augustine, evil is a “perversion of the will, turned aside from God”[1] to lesser things.
For example, if a person were to see another person starving and freezing in the cold on the street, the observer has three options. He or she could add to the person’s suffering, do nothing and question why God does not help this agonizing individual, or help the individual. The observer has the free will to choose the last of the three options, to love the affected individual which is the greatest good, or the observer could choose the first two options of lesser good. If he or she chooses to feed, clothe, and house the homeless person then the person’s suffering would be alleviated. However, to choose to make the person suffer more or to choose not to aid the suffering individual, the observer would be further perpetuating the individual’s suffering. This is because to neglect one’s needs is the same as adding to one’s misery; both do nothing to alleviate the person’s suffering. Thus, whether one was to add to another individual’s suffering or neglect the individual’s needs, one would nevertheless be choosing an option of lesser good, resulting in evil and continuing the cycle of suffering.
Moreover, Augustine was not the only philosopher to believe in the concept of a source of good. The philosopher Plato would agree with Augustine. Plato’s theory of the Forms is very similar to Augustine’s beliefs. Plato believed in a world of Forms, where everything is infinite, abstract, and eternal. However, when we came into the world as human beings, Plato believed we became physical, temporal, and finite. Augustine would refer to the world of Forms as heaven and our state in our current world as fallen and sinful. According to Plato’s theory of the Forms, there would be a Form of goodness. Moreover, Plato would argue that it is this Form of goodness that allows people to recognize the difference between good and lack of good, or bad. Augustine would refer to this Form of goodness as God. Therefore, evil can be considered evidence for the existence of God. For if people can recognize that something is not right when evil and suffering occur, then they also acknowledge the way the situation should be. In other words, they recognize both the evil and good. If one were to use the existence of evil, or the lack of good, to disprove the existence of God, then it would also be reasonable for that person to acknowledge the existence of good in the world as evidence for God. Thus, if one were to acknowledge the evil in the world, he or she must also acknowledge the good in the world; both are evidence for the existence of a benevolent God.
I agree with Augustine that there can be the coexistence of an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God as well as evil and suffering. I do not blame God for the existence of evil and suffering in the world. I believe humans are to be held responsible for our own actions, both the good and the bad. God created humans with free will, and it is with that choice that humans can choose to do good or not do good, which can result in evil actions and cause suffering. Nevertheless, free will is necessary. Without free will, humans would not be able to do many things characteristic of humans, namely love. Love is a trait intrinsic of God’s nature, and thus it is intrinsic of a human’s nature as well, for humans are created in God’s image. Therefore, the lack of free will would make humans analogous to robots. In order to do evil or to love, both actions entail a choice and require free will. If free will did not exist, then the problem of evil and suffering would be solved; this world would be void of evil and suffering. However, such a world would not be what God wants, for such a world would also be void of love. For without choice, humans cannot make the conscious decision to be selfless for the sake of another, the ultimate good. In God’s eyes, the loss of evil in the world would not be worth the loss the love in the world. Thus, while a world without evil may appear to be the ideal world, such a world would also lack love. Thus it would not truly be the ideal world. Furthermore it can even be said that a world without free will, without evil and suffering, would be a world without humans. Thus, for God to create a world with free will, the possibility for humans to do evil is also created. Nevertheless, it is up to us to decide what to do with our free will – to condone or perpetuate evil and suffering, or to love and end evil and suffering.
Nonetheless, one may argue that a loving God would not be able to withstand the suffering of His beloved children. Therefore, God is not loving, not omniscient, or not able to do something to alleviate the suffering. For example, if God is suppose to be a fatherly figure, how can He allow bad things to happen to His children, like when people are hit by a car? Is it that God did not care, did not foresee the accident, or that He could not do anything to stop the accident?
When one is faced with this question it is easy to deny the existence of a benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent God. However, such an assumption may be reckless. For in the end, we must acknowledge that we are humans with finite understanding trying to understand the ways of an infinite God. If this God is truly omniscient, we should recognize that is possible that God had the wisdom to foresee the future good that could come from a seemingly bad incident. In the worst case scenario, if one were to be killed in a car accident, who are we as humans with limited knowledge to say that death is a negative outcome? With God’s understanding, death may be the best possible occurrence to happen to someone. For example, even Christians can attest that for them, to die is to gain because they can finally spend eternity with God. Furthermore, many people assert that suffering and trials have taught them life lessons. Moreover, if spiritual maturity is of importance to God, then it is reasonable that God would allow temporary hardship if it means that the individual were to grow spiritually. To God, the purpose of life is not comfort, but a person’s increasing spiritual growth. Therefore, if hardships are needed for one to mature spiritually, then it is understandable that God would allow temporary trials. In addition, if the existence of evil and suffering were evidence against the existence of God, then why is it that the people with the strongest faith are those who have undergone the most trials and hardships? Therefore, since God is omniscient, He is able to withstand the suffering people go through because He is able to foresee the future good it will bring them. Furthermore, as an omnipotent God, He knows He is able to restore everything to that way He intended it to be when the time is right. The temporary suffering would lead to an eternal product of a world of souls refined through hardship and growth. It is only because of God’s benevolence and Grace that He delays the day when he restores the world to what it should be for that day will also be the Day of Judgment.
Lastly, the issue of evil and suffering bothers many people because we find the suffering to be undeserved. No one would be complaining if bad things only happened to “bad people.” However, what constitutes a “good” person? God’s standard of “good” is perfection, a state no one can reach. Thus, in God’s eyes, everyone has fallen short of His standards. We have all at one time in our lives broken one of God’s laws, and thus we have broken the whole of the law; we are all criminals in God’s view. Nevertheless, God shows His benevolence, or love, for us; He sent His son Jesus Christ to take our punishment when we did not deserve it. Thus, for those who believe that God does not act in our suffering, God has in fact done the opposite. God incarnate, Christ, took our sufferings upon Himself. Our God is not a distant God, but a God who humbled Himself to experience all the pain we experience – physical, emotional, and spiritual. Then, in the act of the crucifixion on the cross, Christ took all our sins upon Himself to bring us back into relationship with God. As a result, we can rejoice in the future of heaven, and it is heaven that will make all the sufferings we endure in this current life pale in comparison to God’s glory.
Therefore when God gave humans free will for the possibility of the greatest good, He also allowed humans to choose lesser options. This has consequently led to the varying degrees of good, or evil and suffering, which exist in this world. Nevertheless, as a benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent God, He only allows the evil and suffering for a limited time. God has a plan to restore everything as it should be – a world without evil and suffering.
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