Christians want it both ways: Good things = god, bad things = not god?

Question

Either god let's it happen, or he doesn't exist.
It has to be one way or the other....there is no 3rd alternative.

Typical responses.

bombastic - you can put any religion in there you want. Sorry, put your martyr complex away, it's not just xtians.

Answer 1

God did not create evil, he created a world where we have free will. That brings a potential for evil.

Answer 2

I guess its not just a christian thing to not like bad things happening to us. Its probably more a human thing. I'll not say that God is the author of evil things.. but i will say this.. as a believer in Jesus Christ i can be encouraged that " all things" ( including the good and the bad things) can work together for Good to those who love God. those called according to His purpose.. that last part there is actually a verse in the New Testament.
But the bottom line is this...The Lord lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust..He is not going to let our paths as christians be lined with petals... but He has promised to give us grace and mercy and His Life to deal with all that comes our way. The precious things in this world are at most forged in trying environments. As believers the Lord will work OUT all the things that we have inherited in Adam, including the Natural man.. the flesh. the self .. the Old man... through the sufferings..
Its actually through the negative or what we call " bad things" that happen to us that we find ouselves really turning in a deeper to the Lord. We do not tend to turn to the Lord as much when the good times are rolling.. The bad times have a way of making us desperate.

So there is hope for us christians after all .. IF we can see the value of " pressure making us precious'

Answer 3

I'm not a christian and I still don't think that what happened to the little boy was God's fault. Yes, God let it happen, he lets all sorts of atrocities happen, but the atrocities are all committed by man. God also lets some amazing and wonderful things happen like the birth of my daughters and all of the beauty in nature. I believe that God is and creates everything - the good and bad. It is all for us to experience so that we will grow spiritually so to speak. I understand your frustration with christians who want to claim that God has no part in the bad that happens. Just like a parent let's their child take his tumbles when learning to walk, God gives us difficulties when learning to love. It makes the end result worth the effort.

Answer 4

many human beings think of that the answer to that query is particular. ‘If God cared,’ they reason, ‘does not the worldwide be an extremely diverse place?’ we seem around and notice a worldwide packed with conflict, hatred, and misery. And as persons, we get ill, we go through, we lose kin in demise. for this reason, many say, ‘If God cared approximately us and our issues, could he not preclude such issues from happening?’ Worse yet, non secular instructors each so often lead human beings to think of that God is hardhearted. How so? while tragedy strikes, they say that it fairly is God’s will. In result, such instructors blame God for the undesirable issues that ensue. Is that the certainty approximately God? What does the Bible fairly coach? James a million:13 solutions: “while decrease than trial, permit no one say: ‘i'm being tried by utilizing God.’ For with evil issues God won't be able to be tried nor does he himself attempt all of us.” So God is on no account the source of the wickedness you spot interior the worldwide around you. (job 34:10-12) Granted, he does enable undesirable issues to ensue. yet there's a brilliant distinction between allowing something to ensue and inflicting it.

Answer 5

You want the answer to the questions "why do bad things happen to good people". If you had a clear understanding of God's nature, you would know the answer to this question.

God is not some great spirit that stand around and hand out "good stuff" to "good people" and "bad stuff" to "bad people". Bad things happen because people make, have made, and will make, poor choices. And since we do not live independently of each other, the choices people make, effect other peoples' lifes. Innocent people suffer because of other's bad decisions. Not because God wants it that way but because He will not interfere with the free will of His people to make bad choices OR the consequences that come about because of their choices
.
Why? Because God is just and fair. That means that His truth applies to ALL people, all the time. Weather they believe in Him or not. Subsequently, weather or not you believe in Him, if you make choices outside that which He would have you do, you will suffer consequences and potentially cause other people (innocent ones) to suffer too.

Additionally, the "third alternative" is that Christians have a very real enemy that is trying to kill us and make us deny God and that is Satan. Satan is the angel Lucifer that tried to overthrow God. As a result, he was thrown out of heaven and is here on earth until Jesus comes back to throw him (and his other fallen angels known as demons) in hell forever. Until the time he goes to hell, satan is busy trying to wreak havoc in our lives because he knows God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us that he can no longer have. He's pissed off and miserable and wants us to be also.

Answer 6

Actually that's the basic Jewish formulation - that God rewards good and punishes evil. That's why in the Book of Jobo, Job is so distraught, because he knows he hasn't done anything bad and yet all this bad stuff is happening.

Educated Christians don't believe that, because
a) accidents happen
b) That particular creed violates the basic concept of free will. If God keeps interfering, then we are not truly free and that freedom is the foundation stone of Christianity.

So before you ask a loaded question, try and get the theology correct.

Answer 7

God created a perfect world and gave the stewards of that creation free will.

We choose good or bad and that has repercussions.

God can and does intervene, but he doesn't sit around all day orchestrating who will do what and how we will react. He'd not a master puppetteer or cosmic chess player.

So in a sense he let's things happen, so where does that leave your hypothesis?

He exists and things happen.

Answer 8

There are always more view points. That's why there are Catholics and Protestants; Mormons and who knows what. But, that is Church politics, NOT the Bible.
Read the Bible: God created Man in His image. Man has free choice; he can either obey God or choose to live in sin. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majorite have chosen to live in sin, as you have.
Try reading philosphy, starting with Socrates, Plate and Aristotle and working your way forward. Read the King James Bible. Pray for God to guide you, and you will start to see.

Answer 9

Yes, God allows evil to exist. It is evil that is responsible for ALL calamities. God created the world perfect. Man by his rebellion causes the earth it's self to become corrupt. The worst thing in all creation isn't Satan, it's the heart of man. only God can fathom the depths of our capability for evil. You need to understand the truth of your statement more clearly Good things do=God, Bad things = Man..... Jim

Answer 10

Maybe we need new knowledge to help us understand more about God and about life. They are not wrong in their belief, it is just that their belief is a little outmoded, it needs to be upgraded.

If you look around, you can observe that there is a constant interaction between two opposing forces, good and evil, victim and villain, hot and cold, up and down, happy and sad, dark and bright, Christian and Muslim, white and black, etc. If there is only one God (with many names) and God is everything, then, we can safely say that God is manifesting itself in its dual aspects as these two energies. God is the negative and the positive energies, the north and the south pole, they are integral parts of evolution. You cannot know who you are in the absence of who you are not. If God is in the goodness She is also in the badness.

Answer 11

God did not make us an army of robots that he controls from above with a giant remote.

He allowed each and every one of us to have free will. To have the ability to make our own choices. That means evil can and does exist in the world.