Why Does God Permit Evil?

[nPeace]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Seems pretty clear cut: "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." - Isaiah 45:7 Why does he do it? Because he's god and - as he says - the only one.

 

[74x12]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

Isaiah 48:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

First of all, as you can see it's to purify people. Make them better. Suffering helps people grow and become better people.


Hosea 6:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Secondly, Without evil being in the world; you can't do any good. If everything was already good in the world then you could not show mercy to anyone because everyone would be taken care of already. So God allowed evil so that we could do good.

 

[outlawState]

Evil is God's tool for making men perfect, or for destruction. So it is a double edged sword, one edge blunt for perfection, the other sharp for destruction. The choice which to receive is yours alone.

Heb 2:10
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

 

[whirlingmerc]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

Hard question but all things are from through to and for Jesus. In some sense the evils of the world will advance the greater glory of Christ

Showing mercy is near the apex of the glory of God and the mercies of God are on display in the forgiveness of the redeemed and the patient long suffering of God in a broken sin tainted world. In some measure satisfying the justice and mercy of God by having a substitute sacrifice for those redeemed.

Showing justice is also for the glory of God in helping the fatherless, the widow, the stranger, the hunger, the naked. And bringing judgement at some point, in some measure righting the wrongs done by bringing judgement.

God has a purpose for the pain and for the redeemed will someday wipe every tear from their eyes and the stunning mercy will make heaven more sweet as they see the nail prints in Jesus hands and side remaining there on display forever.

 

[Frater Sisyphus]

Without Evil, there is no good. Without Good, there is no Evil. Without Jesus, there is no Satan, without Satan there is no Jesus.

This statement is both true and false, in saying this I am both correct and incorrect. It's irrelevant whether you view the Bible literally or not, the nature of life is not one or the other; it is always both - both Jesus and Lucifer knew this (again, not stating any of them to be 'real' or 'not-real'- merely stating the truth of their message)

 

[shunyadragon]

The idea the world in that God allowed evil in world from the Jewish/Christian perspective came from the belief God could only Create a perfect world, and the need to explain what appeared to be evil in terms of violence in the natural world and in humanity. Therefore the result is blame the first humans, Adam and Eve, for falling to temptation and bringing evil into the world ending the idealic perfect world of the Garden of Eden. This scenario extends in the Christian justification for their there belief in what was the purpose of Jesus Christ and Salvation. This is the result of a chain of mythological views beginning with Canaanite, Ugarit and Babylonian mythology.

The reality is there is no evil, and the world and humanity exists as it is regardless of whether God exists or not.

It is time to come out of Plato's cave,

 

[shunyadragon]

Without Evil, there is no good. Without Good, there is no Evil. Without Jesus, there is no Satan, without Satan there is no Jesus.

This statement is both true and false, in saying this I am both correct and incorrect. It's irrelevant whether you view the Bible literally or not, the nature of life is not one or the other; it is always both - both Jesus and Lucifer knew this (again, not stating any of them to be 'real' or 'not-real'- merely stating the truth of their message)

Creation is as it is regardless of the fallible human views of vain efforts to define what is good or what is evil. The reality is that the world and humanity exists as it is without human preoccupations with what is good and evil.

 

[Frater Sisyphus]

Evil is God's tool for making men perfect, or for destruction. So it is a double edged sword, one edge blunt for perfection, the other sharp for destruction. The choice which to receive is yours alone.

This is correct, regardless of religion or non-religion, one can only grow (spiritually, personally, career-wise, relationship-wise, etc) by overcoming struggles and challenges, without these one cannot grow.

Pain and suffering is a two edged sword; seeing them as an end to themselves is not a fundamental detriment to the human condition (in particular, as we are sentient and have existencial crisis' about these things, to a good reason) and by an extension, God.

Assuming God exists in a theistic sense, and assuming God is omnipresent, omnipotent etc, then wouldn't it also be beneficial to question other aspects of Evil and suffering etc outside of simply questioning the validity of God on that question alone?


In my own panentheistic belief of God, I believe that this "God" or Brahman is:

Good
Evil
Both
None
and all of the above

Both seriously and humorously.

 

[shunyadragon]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

To really understand what the Bible (Genesis and the Pentateuch) concerning what is evil you will have to back to the Canaanite, Ugarit, and Babylonian cuneiform tablet myths, and understand how these views evolved over the millennia to manifest these beliefs in traditional Christianity and why.

 

[Kenny]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

I find that God gave man dominion on this earth (Gen 1). Man gave entrance for Satan to have authority (Gen 3, Matt 4, Heb 2) and that ultimately Jesus differentiated that it is the thief that steals, kills and destroys and those who yield to him, does his deeds. (Eph 2)

 

[Frater Sisyphus]

Creation is as it is regardless of the fallible human views of vain efforts to define what is good or what is evil. The reality is that the world and humanity exists as it is without human preoccupations with what is good and evil.

In many ways, I do (referring back to my last post) think it stems from being sentient, which is perhaps where dual thinking stems, as I believe the nature of reality is unity - which encompasses both extreme good or holiness and extreme terror and evil. It does get very philosophically and sociopolitically controversial when it gets into ethics and morals but I do believe, taking Unity into consideration, the ideal position of a human being; is to be somewhere near the center. Both in a way (in this life) is possible insanity and maybe impossibility.
All these things like creation and destruction come into play with trying to find a compass around the conclusions one may come to without creating logical restrictions around what has been stated (as the evil side is especially woeful to talk about, for various reasons, the topics of murder and rape and those kinds of things in particular). None of this derides moral codes which I think are necessary but do outline the issues of the 'good vs evil', black and white dual-thinking when talking about the very microcosmic concept of God and it's relevance to our own sentient awareness to it (all assuming that that theistic concept of God exists)

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

The Bible - Job in particular - gives a message that we shouldn’t even ask the question because we’re puny, God is mighty, and might makes right.

 

[David T]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

Growth is painful and that's a fact. How much growth develops in Someone who spends their entire life avoiding pain? And how often are they the ones who most often inflict pain on others? The inverse am I the only person who through pain and suffering had their greatest personal growth? I don't think so.... Sometimes suffering is later seen more clearly as neccesity which you then realise I actually needed exactly that.

What exactly is evil?

 

[outlawState]

The Bible - Job in particular - gives a message that we shouldn’t even ask the question because we’re puny, God is mighty, and might makes right.

The question [that we should not ask] being "why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering?"

No, the message is not that we should not ask the question, but that we should give the right answer i.e. ... "of things beyond me which I did not know (things too wonderful for me, which I knew not)" and not the wrong answer, such as any answer that might

Job 40:8
... disannul [God's] judgment. Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

There is more than a hint of condemnation of God in "God is mighty, and might makes right." It is rather "God is so mighty that humans can't be expected to understand God's purposes but need to preserve trust in God."

 

[Shushersbedamned]

It isn't up to him. I don't believe god created the universe I believe he happens to exist with it.

 

[Deidre]

It isn't up to him. I don't believe god created the universe I believe he happens to exist with it.

That's interesting, I've never heard that description before.

 

[stvdv]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?
Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.
Others say that there is evidence God exists, and there is a reason why God permits suffering.
I want to get some input on the Biblical view on why the God of the Bible would allow evil and suffering.
Please try to provide scripture to support what you say, since this is supposed to present what the Bible says on the topic.

Hypothetical speaking: God created the whole universe. Quite a Big Job. Humans suffering seems nano-small problem from my viewpoint. Unless you see human GIGA-big and important as compared to this whole universe.

What the Bible says: God created and saw "It is good". God is omniscient. Are you? I am not! So I leave that judgment to God. He created it, His responsibility.

 

[Jumi]

What does the Bible have to say on this subject?

Some say if God existed, he would put an end to the suffering we see in the world.

Does anything in the Bible say that God of the Bible wanted to put an end to suffering in the world?

 

[Shaul]

cause he isn't there?

Did you lose God? He was here a minute ago. Did you say something to offend Him? Good people keep finding God and then others keep on losing Him. Try to keep Him for a while next time you find Him, ok?