If God is merciful, why is there so much evil in the world?

Question

He created us and gave us free will, yet he also knew all the havoc we were going to cause, the suffering and death.

Overall, life is miserable for most people (just remember nearly 70% of humanity live in abject poverty). So, why create us at all?

Answer 1

God is merciful, that is why he allowed the world to continue once evil was introduced to it. We are Gods children. If you are a parent you understand, bringing some one into this world and giving them valuable options of good does not mean they will be good kids. People have created the havoc you speak of. You see dear, God created us fallible, we make mistakes. But no matter how much we do wrong, God still has hope that we will come back to Him. God is love, not vengeance because we have ruined are perfect gift.

Answer 2

So you're assuming that not being created at all would be better than being created, having to experience what it means to live in a sinful world for say, 100 years--even though you have the choice to spend eternity with Almighty God.

Having had just a glimpse of all that it will mean to live in the presence of God, I reject your notion that it would have been better to have not been created so as to skip the pain and suffering of this world and so also miss out on heaven.

Answer 3

wow seems like ya got more than one question but ill try and answer the best i can. first if you study the bible you will see that there are 2 forces at work in this world God and satan ( good and evil ) now God is merciful but you have to realize the evil doesnt come from God. now the bible is really cut and dry on this subject if you not serving God then you are serving the devil. now you might not sacrafice chickens, or do devilish rituals or anything like that, this is focused more on the spiritual side of it. basically the further away you are from God the closer to the devil you are, the closer to God you are the further from the devil. so if your not serving God then you dont have his spirit in you and it is only Gods spirit that can fend of the evil you speak of. next when God created adam and eve he gave them free choice. freedom to obey or disobey, God warned them what would happen if they ate of the tree and told them not to but it was mans free will that chose to do what God said not too. once that happened then sin ushered into the world and along with sin brought death and suffering. when God created all this it was never his intent to have this happen and he didnt already know adam and eve was going to eat it he knew what would happen if they chose to eat it, but adam and eve coulda easily not eaten of the tree as well as they did either choice had different results unfortunatly for God and the rest of humanity they made the wrong choice. but it was that sin that caused suffering and death. now last thing the mention of life being miserable isnt a fact its just an opinion. i know people that you could say live in poverty but even that is just a made up state of mind dont get me wrong i know there are people that have very little and no doubt are probably miserable but why blame God for that? we dont serve God here on earth so we could live in the lap of luxury drive BMWs and eat caviar we are supposed to lay up our treasures in heaven. hey im only one paycheck away from standing in a soup line myself with my wife and 3 children and i depend on God for my needs and my families needs i might not be living financially the way id like to but i dont need alot of material things to be happy yeah i could sit and look at my situation and decide to be miserable about it but im not God has took care of me in the past and he will continue to do so in the future and God wont allow anything to come on me that i cant handle thats a promise he gave us in the bible but this poverty stuff cant be blamed on God when there are so many people in the world today that make more money in one day than most people make in a year

Answer 4

Our definition of poverty is all some people in the world know. They may not be that miserable not having a desire for a better sedan or new wedges. You don't know that.
Anyway, you are being overly analytical. Go play with a puppy or something.

Answer 5

I think that if we allowed God into our daily lives, jobs, schools, and everywhere He deserves to be, there wouldn't be near as much evil in this world. But as a society, we tend to push Him aside for what we want. Its like that story going around the internet about why God let a couple of students in school shoot and kill other students. God's answer--Because He isn't allowed in school. I think once we really, really hand everything over to Him to take care of, we'll be a much kinder, happier people.

Answer 6

He created us to praise him. And as far as all the evil, all of it is the result of our actions not God's. He's not going to protect us from something that we caused unless he really believed that it was a huge mistake and knew we were sorry for it. Which most aren't.

Answer 7

rather depends n the definition of "evil" does it not? - i.e., when i wuz a tender teenage person, sex was considered evil -

and why is god in charge of making the rules? - then changing them - one of his books has all kinds of destruction towards us lowly peepulz, yet the follow up wants us all to be happy and love everyone - and then he kills his own kid! -

and what is "mercy" - its considered merciful to shoot a horse with a broken leg, but murder if you kill a totally vegatative human, or perhaps a really really si k person that has too much pain to want to live..........

not really an answer, just more questions.......

Answer 8

He created us in a perfect world. We messed it up by not trusting God. From there we're told life will be difficult. In His incredible mercy, He sent His son to die for our sins that we might live again in paradise and harmony with God - or apart from Him - as we choose. God bless you.

Answer 9

well people that are born into poverty don't know any different. they don't know that they are poor unless they see America pretty much or rich people. Yet we here in yahoo can help those that suffer yet we sit here and yell and fight over who is right instead of actually going and helping. ironic isn't it.

Answer 10

God gave everyone choices to make, either to do the right thing, or the wrong thing. It is up to the individual what choice they are going to make in this life!!!