Why doesn't God stop child abuse, rape, and murder? Is God "good" if he allows the innocent to suffer?

Question

If God is all good and all powerful, why wouldn't he protect a child from abuse, a woman from rape, or anyone from murder? If a PERSON stood by and allowed any of these to happen WHEN IT WAS IN HIS/HER POWER TO STOP IT, we would call that person immoral. Why do we let God off the hook? Harold Kushner (When Bad Things Happen To Good People) says God is good but he can't do everything. In the Book of Job, God sent/permitted all kinds of suffering for Job just to win a bet with Satan, then when Job asked why he was made to suffer, God told Job, basically, he wasn't qualified to ask the question. (Sheesh!) What gives?

Contra "Pastor Chad," Rabbi Kushner's book does indeed "take into account the fact that we live in a fallen, sinful world." I don't think anyone who has read the book would say otherwise.

I do believe in God and the Bible. But I find the argument about free will problematic, b/c it is an "ends justifies the means" argument and b/c it doesn't account for non-human causes of suffering (storms, floods, etc.). Besides God HAS intervened (does intervene) in human affairs to prevent injustice and suffering! Did God violate the Egyptians' free will by drowning Pharaoh's army? And in Job's case, he wasn't suffering b/c of human sin, but because God brought the suffering upon him (Job 42:11)!

And if God stopped all of the evil and suffering that would be heaven. What's so wrong with that? The fact that God SOMETIMES prevents the inocent from suffering but choses not to at other times does not make me WANT to have a realtionship with him. Imagine I had a pervert living in my house who I knew was molesting my kids and and I had the power to stop it, and I SOMETIMES stopped the abuse but I CHOSE not to at other times, would that make me a "good" parent? What if I tried to excuse my neglect by saying I didn't want to "interfere with his free will" or that it was "for their good," would you call me a "good" parent? And if despite my neglect, I told my kids "Just keep believing in me, keep loving me, keep trusting me, one day daddy's going to stop the abuse and punish the bad man," at some point my kids are going to realize either: 1) dad can't really stop the bad things happening to me or 2) dad is not really good and loving but cruel and negligent.

Answer 1

It is the fault of man that the innocent suffer.

Think about it...if God were to stop it...then who would suffer? Only the evil. Then this would be hell. A place where only the evil receive the consequences...is hell. And that is a place and the evil will suffer.

We are also told...that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no true innocence. I know that is a hard concept...since a baby is incapable of personal sin. But born of flesh...we are conceived in sin. All of us. Please don't think I am justifying the rape of an infant as something they deserve...not at all. That's even horrible to think about for a moment. My point is all this horror IS the result of sin, selfishness and pride.

God sees and knows...and he will right what is wrong. But it is in his time. Those who suffer here will get their eternal reward. Jesus was completely innocent and suffered beyond anything we can imagine. God loves all of us much more then any of us are capable of loving. The Bible says he knows when a sparrow falls. So we need to trust that all will be taken care of through his divine justice.

Just because we do not see the justice immediately, or the salvation immediately...doesn't mean it won't happen. God is not limited to our time line. He already knows the end of the story.

I know it's hard to wrap your mind around...but fortunately we don't have to. We have faith and trust in a God we know is good, loving, merciful and just.

Answer 2

I feel this is a legitimate question in any caring person's heart/mind. However I feel the true answer lies within a deeper reality than we humans have the ability to grasp. Its a puzzle in which a lot of pieces must be assembled to see the big picture. I've been troubled with the question of God allowing such atrocities to children, having seen them as a Police Officer. If not strike the offender down, then work with circumstances to stop the abuse and bring the abuser and his actions to light so he/she is arrested/punished, right?? And sometimes I feel we focus too much on the "punishment" to the offender, rather than on the long term negative mental, emotional, and spiritual effects the crime has on the victim and how to help them. Our anger causes this and its understandable. I've been reading the bible and many other web sights including this one and much of the same answers are repeated, but
offer no real answer that makes sense. Free will, Fallen Man, Eve and Adam eating from the forbidden tree, God intervening sometimes but not others, We make our own choices, Satan is the God of this world, etc......
These are all pieces to the puzzle which I feel paints a bigger picture, but still somewhat obscure to me. With that said, I feel Our fight and Gods is against an evil much larger and deeper than any one incident or person. Its a darkness that runs throughout the world like a cancer. That cancer's name is Lucifer / Satan. He / it has an agenda so dark, so hateful we cannot grasp it. Just as God's love is beyond our comprehension, so is Satan's evil and therefore how to overcome and defeat it beyond our ability to understand. What does it take to stamp out pure evil? Answer....Pure Love. What does it take to vanquish the darkness? Answer....Pure Light. Jesus Christ is that light, that Love. He said I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. He also said when it comes to the little children it would be better for someone that offends one that he had never been born or that a stone be tied around his neck and he be cast into the depths of the sea...He also said that the Wheat and the Weeds must grow up together, unless by trying to pull up the weeds some of the Wheat may accidentally be uprooted too....Bottom line is....some things are beyond our capability to fully understand, so that is where faith comes in. But it sure is hard sometimes, isn't it?

Answer 3

My situation is, i am homeless and I now know that what I counted on to possibly bring me out of my situation is not real, and I will remain homeless, in and out of shelters. Everywhere I turn, I hear christian say 'Pray about it,' or 'Don't let Satan use you,' and it's consistent-but these same Christians cannot help me-they give me things they themselves would not want-bad housing, spoiled food, old clothes, and so on. I have never taken drugs, or sold them, never prostituted my body, or done anything illegal-but I am still living this life where I feel God has forsaken me. For the record, I was molested and raped as a child, and neither my mother or my other family believed me. I have tried to believe God since I was 9, but this question that this man asked is one that I want answers to, myself. I cannot figure out how other people's sin are the reason why kids have to suffer, and what's worst is, when these freaks do this to innocent babies-they go to jail, find Jesus, get forgiveness, and that's it. What about the kids they hurt? What about that? I have a hard time believing any God can allow for kids to be slighted, and turn around and forgive the people who did it. I do not think there is a God. Couldn't be. That's all I have to say.

Answer 4

I understand that we as people should also be stoping the abuse but when you continue to try and also to get others involve and it doesn't work then what? I have wrote many emails to my governor, and senitors about harsher punishments for people who abuse and murder children and I've tried to get other people involved and still continue to do so but there is only so much we people can do. I wish god would at least step in when it involves a child. Some of the the abuses I have read about are so horrific I don't understand how god could not step in. Or why a good family can't have children while another kills theirs

Answer 5

You're assuming both in your question as well as your addenda, that this world is all there is. It's a common mistake, and leads to the type of frustration you're experiencing.

This world belongs to Satan. Sorry, I know I'll get flamed by people for saying it, but the Prince of Darkness is the ruler of this world. Fortunately, Christ won the battle and His power is great enough to overcome the darkness. That's why a relationship with Him is so important.

I don't know how people get through a day without calling on His grace, mercy, intervention, etc.

Harold Kushner feels as he does because he is Jewish. He is still waiting for the Messiah to appear, and doesn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Job story is pre-Jesus and must be read in that light.
In OT times, people dealt with almighty God himself, without any sort of advocate or mediator, and it was a fearful thing to deal with him. God was, of course, correct in asking Job where he was when God was basically pouring the foundations of the earth, teaching the eagle to soar, etc. It's a great answer if you read it in context. I wouldn't want to serve a God who was any less than the master Creator.

Answer 6

If parents teach their child(ten) don't run into the street because a car will might hit you. Yet the child is playing with a pet and the pet runs into the street, the child placed the pet's life, whether the child was old enough to understand it was old enough to understand, higher than his or her own life.
A vehicle hits the child. The child dies.
Is G-D at fault?
No. The neglectant parent(s) are. They knew that wad a child.
Of course, the driver shares in the neglect for refraining from being more cautious.
Children are taught beware of strangers, when they should be taught be aware and don't. ever allow anybody to touch you unless you are married a promise of marriage isn't good enough.

Answer 7

In the Beginning there was no sin, it was women that commited sin with the serpent, Therefore we all are living under the penalty of sin, until the milliennium sets in, then Satan is bound for 1000 yrs, Then you won't have any crime, sickness, or the such, This world is screaming at God why do God let this happen, Friend, It was mankind/womenkind that sinned & not God, & now this world is blaming God for everything, let's put the blame where it belongs, The blame lays with satan & the Human race listering to satan, Now God will hear the plead of the human race, But that will be in the milliennium, Satan is bound for 1000 yrs. No more sicknes or crime, why is it like this, Because God has bound satan. Remember God is not bound, satan is, That itself should tell you who is responseable for rape & murder, & so on.

Answer 8

If you pray and don't resist, you won't get raped in my experience. Same for child abuse. The main thing is that Christianity has misrepresented Christ's gospel as being a fighting gospel, if it's necessary. There are no exceptions. Don't resist. Matthew 5:39 - "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

As for physical abuse, that does happen no matter how Christian you are. Matthew 24:9 says: "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." But if no death occurs, then relief from the persecution and even vindication of one's personal affairs can result. Jeremiah 20:11 - "But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten."

Answer 9

God And Child Abuse

Answer 10

Who says that He doesn't stop such things? We are not omnipotent and ominiscient enough to see all the times that these crimes were prevented by God intervening by men or other circumstances. It's no secret that we are broken people living on a broken world. There are people out there they commit all kinds of atrocities to their fellow men. Some we will never know about. God knows, however. He will see that justice is given to those who do such things in this life or the next. There are countless people who do such things dying in their sins right now who are being judged in the court of Heaven. I don't have to tell you what awaits all who die in their sins. Yet still for some it still doesn't answer why we must suffer. The world became less than what God intended when sin came into it. We live in a world where earthquakes, floods, fires, limited food and water resources, droughts, diseases, and man's various sins are all around us. Probably no one saw this more than Job. The man lost his children, wealth, and health in a short period of time. His wife and friends were of little or no comfort. Job suffered greatly. We know beforehand that Satan is given permission to afflict him without taking his life. Satan wants Job to renounce God because of all the suffering that's upon him. So Job asks of God the famous question of "why?" God answers by coming Himself to ask him various questions that Job could not answer. God's answer with more questions satisfies Job. Why? Because the answer to suffering is the Answerer, God. Job gets to meet God as his answer. God wasn't saying "I'm not qualified to answer your question". He was saying by His presence that He was more than qualified. He used Job's suffering to bring Job to an encounter with Him. Job's answer is ours. God, who's ways are not our own. God, who blessed us with His Word to show us His plans to end suffering on Earth. Through Jesus we can take joy in the presense of God in the midst of our moments of suffering. The time is coming when He shall wipe away all our tears as mentioned in Revelation 21. There will be no more death, sorrow, pain, and suffering. The Lord will be among men once more forever. So, to know that the one to end all suffering is with you is a comforting thought because you know by seeing him that the battle is won and the war is over. The abused child or the raped woman or man or even the murdered soul can take heart that God is here and justice will be served and the tears can stop.