Why God Allows Wickedness And Suffering
This is the reason why the world groans in pain
We are the cause of our suffering.
Someone has been murdered somewhere as you read this. Elsewhere
a woman has been raped. About a dozen wars are going on right
now across the globe. And in some cave or mountain, terrorists
are busy plotting the world's final hour. The question arises:
Why does God allow these bad things to happen?
Our first parents, Adam and Eve are the source of wickedness and
suffering in this world. The whole story is in the Bible book of
Genesis Chapters 2 and 3.
God made them perfect and put them in the beautiful garden of
Eden. They were to live happy, beget offsprings and take care of
the earth by expanding the borders of the paradise, with a
prospect of eternal life.
But take note. All these were not just offered on a platter of
gold. There was a condition -- and this is very important --
they were to eat all the fruits of the trees in the garden,
excerpt one -- the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and
bad. Disobedience would bring death! Simple instruction.
So man was not created like a robot. He was created with the
right to make choices, the freedom to make decisions.
Now this gift of free will -- the right to choose -- either good
or bad, life or death, is not to be overlooked. So although we
were created free, this freedom is not total, but relative. We
are subject to God's laws. And what are those laws? you may ask.
First, we are under the physical laws of gravity. Man may decide
to climb the highest peak of Mt. Everest, ignore this law, and
take a giant leap to the foot of the mountain. Or he may close
his eyes to all the risks, and go swimming in the angry waters
of the Atlantic Ocean. He has the free will.
Also God has moral laws. These involve our life style which
includes the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, tobacco and
sexual promiscuity. Man may choose to have sexual relations with
an AIDS victim with the belief that he will never catch the
dreaded disease. He has the free will.
Then there are social laws. Man can choose his type of clothing,
art, and music. He also has the right to choose his type of
friends and marriage mate. He may decide to live all alone in
the jungle, away from civilization, or to walk naked in the
streets of New York. That is his free will.
And lastly, there are health laws. A sick man has the right to
refuse medical treatment. He can also decide to go on hunger
strike -- without food and water. After all, it is his free
will.
Now, our being subject to God's laws is similar to our
subjection to the laws of the State -- man's laws. The laws of
the nations recognize the citizen's fundamental human rights.
A citizen for instance has freedom of movement. But this does
not mean that he should drive his car right into the President's
bedroom. That is a ride to prison.
So you can see that there are limits to human freedom -- those
rights have to operate within the confines of the rule of law.
A man who disobeys the laws of the State is in effect
challenging the authority of that State -- the sovereignty,
which means the right to rule. Now, when Adam and Eve decided to
eat the forbidden fruit in exercise of their free will after
being deceived to do so by Satan, they were in effect
challenging God's legal right to rule. They were effectively
saying to God: "We can tell good from bad. It is better for us
to be independent of you. We can rule ourselves without you."
That was an affront -- a rebellion against their Creator. So God
has allowed man the past 6,000 years to see if he can do without
his creator. In those years, man has tried every political and
economic system. And the result?
Helmut Schmidt, former German Chancellor tells us: "We humans .
. . have always only partially governed the world, and most of
the time very badly . . . . We have never governed it in total
peace". Do you agree with him? With all man's best efforts, do
we have peace or pieces of peace? (I am not playing with words.)
But how are we the children of Adam and Eve who didn't have a
bite at this fruit, concerned in this matter?
It is because of the law of genetics. When our first parents
disobeyed, they became sinners -- imperfect people. And
imperfect parents cannot give birth to perfect children. So we
have all inherited the result of sin -- suffering and death from
Adam and Eve.
Here comes the questions:
Question: Why did God plant a forbidden tree in the garden?
Answer: Because he has the right to so, and nobody can challenge
him.
Question: Did he know or not that Adam and Eve would eat the
fruit? Answer: No, he did not know. For God can choose not to
know.
Question: Why did he allow Satan to deceive them? Answer: God
did not allow it. Satan desired worship, and deceit was his tool.
Question: Why did he not destroy the sinning trio? Answer:
Because God's purpose of populating the earth wil be defeated,
and the sovereignty issue wil not be resolved.
Question: And who made Satan the Devil in the first place?
Answer: It was not God, because God made perfect angels. One of
the angels made himself Satan, meaning resister, and Devil
meaning liar.
Are you surprised to read this, folks? Do not be amazed. That is
the Bible fact. The bottomline is the bottomline.
ARTHUR ZULU, is the controversial author of the book, CHASING
SHADOWS! A Dream. (A book that reveals the terrorists' master
plan to finally set the world on fire!) For a copy of the book
and free excerpt, goto: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/21013
For contacts, mailto: mostcontroversialwriter@yahoo.com
Arthur Zulu is the author of the controversial book CHASING
SHADOWS! (A book that reveals the terrorists' master plan to
finally set the world on fire!) For a copy of the book and FREE
excerpt, goto: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/21013 For
contacts, mailto: mostcontroversialwriter@yahoo.com