the "why do bad things happen to good people" question?

Question

most atheists (not to generalize) uses the question, "why would bad things happen to good people if God is truly good?"

well, what is your definition of "good" people?
Nobody is perfect, for all have fell short of the glory of God.

Find me someone who truly deserves the kingdom of heaven because they are "good" then we'll talk.

only Jesus is deserving, thats why He sacraficed His life so that we who are un-deserving may also enter heaven.

o yeah, my question is: why do atheists use this question when they dont have example/proof of "good people" to back it up?

lil abner : good point. i guess "bad" things can happen to "good" people because it is a test like Job.

Answer 1

But Jesus didn't sacrifce his life, did he?

He went to the cross knowing what was about to happen.

I hardly think three days dead, when you KNOW you're coming back to life, is much of a 'sacrifice'.

At most, he suffered a very minor inconvienance -- one he didn't have to suffer in the first place. If he didn't WANT to die and suffer, why did he make that the requirement?

It would be like me telling a college, "You have to beat me up if I want to join your college," then griping when the Registrar beat me up and enrolled me. I made the rules, my pain was ultimately my fault.

As you and the Bible describe him, your deity is a sadist and a masochist.

Answer 2

I'll go out on a limb and try to provide an example.......

A guy I went to high school with robbed and killed a 71 year old man last week. That is a "bad guy."
My neighbor doesn't kill people or steal or rape. We share a good chat when we're doing yardwork or whatever. That is a "good guy."

I would have to say the guy I went to school with "fell short of the glory" quite a ways back before my neighbor. Just an example.

But what's so special about Jesus anyway? He had guaranteed bar-none proof of the existence of heaven and God. And he would have also been self-aware of the "awesome glory factor" that doing the sacrifice would be for his reputation. Why wouldn't he do the sacrifice?! If he hadn't, he would have known that God would be casting a sideways glance at him every now and then, for all eternity.

God: "You know son, I'm proud of you. But , uhhh, you remember that time I, uhh, asked you about the crucification thing? Yeah, well, it woulda been really cool if you went through with that. It's no big deal, but....you know."
Jesus: "Sorry dad. I guess I dropped the ball on that one."

Give me the chance for a sacrifice and I'll do it too. So long as I have guaranteed proof of God. Heck, I'll even one-up him and double the time that Jesus spent suffering.

Answer 3

Good point. Good question. If just being good got us to Heaven then what would we need Jesus for. If just being good got us to Heaven, how good would a person have to be? I mean like where is the cut off point? What separates the good person from the okay person and the okay person from the bad person. By who's definition of "good" do we go by? Bad things happened to Jesus and He didn't do anything wrong. Even the person that judged Him said he could find no fault with Him but he turned Jesus over to the angry people anyway and they killed Jesus. If being good made a person exempt from bad things then the good people would never have anything bad happen to them to test them.
They would be on "easy street" all their lives.

Answer 4

Obviously nobody is going to be good by the Bible's definition. If the Bible said we were good, Christianity would be pointless.

As an atheist, it is impossible to define good person because we both have different definitions of good. We realize that nobody is perfect, but not for some ridiculous Biblical reason. I really can't answer this question because I'm so amazed that here, in the 21st century, people are holding onto religion with dear life. It frightens me, really.

Answer 5

You're last paragraph (not the details) is what makes no sense to me...never has, and it's really quite ridiculous. Was Jesus NOT a human? Did Jesus NOT sin? I'm sure, because dude, he WAS a human, he CLAIMED to be the son of god, and who's mother CLAIMED to have conceived him WITHOUT having sex...ya...ok...I don't understand most of you Christians. Besides, if jesus dies for our sins, if we didn't sin, he died in vain, correct?

What also really annoys me is how christians think
that, basically, the bible is saying how we are all
cruel, bad, unworthy,and sinners. Yepp. Sounds
just like the inspirational holy book I want to base
my life around. RIGHT.....



Christianity;
The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie
can make you live forever if you
symbolically eat his flesh, drink his
blood, and telepathically tell him you
accept him as your master so he
can remove an evil force from your
soul that is present in humanity today
because some rib woman was convinced
by a talking snake to eat from a magic
tree.....

Makes Perfect Sense!"


"Spiritual people inspire me,
Religious people frighten me."

"EVERY religion claims to be the ONLY
one that's right...therefore they are ALL WRONG!"

Answer 6

Maybe God wants to make you a witness when the enemy tests your faith. Bad things are forever a state of mind. Perhaps a view that has no understanding in our minds fulfills God's final outcome. Shall we say even bad guys can get a false sense of security?
I think sometimes that question nags us most when we have conflict in the similar we have not forgiven in ourselves or asked forgiven for what "bad people" do to us. Sometimes those bad things prompt the most awesome changes in us!
Do you deserve to be happy? Happiness comes from within. A good person seeks inner peace with himself and God. A good person seeks the good in each situation. Takes it off themselves... A good person encourages others with hope and optimisim. A good person learns from painful experiences in which the have erred and forgives themselves for evening burdening themselves with the conflict.
...The Kingdom of Heaven... I understand we are offered "paradise". Revelations and the Judgement, if taken in that context of entering heaven offer a different insight. Jesus upon his death mentioned paradise, not heaven (Luke 23:43). Jesus also had peace in knowing peace was worth dying for. Was he deserving of that death? I think Jesus also was a good example that no matter how "good" you are or "deserving" you need to encourage and comfort those around you to the end. Perhaps in that you will find peace, heaven, paradise or simply rest.
My understanding of the gospels my differ from yours in the light of that understanding the teaching of Jesus may get us to know the Father. Those who know Jesus will go on to meet the Father. No one get to the Father without knowing Jesus. Jesus teaches us to not create conflict or look for answers.
I think seeking understanding of what others are doing that creates confusion or conflict is the total opposit of the objective of Christianity.

Answer 7

OK well how about the "How can you have free will if God knows the future?" question...

Or the "Why would god create the earth so that it appeared to be millions of years old if it is only 6,000 years old?" question...

Or the "How can god send a person like Ghandi to hell forever, just because he did not accept Jesus as his personal savior?" question...

I could go on for days, but lets start with those three for now.

Answer 8

This is my favorite personal quote from the Bible:

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.

Answer 9

Somewhere in the Bible It says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

And it's true, none are good. Just measuring by how many times ones thinks through out their lives, "I want to kill you," makes almost everyone a wannabe Hitler.

Answer 10

Interesting. So you assume that simply because no one if perfect that they are deserving of hellish Cancers, Diabetes, aneurysms, arthritis, et cetera? I can not find you anyone perfect but i knew a few GOOD people who suffered to death.