Ah, the age old question. That wonderful question which so many people have posed to me in a smug and triumphant tone, as if there is no possible answer I could give that would be satisfactory...
If the Christian God is all powerful, and all loving, how can he allow bad things to happen and suffering to occur in the world?
I'm going to have a go at answering this one.
I'm also going to have a go at giving what is an extremely complex theological answer in easily understood ordinary language. The answer will be 'what Christians believe', and therefore will reference the Bible as it's source and explanation.
The first part of the answer is to point out that the question is starting from a completely nonsensical place. The Bible does not teach that God is all-powerful in the way many people today understand it; it says that 'all things are possible with God', but also that it 'is not possible for Him to sin'. It says that 'nothing is impossible for God' but also that 'he cannot lie' and 'he cannot be unfaithful to himself'. God is capable of doing anything within goodness, but cannot do anything within evil. He is omnipotent within goodness, but powerless within evil.
No being anywhere can be capable of perfect good and absolute evil, because to be capable of one is to be incapable of the other. The two possibilities are mutually exclusive. It is a nonsense, like saying a cup of tea is also a rhinoceros, or a Christmas card is also a mathematical equation. The Bible says that God is both the most powerful being there is, and also incapable of evil. Therefore, Christians cannot believe that any creature capable of the full goodness of God and also the full evil of Satan exists. We must start from the point of being clear about God's omnipotence - he is only able to do good, and is not 'omnipotent' in the way people asking the question usually mean. No-one is omnipotent in the way they usually mean, because it is not possible logically for anyone to be. It's a nonsense concept.
The second part of the answer is to point out that, being only good, God cannot break the rules. There are rules of the universe, and when Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden sold all of us to the Serpent, they did so 'legally'. If God could have simply waved a magic wand and set things straight again, he probably would have done, but to do so would have been to break the rules, and he could not do wrong. God, being only capable of good, could not just undo that agreement. When the world and everything in it was sold to Satan, it became 'fallen' and polluted. The very fabric of nature contracted a strain of evil as it passed into his ownership, and so did all life forms which were formally under Adam's 'jurisdiction'. Everything in the earth became damaged and degraded in its DNA, though Adam, Eve and Satan entering into a binding contract. God could not just rip up the contract. Thus, despite God's original plan, thanks to Adam, Eve and the devil, we live in a broken and fallen world, which is not how it was ever intended to be by the Creator.
So, the answer to the question becomes a little clearer in the light of these two points. God does what he can, but cannot break the rules. Adam and Eve legally sold the world, and all of us to Satan, causing it and our race to become broken and fallen, and introducing pain and suffering into the equation. God cannot just step in and stop it all, because he is unable to. He cannot do wrong, and to rip up the contract which they formed with the devil (eating the fruit etc) would be wrong. So he doesn't allow suffering because he wants to, he allows it because he must.
If the Christian God is all powerful, and all loving, how can he allow bad things to happen and suffering to occur in the world?
I'm going to have a go at answering this one.
I'm also going to have a go at giving what is an extremely complex theological answer in easily understood ordinary language. The answer will be 'what Christians believe', and therefore will reference the Bible as it's source and explanation.
The first part of the answer is to point out that the question is starting from a completely nonsensical place. The Bible does not teach that God is all-powerful in the way many people today understand it; it says that 'all things are possible with God', but also that it 'is not possible for Him to sin'. It says that 'nothing is impossible for God' but also that 'he cannot lie' and 'he cannot be unfaithful to himself'. God is capable of doing anything within goodness, but cannot do anything within evil. He is omnipotent within goodness, but powerless within evil.
No being anywhere can be capable of perfect good and absolute evil, because to be capable of one is to be incapable of the other. The two possibilities are mutually exclusive. It is a nonsense, like saying a cup of tea is also a rhinoceros, or a Christmas card is also a mathematical equation. The Bible says that God is both the most powerful being there is, and also incapable of evil. Therefore, Christians cannot believe that any creature capable of the full goodness of God and also the full evil of Satan exists. We must start from the point of being clear about God's omnipotence - he is only able to do good, and is not 'omnipotent' in the way people asking the question usually mean. No-one is omnipotent in the way they usually mean, because it is not possible logically for anyone to be. It's a nonsense concept.
The second part of the answer is to point out that, being only good, God cannot break the rules. There are rules of the universe, and when Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden sold all of us to the Serpent, they did so 'legally'. If God could have simply waved a magic wand and set things straight again, he probably would have done, but to do so would have been to break the rules, and he could not do wrong. God, being only capable of good, could not just undo that agreement. When the world and everything in it was sold to Satan, it became 'fallen' and polluted. The very fabric of nature contracted a strain of evil as it passed into his ownership, and so did all life forms which were formally under Adam's 'jurisdiction'. Everything in the earth became damaged and degraded in its DNA, though Adam, Eve and Satan entering into a binding contract. God could not just rip up the contract. Thus, despite God's original plan, thanks to Adam, Eve and the devil, we live in a broken and fallen world, which is not how it was ever intended to be by the Creator.
So, the answer to the question becomes a little clearer in the light of these two points. God does what he can, but cannot break the rules. Adam and Eve legally sold the world, and all of us to Satan, causing it and our race to become broken and fallen, and introducing pain and suffering into the equation. God cannot just step in and stop it all, because he is unable to. He cannot do wrong, and to rip up the contract which they formed with the devil (eating the fruit etc) would be wrong. So he doesn't allow suffering because he wants to, he allows it because he must.
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