If God gave people free will then why do people always assume that God "allowed" bad things <--this was MY que

Question

Just wanted to say this was my question, but I deleted it at first because Steve P. copied it.
When something bad happens (the holocaust, 9/11, e.t.c.), people tend to ask "Why did God allow this to happen? How could He?" But the truth is God does not "allow" anything to happen. All God does is put people on earth and give them free will and hope that they will make the right decisions. If they choose to make bad decisions there is nothing God can do. He gave people free will and therefore has no control over what people do. People on earth have to choose to make the right decisions in order to achieve eternal life in heaven. Only then can God sanctify all the suffering that they have had to endure while on earth. And in heaven they will also be free of the oppressors who tormented them on earth. So when something bad happens it is not because God "allowed" it to happen. It is because some of the people he has placed on earth have simply chosen to abuse their free will.

Answer 1

Good point and very well said. The problem with your thesis is atheists will now say, your argument confirms the fact that there is really no God. Where and how does God come into our lives if he just leaves everything to us? Was the holocaust the result of bad choices on the part of Jewish people? Similarly, was the suffering and death of Jesus also the result of bad decisions on the part of Jesus?

I agree with you to the extent that he gives us free will but he also gives us the opportunities so that we can live in peace and no one will be in need.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 2

Ok your mind is on the right track but let me help clarify the situation.

God gave us Free Will. We can choose to follow Him or leave His side. When bad things happen, It is a result of our Free Will, but, God did allow it to happen. Remember, God can perform miracles whenever he sees fit. He allows bad things to happen generally to his followers. Faith produces works, and works perfects faith. In these situations, God allows (by not divinely intervening) bad things to happen to his followers. Take an example from Exodus:

God let his people become slaves so that he can show the world that there is always a way out, even when none is found. Faith produces works, and works perfects faith. God wanted to perform miracles so that others could realize Him and love Him, so that he can bring us all to heaven (because he loves even the worst of sinners). Since God knew his people could handle the chastising, he let the Pharoah rule over them for centuries so that he can show all the nonbelievers that faith will get them through anything. After some time, God proceeded to impliment his Divine Plan and bring Justice to his people.

God does not, by choice of course (because he CAN do anything), manipulate Free Will. That is what Free Will is, His promise not to mess with our thinking and judgments.

Answer 3

I hate that a lot!! When something terrible happens, people always say "it was God's will." That's a horrible thing to say because that is NOT God's will. And we can't blame God for the bad things that happen, it is not his fault, we are the ones to blame. God did not cause the holocaust or 9/11, it was the selfish desires of men that caused these horrible incidents. Instead of saying "it was God's will" or "he doesn't love us for allowing these things to happen" we should thank him for being so patient.

Answer 4

that's quite determined. heavily. If God is all-understanding, and all-effective, and he made someone understanding that they were going to be doomed to an eternity of TORTURE in a fiery pit, then that has no longer something TO DO with "free will." That human being did not ASK to be "created" now, did they? If God warned them previous to time that they were going to be doomed after he created them, and then they determined they had to be "created" besides, THEN it would want to be "free will". Being created with out probability proper from the initiating isn't "free will". in the experience that they have a probability to genuinely save THEMSELVES from damnation, and they chosen now to not, THEN there might want to be "free will". (yet then that could also recommend that God isn't all-understanding, because he might want to have wide-spread formerly he created them that they could accomplish that.) also, God CREATED Hell, so of route he planned for human beings to bypass there. Why create it otherwise? certain, it truly is extremely the conundrum you've as a theist who desperately needs to trust in a loving "God", and "free will". despite the indisputable fact that it in basic terms stands that you are able to not trust that God is all-understanding, and concurrently trust that he does no longer "intend" the right results of his moves. you won't be able to have both.

Answer 5

Yes, I agree. If there is a God as most people seem to understand 'him' than that's true BUT I don't see your question here.

Answer 6

I completely agree with what you have said. As far as I'm concerned who cares is you posted a question. you posted a good point.

Answer 7

You are supposed to ask questions, not spread ancient superstition.

Answer 8

Consider this statement that Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:19-20: But Joseph said to (his brothers), "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Joseph's brothers heartlessly sold their Joseph into Egyptian slavery where he endured years of servitude and suffered unjust imprisonment before he rose to the ranks of Pharaoh's right hand man thereby enabling him to save many lives of those in and around Egypt. Joseph's brothers sinned but the outcome was ultimately good because of God.

Did Joseph's brothers sin when they carried out these evil deeds against Joseph? Yes.

Did God intend these bad things to happen to Joseph or did he "allow" these bad things to happen to Joseph? Joseph said that God INTENDED these events to happen in his life. In other words, God was not given lemons with which to make lemonade. God INTENDED those bad things to happen to Joseph. For what purpose? "The saving of many lives."

The same Hebrew word that is translated "intended" is used for BOTH Joseph's brothers AND for God. The Hebrew word means "plotted, planned, schemed, devised." It is an action word. It does not mean "allowed." Joseph's brothers "plotted, planned, schemed and devised" for evil purposes. But God also "plotted, planned, schemed and devised" for good purposes.

So if God INTENDED these bad things to happen to Joseph, does that mean that Joseph's brothers are off the hook for their evil actions? No. God intended those bad things to happen to Joseph and God even intended those bad things to come through the hands of Joseph's brothers. However, this fact does not mean that God is responsible for Joseph's brothers' sinful actions.

Does this make sense to us as human beings? No. It will never make sense to us as human beings. But we must accept what the Bible teaches on the subject. God is absolutely sovereign over everything that happens in the world. But the Bible also teaches that human beings are responsible and accountable before God for their actions.

Paul addresses this question directly in Romans 9...

17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?" 20 But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God?

Notice in verse 19 that Paul is imagining someone asking the exact question we're discussing. "How can God hold us accountable for our sins when those sins were decreed as part of his eternal plan?" Paul had the opportunity to answer this question right then and there. But he didn't give an answer. He rebuked the spirit of the question by saying "Who are you to question or talk back to God?" We must accept this seeming contradiction as a mystery since we are incapable of making sense of it. We definitely should not use it as an excuse to justify our sins (which is what Paul is addressing in Romans 9).

God knows the big picture and what is best for his glory and our good. If he decrees some sort of disaster (natural or man-made), then we can be sure that he has his purposes. We shouldn't downplay God's sovereignty. But we also shouldn't let evil men off the hook for their actions just because God is sovereign.

Read the story of Joseph in the last several chapters of Genesis and read what Paul wrote in Romans 9. It's a fascinating question.

Answer 9

sooner or later, the inevitable will creep up on you: there is no god. sorry, but it's true.