if there's a god why is there evil and suffering?

Answer 1

"Evil" is a word people use for ignorance that hurts someone. There's no Satan, no boogeymen under the bed or wanting to gobble up your soul.

There is suffering because people are self-centered, cruel and indifferent to the pain of others.

The "God" I know to be real is the Cosmos, of which all things and people are a part. "God" does not intervene or interfere. Life is strictly free will and "work it out among yourselves."

Answer 2

At first it might seem that if God created all things then evil must have been created by God. However, there is an assumption here that needs to be cleared up. Evil is not a "thing" - like a rock or electricity. You can't have a jar of evil! Rather, evil is something that occurs, like running. Evil has no existence of its own - it is really a lack in a good thing. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole - but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all that existed was good. One of the good things that God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or non-good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a "thing" that required God to create it.

Answer 3

Here we go!

You don't believe in God, but if He exists then it's all His fault?


OK, consider this. In order for you to have free will, you have to be able to make a choice, right? If you don't want to run red lights, there has to be some green lights, or you have no choice, right? The same is true with God. He did not create evil, He created choice. He said this is right and this is wrong - He made the rules. He said if you do what I say is good, you will be rewarded, but if you do what I say is wrong, you will be punished. Both Adam and Eve, the first humans that God created, chose to do what God said was wrong. That is where evil took control of this world. Evil resides in Satan who formerly was called Lucifer, when he was an angel in heaven. Lucifer chose to, by an act of his free will, do what God said was wrong and was cast out of heaven as punishment and was banished to the "air". The bible calls him the "prince of the powers of the air". By deceiving Adam and Eve, he decieved all mankind and continues to do so til this day.

If you want to blame God for something, blame Him for not making you a robot without the ability to make choices. Would a God that does that be a God of love?

You can still choose to do the right thing whenever you decide to, because God is a God who loves you and trusts you enough to let you make decisions between right and wrong. Just remember, there will be punishment for wrong decisions and rewards for right decisions. Oh, and also, He will be happy to give you all the information you need to know what the right decision is. All you have to do is read the Owners Manual (bible).



God loves you and so do I.


The sower.

Answer 4

Evil and suffering where? In the world? This world does not belong to God. Satan is the god of this world. But credit where credit is due.

Luke 4:5
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

But one day soon, that will all change when Satan is cast out as the usurper he is.
Revelation 11:15
“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

...and the healing will begin.
Revelation 22:2
The leaves of the tree [of life] were for the healing of the nations.

Answer 5

Because god like do to evil things and see lots of suffering. Christ one look at the OT and anyone can see that the dude is a psychopath.

Answer 6

why all the evil and suffering in the world? One reason.Satan the devil is in charge of this world ...not God. God will fix it all shortly in his own due time until then we are all under the control of Satan the devil my friend. dont blame God for all the mess . blame the devil.The world is lying in the power of the wicked one.1st john 5:19

Answer 7

If there is a God why is there evil in this world? That is the most typical question I receive when speaking with non-believers. Let me explain briefly…in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…on earth he created the Garden of Eden and in that garden he placed Adam and Eve. He gave Adam and Eve everything they could ever want or need. Everything in the garden was theirs…the only thing God told them not to do was eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Pretty simple right? Well, the devil, disguised as a serpent, approached Eve in the garden and told her, “The only reason God doesn’t want you to eat from that tree is because he knows if you do you will become like him and be all powerful.”
Eve then took the fruit and went to her husband Adam and told him what the serpent had said. They both ate of the fruit and when they did sin was unleashed. The perfect world God had created was destroyed by the free will that he had lovingly given us. Why did God give us free will? Because he wanted us to love him…he didn’t want a drove of mindless robots walking around…he wanted us to love him the way a child loves a father and he wanted us to desire a relationship with him. Evil happens because of our mess up, not Gods. Did God know it was going to happen? Yes. Why didn’t he stop it? Because he gave us our free will and he wasn’t about to revoke it.
I have found from experience that the popular atheist's question, "Who made God?" doesn't deserve to have a question mark. It is usually presented as a statement. The questioner is persuaded that such a question cannot be answered. A twinkle is usually seen in his eye as he tosses what he thinks is his trump card onto the table. He gambles his very soul on the belief that there is no higher card--that it cannot be answered.
Actually, the explanation is very simple. Does space have an end? If it does--if there is a brick wall at the end of space that reads "The End," I want to know what's behind the brick wall. By faith you and I are forced to believe that no matter in which direction we set off, space will never end. It just goes on and on and on--forever. It has no beginning or end. It hurts the brain to think about such a state, but we have no choice but to accept that fact by faith.
God also has no beginning and no end. But with God, we have a little more information than we have with space. Time is a dimension that God has created and it is to this dimension that mankind is subjected. We have to wait for time to pass. We can't jump ahead even one second in time. We are enslaved in its power. It is because we are in time that reason demands a beginning and an end. It hurts the brain to think of any other dimension.
God is not subject to the dimension of time. He dwells in eternity. The Bible tells us that a day to the Lord is as a thousand years to us (see Psalm 90:4 & 2 Peter 3:8). You can prove this for yourself by studying the prophecies of the Bible mentioned in a later chapter. God can flick through time as you and I flick through the pages of a history book. If you find this hard to believe, even when confronted with the evidence of biblical prophecies, you will find it to be true one day. The Scriptures tell us that God will eventually withdraw time, and we will then dwell in eternity.
The Christian is told that he understands "by faith." This happens if I have major surgery. I trust a surgeon, even though I have no real understanding of how he is going to operate. I have to trust him or there will be no operation. I understand that he has the ability to make me well, so I have faith in him.
In the same manner, I trust God. Many have died at the hands of surgeons, but no one perishes in the hands of God. God's ability is boundless and His promises are "both sure and steadfast, an anchor of the soul" (Hebrews 6:19). Doctors and pilots will fail you, friends you trust will disappoint you, elevators will let you down, but the promises of Almighty God are utterly trustworthy. This may be hard for you to appreciate at this time, but I want to encourage you to have an open mind as we look closely at the subject of atheism.

Answer 8

There is also god's adversary Satan and his demons who misled Adam and Eve to sin, the statement to Adam before he sinned was that the day you eat from this tree you will surely die... Satan is busy at work and we are imperfect that the blind can not lead the blind, that's why you see so much suffering and evilness today.

Answer 9

If there's a barber, why there's lot's of people who have messy hair? Because they don't go to the barber. the same goes to God, If there's a god, why is there evil and suffering? because people don't believe in him and don't turn to him...as simple as pie!

Answer 10

Because God gave those beings who inverted the "free will" that allowed them to make choices.

The evil and suffering that you see is the reality of individuals who are not in harmony with God but are living opposite of God; whom God does not force to repent (even though He has the power).

God gave man a free will, and will not take that free will from them even if man chooses to sin. What man do not realize is that there are eternal consequences to their choice - which God would rather they choose the opposite to avoid it.

2 Peter 3.9

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Somone asked God, "Why do You allow evil to exist?"

God responded:

"Why do I allow evil to exist?

The suffering you see in the world is the expression of an inverted free will. Shall I express My power and remove free will from all men (including yours) to cause evil to cease?

If I were to remove free will from man, they would no longer be made in My image. I created man with a free will before they inverted. Knowing that man would invert, I provided a way for them to be reverted before death to avoid eternal separation from Me.

I chose to die for their sins instead of forcefully removing their will to cause evil within them to cease. Does that show a lack of power or compassion?

Evil is the opposite of Live. LIVE spelled backwards is EVIL. Evil exists because man expresses evil.

Would it be considered love to force man to cease evil when they can choose to do so by repentance of their sins?

I allow evil because I gave man a free will; which I will NOT take back against My nature."