If God created the universe and everything in it....?

Question

why did He create evil, sickness & war? I know that some of these things are a result of men's self will, but what about diseases like cancer and mental illness? Why did God make the "Crazy people?" Why does God allow sickness? Why does God allow evil and war? Is He just some big kid playing with an antfarm or what? Who created the devil? Why doesn't God just kill the devil?

Answer 1

God didn't create evil. Evil is rebellion against God. How could God "create" rebellion against Himself?

Sickness is the result of the imperfection of physical matter. No material thing is absolutely perfect, and some imperfections leave us open to disease and other physical/biological handicaps.

God allows evil and war because to do otherwise would mean contradicting His own will when He created human beings as persons with free will. With free will comes total responsibility for its use. We can't blame God when we use our free will to commit crimes and sin, or to go to war.

God created the spirit who is now the devil, as a glorious and beautiful angel of light, named Lucifer, which means "bearer of light". Lucifer, like us, was created with free will, and used it to oppose and reject God, thereby making himself evil. God cannot kill the devil because, like us, he was created as an immortal being, so God cannot eliminate him without contradicting His own will in creating angels immortal.

Answer 2

evil exists because good exists. with the ability to do good, there's also the ability not to do good. it's more of a bi-product of free will than anything else.

sickness? ask Adam.

war? war exists because conflicts aren't always as simple as "solve it with a compromise". you can't exactly say that war is good or bad. it's the motive. for example, a war of genocide is wrong, yet say WWII was preventing it.

cancer is the result of things gone out of control. if you are exposed to more radiation than your skin is made for, then you can get skin cancer due to the damages in the reproductive (mitosis) part of the DNA. cancer is almost like "need abuse", rather than substance abuse. some UV is good, a lot is harmful. mental illnesses have treatments for the most part. some times they're hereditary, and that's no one's fault.

God din't make people crazy. insanity develops. some sickness is your consequence, some is of course unfair. there's healing and doctors to seek out. this world isn't perfect; that's just a reality. God isn't a manipulator; He gave us free will and He won't take that away. hence, there is evil. war is because man chooses to fight. free will again.

Lucifer became the devil. the devil wasn't created. like you, angels and God, Satan is a being and therefore cannot just cease to exist. beings are either eternal (God) or everlasting (souls, spirits) and share this constantly existing quality. he'll receive punishment later on though.

Answer 3

Evil, sickness, and war all entered the world as a result of sin. God created the world and everything in it to be good. Man sinned, rejected God's goodness, and all kinds of evils came about as a result. (This is NOT to say that cancer and mental illnesses are punishments for sins on an individual basis. God doesn't will these things directly; He allows them.)

God created the angels, but some of them rebelled against Him and were cast out of Heaven. Satan was among them. God doesn't "kill" him because He is the God of life.

Answer 4

If God did not allow sickness and disease, we would all live very long lifes and the earth would be very overpopulated. Food shortages would be worldwide and people everywhere would be starving to death. We would use up the worlds resources very quickly and the world would become very crowded, space would be limited and the elderly would need to live on social security for 50 - 60 years causing huge financial crisis everywhere. God has a certain timetable for us to dwell here and He has put some limitations on our lifespans to ensure that we don't overpopulate ourselves to death. This world is only so large and some control is needed to assure the next generation can enjoy what the last generation took for granted. This is only part of the answer to your question. As far as people being born with physical or mental infirmities, I believe this would not be so if the people of this world stopped engaging in sexual behavior before marriage. God has a perfect mate for each person and I believe if we abided by Gods choosing our mates, we would not have all these birth defects and congenital disorders we now experience. God knows if two people have the correct DNA to create healthy offspring. When we choose to go outside Gods wisdom, we may improperly match DNA and cause these unpleasant things to come about. Obey God and receive His blessings, dis-obey God and accept the consequences. God knows the results of our sinful behavior and He warns us about the consequences. He is not to blame for the consequences we now have to deal with for our disobedience. God Bless You....Peace.

Answer 5

The reason why God allowed sin, evil, sickness, war, etc. is because we will go to Him with our needs. We are very venerable and need God. We need Him for guidance, wisdom, etc.

In the book of Job, God allowed Satan to take everything that Job had. Job had a perfect life. He had hundreds and hundreds of servants and cattle and many other things. He had a big home with 7 kids. It was a dream life for Job and he was so grateful for what God had provided him. Job put his whole trust in God and obeyed Him. Then Satan took over and destroyed all of Job's servants and cattle and his home and even all 7 of his kids. Job suffered through leprosy which is like a really really bad rash all over your body. God knew everything that was going. He saw Job suffering and saw that he lost everything, but He knew that Job still trusted Him and obeyed Him. Job even cried out to Him of gratefulness. Why do you think God put Job through that? It's because He knew that no matter what, Job will trust God. And Job did. So God blessed him and doubled everything that he had before. Just because something happens or people getting illnesses or people dying doesn't mean God is not there with you. He's always there and He can see everything. God has a purpose for everything and just ask yourself what purpose is for the sickness or sin or whatever. Many Blessings.

Answer 6

God didn't create evil, sickness and war. The devil did.

Answer 7

When God made the universe, the earth, and everything in it, he said "it is good". The reason we have death, disease, suffering, and all things evil is because Adam and Eve opened the door to it and invited it in. Every person since then has been born into sin, with a sinful nature, wanting to rebel against God. So why did God allow evil to enter the world? Couldn't he have stopped it? Well, yes. But not without pre-programming Adam and Eve to obey him like robots. He made us with the capacity to turn against him, so that when we choose to love him, our love is real. Not forced. We don't love him because we have to, but because we want to. That's the kind of relationship God wants, and that is why we were originally created. Accept Jesus Christ and you're no longer a son or daughter of Adam, but you are adopted into HIS family. :)

Answer 8

If it wasn't for Adam & Eve being tempted by Satan, we would not be aware of war, sickness and evil. Why does everyone blame God when it's clearly written that Satan corrupted mankind into finding out about evil.

Before the serpent came along, the world was without sin and evil. the earth was in perfect harmony until evil invaded.

Answer 9

photograph that God is a guiding rigidity that provides the varieties and good judgment for the huge Bang to apply. there is means (the Bang) even with the incontrovertible fact that it want actualities to aim at. A reason there is order instead of chaos. even with the incontrovertible fact that it relatively is a mushy God who works by employing maximum appropriate and persuading, no longer capturing lightening bolts at certainly everyone who displeases his royal highness (an thought borrowed from the Romans i think of). So issues crawl, continuously in the direction of bigger and extra friendly life. after all, the universe is God's conciseness, the actuality that provides him something to pay interest to.

Answer 10

Short answer, for his glory.

For a longer, more satisfying answer, read "The End for Which God Created the World" by Jonathan Edwards.

Here's a video of John Piper talking on the topic: http://youtube.com/watch?v=m0jwRkPW1D4 There's a link to Jonathan Edwards' article in the video description.

And also the full sermon for that video would be well worth listening to. A link to it is also in the video description.