If our GOD is an all-good GOD, then, why does he ALLOW people to suffer?

Question

catholics, please answer...

Answer 1

God created a perfect world; the free choice of Adam to turn his back on Him is the ultimate cause of all the suffering. The efficient cause of specific suffering is the free evil choice of moral agents. However, Scriptures are clear that those who suffer the most are not necessarily the most sinful (e.g. John 9:1-3).

No logical contradiction has been demonstrated between the propositions ‘an all-good and all-powerful God exists’ and ‘evil exists’.

For God to rid the world of evil would require ridding the world of all of us! However, in the future, God will indeed rid the world of evil, since He is too pure to tolerate evil for eternity. People have two options:

The first is they must separate from their sins, by accepting that Christ bore them on the Cross (Is 53:10), and receive Christ’s righteousness credited to their accounts. The means of this is belief in the Gospel—1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

1. Moreover, Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The second is to cling to their sins, in which case God will grant them their wish, and separate them from Himself, the source of goodness, for eternity. There will be only two types of people: those who say to God ‘Thy will be done’ who will be happy in heaven for eternity; and those to whom God says: ‘thy will be done’, who will be separated from goodness for all eternity.

Answer 2

well....I am not a Catholic, but In view of the conditions in the world today, one of the most commonly asked questions is: Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? This question is justified, since more and more people are being affected by violent crime, corruption, genocide, personal tragedy, and so forth.

For example, in June 1998 an express train crashed into a bridge in northern Germany, killing more than a hundred passengers. Even experienced medics and firemen who attended to the injured and the dead were upset by the carnage. A bishop of the Evangelical Church asked: “Dear God, Why did this have to happen?” The bishop himself gave no answer.

Experience shows that when innocent people suffer evil without getting an explanation about the cause, they sometimes become embittered. Here is where the Bible can help, for it explains why innocent people are subjected to wickedness and suffering.

When Jehovah God created the earth and everything on it, he did not intend that humankind be troubled by wickedness and suffering. How can we be sure? Because upon completing his creation, “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) Ask yourself, ‘If I were to observe something wicked, would I pronounce it “very good”?’ Of course not! In the same way, when God pronounced everything “very good,” there was no trace of wickedness on earth. So when and how did wickedness start?

Shortly after the creation of our first parents, Adam and Eve, a powerful spirit creature approached the woman and challenged Jehovah’s truthfulness and the rightfulness of his sovereignty. (Genesis 3:1-5) This creature, Satan the Devil, later alleged that humans would not stay loyal to God under adversity. (Job 2:1-5) How did Jehovah react to this situation? He allowed for the passing of time so that it would become evident that humans cannot successfully direct their steps independent of him. (Jeremiah 10:23) When creatures act contrary to God’s laws and principles, the result is sin, which produces injurious conditions. (Ecclesiastes 8:9; 1 John 3:4) Despite these adverse circumstances, however, Jehovah knew that some humans would maintain integrity to him.

Since that woeful rebellion in Eden, some 6,000 years have elapsed. Is that too long? Jehovah could have destroyed Satan and his supporters centuries ago. But has it not been better to wait until every conceivable doubt about the rightness of Jehovah’s sovereignty and the integrity of humans to him is dispelled? Is it not true of present judicial systems that a court case to prove who is right and who is wrong may take years?

In view of the importance of the issues facing Jehovah and mankind—universal sovereignty and the integrity of humans—how wise it was of God to allow for time to pass! Now we see clearly what happens when humans ignore God’s laws and take charge of their own affairs. The result is widespread evil. And that is why so many innocent people suffer today.

Happily, though, God’s Word indicates that wickedness will not last forever. In fact, Jehovah will soon put an end to evil and to those who cause it. “As regards the wicked,” says Proverbs 2:22, “they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.” On the other hand, those faithful to God can look forward to a time, now near at hand, when “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Revelation 21:4.

So, then, the Bible clearly explains why the innocent suffer. It also assures us that evil and suffering will soon end.

Answer 3

It is not that he allows us to suffer, but he has a divine plan that we have not, and are not supposed to have, a lot of understanding about. Suffering also brings us closer to god. As in the story of Job. Everyone he loved, everything he had, was taken out from under his feet by satin to prove to god that his fath was not true, but a consequence of all of his blessings. When this happend Job shaved his head and prayed to god thanking him for all that he had been given "the lord has given and the lord has taken away" None of our possesions are really ours, they are gods and he gave them all to us so he has the right to take them away, all in a good purpose. This cortellates with the commandment not to have any gods before me, which means not to put anything before god, which Job obeyed because if he had put such things he lost before god, his faith would not have been genuine and he would not have proclaimed"the lord has given and the lord has taken away". So, if this is reffering to someone losing everything or a person that is being allowed to suffer, god is doing this to test our faith and bring us closer and rely more on him. Need to talk?
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Answer 4

Probably because He gives humans free will to do whatever they want. In the Garden of Eden, he gave Adam & Eve the choice to either obey Him and live in a perfect world or disobey Him and live in a screwed-up world. Because of that first choice of humanity to disobey God, everything went downhill from there. People started killing each other, abusing each other, diseases formed, etc. all because of the choice humanity freely chose at Eden.

You wouldn't want anything other than freedom from God. THAT is what makes God so good. He doesn't force you to believe or have a relationship with Him.

Answer 5

Why just Catholics!

In the Bible it clearly says Man and Woman will suffer. Man will toil from dawn to dusk and woman will suffer in child birth.

Man is on his own. Man wanted to "have it all" in defiance of God, then God is letting man find out what it's all about in the corporial "real world."

Answer 6

well i am not a catholic but God does not allow us to suffer,it is the sin in the world and satan uses that against us,just think if there were no sin there would be no suffering

Answer 7

If God were incapable of preventing suffering, he wouldn't be God. If on the other hand, God were capable of stopping suffering but refused, then God is a monster unworthy of worship!

Answer 8

It is through suffering that we learn the most (and are brought closer to God). It's easy to acknowledge God in the good times but in the bad...not so much.

Answer 9

In the beginning God completely sustained His creation without blemish. That’s why it was perfect. He held every atom together in a perfect state. He kept the planets in their orbits. He kept animals from tripping and breaking their necks. He did not allow people to suffer and die.
Deuteronomy 8:4 gives us a little glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting his creation.
When Adam sinned, however, the Lord cursed the universe. In essence there was a change and along with that change God seemingly took away a little bit of his sustaining power and allowed things like suffering and death into His creation. Now He permits bad things to happen—and this is a reminder that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

God took pleasure in all of His creation ("http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=revelation+4:11&version=NKJV"), but He loved people most of all. He allowed the created universe to deteriorate so we would see the consequences of our sin. If we did not see the consequences of our sin, we would never see that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never accept His offer of mercy for our sin. Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. This can be used to show them that there is one who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

He's testing the ppl who arent suffering to see if they help the ones who are. and btw suffering is also a test from God