Is there a god?

Question

If there is why does bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people? For example when the man that was in jail because he raped several people bought a lottery ticket and won the jackpot.

The guy that won the lottery is now out of jail and filthy rich!

Answer 1

I struggled to find the answer to your question as well. Here's a part i wrote to try and understand why the world is the way it is. It's a bit long, but your question is not something that can be answered in 2 or 3 lines - unless you're not really serious about getting a thorough answer.

III- God, Good, & Evil
One question that is often asked by atheists is this: “If an all knowing, all loving God exists, then why is there evil in this world?” To answer this question thoroughly, we must examine several difficult concepts: the nature of good and evil, God’s plan, freedom of choice, the nature of God, the nature of love, and the nature of omniscience. None of these are easy topics, and many of them will have to be looked at simultaneously.

Good and evil are inseparable, for evil, in the end, is a degree of goodness: it is the absence of it. Without evil, there can be no good: can a person be generous if there was no one who was lacking something? Can a person be forgiving or merciful if nobody committed any faults? Evil is what gives goodness its value. Evil is also what helps bring out God’s greatness for us to see. God is ‘The Reliever’, but what does that really mean if nobody was ever in distress or in need of help? It is one thing to claim something, but it is another to actually do it. Furthermore, in many cases, the absence of evil will lead to malevolence by itself. You eat everyday, but are you thankful for it? No, because you take it for granted. If you were to be deprived from food, you would realize that God did indeed bless you. God gives people money, but the richer they get, the more ungrateful, greedy, insolent, arrogant, superficial, and sinful they get. If there were no hardships to test us, to remind us of God, all of us would have succumbed to selfishness, the very opposite of what God wants us to be, for to be a believer is to perform any act, of the heart or body, that pleases God and is loved by Him. In the end, evil plays a part in God’s plan and unquestionably submits to His will, whether it be to punish someone, warn someone, test them, or give them a chance to repent before it is too late.

All the injustice in the world pushes people to think that God does not exist. But if God did not exist, then this world is, indeed, just a cruel place that has no purpose. The evil in this life is only temporary, and it will be punished, just not now, after death (i.e. Judgement Day; Heaven; Hell). That is why it makes sense to say that there is a God: denying God’s existence is saying that people’s actions have no consequences; that being good or bad is the same; that evil wins; that life is just an accident with no meaning. But even a pen is used for a purpose, so is it really possible for humans not to have one? None of the above can be true; otherwise, you, for instance, could be considered no better than Hitler: both of you will cease to exist after death, unpunished, unrewarded for your deeds. Do not be blinded by the injustices of this life. This life is just a game, a distraction. True life is the life of the Hereafter: what is 80 years on this earth compared to a thousand years? Ten thousand? A million? Eternity? It is nothing: (i.e. 80/∞ = 0). It is not worth it to lose the Hereafter for a ‘zero’.

Though adversities play a part in God’s plan, God will compensate for it. The most horrible suffering you could imagine, and all the riches and pleasures of this world are nothing compared to Heaven and Hell. God will make it up to every person that has suffered by: first, giving them back justice (i.e. Judgement Day); second, by removing any sense of injury from their hearts; and, third, by admitting them into Heaven, the delights of which are so overwhelming, that the most miserable life will seem like nothing: you will finally understand that your suffering – no matter how terrible – was truly insignificant; not only that, but that it was all worth it too – as crazy as it sounds, God is able of doing this, He is ‘The Capable’, ‘The Compeller’.

In contrast, God will punish every evil-doer who has chosen to be sinful. He will make them see their misdeeds as a source of bitter regret; and by throwing them in Hell, all the riches, power, and pleasures of this world will seem invaluable compared to the torment they will be afflicted with. The disbelievers will realize that everything they had was not worth it: what they had does not seem to be that great now; and it only lasted for a little while.

In the end, you are the one who chooses between the path of righteousness and wickedness. The fact that God already knows whether you will be good or bad is irrelevant, for will you not be repaid for just the things that you have chosen to do? You might be asking yourself: “Could God not have immediately sent everyone to their ‘destined’ final resting place?” He wants the good people to enter Heaven through their good deeds, and the bad people to enter Hell through their bad deeds. In other words, He wants to prove and show you what kind of person you are through the free will He has given you. This world is a test that determines the righteous from the sinner, the believer from the disbeliever, the thankful from the ungrateful, the generous from the miser, the patient from the hasty, the steadfast from the weak…

Still, you might be wondering: “Why did God create people who would become evil-doers when He knew that they would turn out to be so? Isn’t the decision to punish them in Hell – in light of the fact that God is all knowing – wrong?” God’s omniscience is certainly the most difficult topic of all to deal with. Why did God create Satan if He knew Satan would rebel against Him? While this is a very difficult thing to accept, the answer is because God is just and fair. He does not prejudge based on foreknowledge. To illustrate this further, consider this: do you believe it is just to kill a child who would become evil? Or would it have been right if his mother was denied the right of having a baby? Your answer should be no, for what is justice? It is to reward or punish the deeds that a person has willingly performed. So until that person commits that fault or sin, for which he should be punished, punishing him would be unjust, and God is the most just of the just. Satan had, thus, the right to exist, and even to be honoured by God – when he was allowed to witness, with the angels, Adam’s coming to life – until the time he arrogantly chose to disobey.
Many criticize God for letting evil exist, but are we not put in the same position as well? Yes, we may not know the exact sorrows and misfortunes that our children are going to have to face, but we certainly do know that they will eventually encounter some: they will have their hearts broken, grieve over the deaths of their loved ones… So how can we justify bringing children into this world, knowing that this world is so full of evil? People feel angry with God because they feel He can do something, but can’t they as well? Can they not choose to stop having children? Or better yet, to refrain from doing any type of evil, no matter how trivial? Yet, still, they choose to have children. They choose to lie, to cheat, to backstab, to insult, to disobey, to do the very same thing they accuse God of doing – though they understand not His Wisdom.

This brings me to my next point: who is committing evil? Us, humans, or God? Are we not committing it consciously? Were we not given free will? Is it so unjust for people to bear the consequences of what they – not others – did with their own hands? What if your body was paralyzed every time you decided to do something forbidden, wouldn’t that be oppression? People then would have said, “God is unjust! We are not allowed to do the things we want to do!” But God has forbidden oppression, both on Himself and His creations. So we see that freedom of choice here comes, in part, from God’s desire to love us: such a gift and privilege can only come from love. Satan has no power over humans. He just calls us to sin, and we succumb. In turn, we realize that no one is technically ‘destined’ to eternity in Heaven or Hell: we are the ones who determine our own fates. What you decide to do with the free will God has given you does not make Him unjust.

It is even easier to see the necessity of freedom of choice when we look at God’s desire to be loved by us. Does the expression “I love you” have any significance when it comes from force or deception? Is it possible to respect a person who has no free will? If it is, then God would have created robots, not humans, to live on earth. We come to the conclusion that love cannot exist without free will: love must be a choice. This is what God wants: He wants to love us and for us to love Him on our own, and who is more worthy of love than God? And what is He asking of us: is it not to just be good? By the very act of choosing not to be good, a person proves how he or she deserves punishment.

God did not create evil: evil is the absence of God, the absence of His obedience; and in doing things that are contradictory to what God advised – not forced – us to do, we can expect to suffer, for all that is good comes from God. Darkness only exists where light does not. And in the end, as previously mentioned, all evil submits to God’s will, willingly or not. Would the companions of prophet Muhammad PBUH have been such excellent and pious believers if they had not been so viciously persecuted and attacked by the disbelievers? Evil is what brought out their true characters and their noblest qualities. It only served to make God’s Purpose all the greater. The reason that we live in a world with so much pain and, more importantly, joy, is because of God’s mercy, not despite it.

Hope this helps, Peace be with you

Answer 2

God is a belief, a way of helping us to explain the unexplainable. Unfortunately one religion conned the world 3000 odd years ago into the idea that their god was the one and only true god and we have had untold religious conflicts ever since - which is not surprising when you realise that the God of Abrabham and Israel is Yaweh - the God of War.

Yes I believe in a God, a power greater than humans - is that a male entity ofr a female entity - hmmmm. Perhaps the earth herself is a god - perhaps all planets are intelligent beings - just because we do not recognise it as a being does not mean that it is not one.

I also believe that we live more than one life - and so karmic law suggests that the things we do bad in one life are balanced by the things we do for good later in that life or in another life.

And what is good and evil anyway. Is is evil for an animal to rip another animal to pieces for food, is it evil for a human to kill another animal for food - is it evil for a human to kill another human for food? is it evil to kill anther human because we don't like their friends which is what what Israel is doing right now in the name of their god. And the rapist who won the lottery - could not use the money while in prison - so that was a sort of punishment - and now I guess he pays prostitutes for sex instead of raping - we can have a long debate over the rights and wrongs of that.

To me God is a personal thing - my beliefs are quite compex but they do enable me to come to terms good and evil as I understand those concepts and it gives me some comfort to think that there is more after this life - and if I am wrong - well I will never know but at least I wil have had a good life this time.

Answer 3

A person can't get a job or they refuse to work for someone else. So they start their own business. They are smart, they work really hard and they risk everything. It pays off and they make a lot of money. Eventually they become very rich. Walt Disney became rich that way. Filthy rich people usually provide a product or service that makes a lot of people happy and they don't waste their money. They provide people with things like Disney World, automobiles, and affordable furniture.

My guess is that they think they are making a lot of people happy. People are buying their products or using their services and they are employing a very large number of people. As far as not worrying, building a very successful business is often stressful. Also a lot of rich people have good spending habits. If they had a habit of wasting money on expensive things then they would not be rich.

Answer 4

I really don't think so!... I believe that the universe and us (humans) are a natural phenomenon. We were created from a combination of star dust and climate conditions (see;- The origins of life on earth). We evolved from a primordial soup (Blu-green algae). The tw*t the won the lottery will hopefully top himself with a cocktail of drink and drugs. God is a guide for humans (be good, treat your fellow man well etc). People live, people die..FACT, & some lucky bas*#rds win the lottery too!

Answer 5

People will try and pursuade you that there is and use strange ways to justify things (like the rapist you mentioned). As an atheist i don't believe there is a god. Science has disproved many things in the bible, and the bible contradicts itself. Gods were invited by the ancient greeks to control the masses. I don't see any reason why it isn't still true today. The 10 commandments state things like do not steal, do not kill. These are the same laws in affect today by governments, you could say that politicians created the illusion of a god to keep people in line if they believed an all powerful god would punish them for disobeying him.

Answer 6

Yes. Man commits evil...not God. Shouldn't your question be therefore "Does man exist?"

That doesn't sound like something "good" to me. I'd rather be out of jail without the winning lottery ticket.

Answer 7

There are seven basic proofs God exists. Properly, they belong in a separate book all by themselves, but I will cover them briefly here.
(1) That there is a great CREATION is obvious. The very fact of the existence of THINGS; the universe, the solar system, the earth and all myriad forms of life upon it, demands a CREATOR!
(2) The existence of great, immutable, powerful LAWS (and I speak of the "laws" governing the physical universe; the laws of science and chemistry; laws governing the action of water in its three states; the cleavage and fracturing properties of minerals; gravity, inertia, isostasy, etc., etc.). The existence of these great laws demands a lawgiver!
(3) The intricacy of complex design; whether the feathers on the wing of a bird; the eye of a fly; the breathing apparatus of a dolphin; billions of intricately-designed snowflakes; your own muscular, skeletal, digestive and circulatory systems-etc., etc., requires a great DESIGNER!
(4) LIFE exists. Life in myriad forms. You and I both know that life only comes from preexisting life! This is called the "law of biogenesis." Life demands a great LIFE GIVER!
(5) Life only comes from preexisting life of the same kind! Thus, there is procreation, and the sustaining of life on our planet; the constant recycling of falling trees, rotting vegetation; the bacteria which break it down to become food for the insects which are food for dozens of other creatures, which are in turn food for larger creatures, which are in turn food for man; the cyclical character of our symbiotic environment which, like a gigantic machine was once "wound up," and is gradually running down, requires a sustaining force. Inherent within this proof are the laws governing the "conservation" of energy" and the laws of thermodynamics. It is obvious our universe has a great sustaining force-a GREAT SUSTAINER!
(6) Fulfilled prophecies, of which there are dozens, with dozens more yet to be fulfilled, constitute a great proof of Almighty God. Even simple high school or beginning college-level Bible handbooks such as Halley's, or the Angus Bible Handbook contain fascinating proofs from the spade of archeologists corroborating the prophecies of men who foretold the collapse of great empires and the emergence of others centuries and centuries beyond their own lifetime. Now, we are able to look back at such men as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and others, and see what they foretold actually HAPPENED exactly as they foretold it!
Many of the biblical prophecies are in process of being fulfilled. The serious student of biblical archeology knows that it is axiomatic that, wherever archeology reveals information about ancient civilizations, it always corroborates the biblical record, never refutes it!
(7) The final proof-one which dyed-in-the-wool disbelievers will doubtlessly scoff at-is answered prayer! Of course. God does not answer the prayers of skeptics and disbelievers. However, those individuals who have experienced the answer to PRAYER; those who have been healed of their sicknesses and diseases, who have actually seen miracles performed, are no longer doubting, but believing. Answered prayer is definitely a proof that there is a God who can hear. and answer!

Answer 8

Yes there is a God bad thigs happen to everyone and the lottery thing is just luck .

Answer 9

Bad things happen to good people in earth because life on earth is nor perfect or fair. If every good deed was rewarded and every bad deed punished then there would be no incentive to do bad things and really selfish people would do good deeds all the time just so fate would reward then - effectivly we would have no free will.

Answer 10

I believe ther was once someone called jesus, who people worshipped and he was a good person, but i don't think it's true about him making miracles and creating the world and people- how could be create humans with his bare hands? It annoys me when people try and change what i belive, it's fair enough if others believe different- i don't mind but i like to have my own beliefs without people going off on one how i should believe he is just magic and he's not human he's an amazing thing! one of my friends believes this and it's just annoying me how she wants me to believe what she does! ok i've gone off the subject now but i don't believe he is a miricle man!

Answer 11

Nope no god.
You are born, you struggle, you die.
How can you prove there is a god by relying on some old stories from a long time ago.
Why must there be a god?
Ok ernest 77h If existance needed a creator then who created the creator?