Historians have addressed the seeming contradiction of a world created by God but replete with evil. The English historian Arnold Toynbee noted that "one of the conclusions that have been drawn by human spectators of the moral evil of the Universe is that this chamber of horrors cannot be any God's handiwork" ( A Study of History, abridged version, 1957, Vol. 10, p. 300).
Toynbee recognized that much of the world's suffering is caused by the misrule of tyrants. Scripture shows that God can remove wicked men from power (Daniel:2:21). He humbled and removed Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar, the mightiest ruler of his era. As an emperor over many conquered peoples, Nebuchadnezzar "executed whom-ever he wished" (Daniel:5:18-19
). Yet God brought him down to size, neutralizing his influence for seven years.
). Yet God brought him down to size, neutralizing his influence for seven years.
So why doesn't God do this more often? Nebuchadnezzar, in his pomp and arrogance, caused only a fraction of the misery inflicted by some dictatorial rulers of our era.
Physicist Paul Davies reflects on this side of the good-vs.-evil argument. He considers the issue of why God, if He truly is all-powerful, does not simply intervene and stop all evil.
"Is God free to prevent evil?" Davies wonders. "If he is omnipotent, yes. Why then does He fail to do so?" ( God and the New Physics, 1983, p. 143).
Davies' questions are reasonable. Is God powerless in the face of suffering? If He exists, why doesn't He act to remove evil and pain from the face of the earth? The questions are troubling, though not because they are hard to understand. They are unsettling because the answers are not what we would want them to be.
The truth of the matter forces us to reconsider our ideas about God and His plan and purpose for us. When we understand those, we understand that God has His reasons for not acting now.
A greater purpose?
Why doesn't God simply ban evil? To understand the answer, we must consider the consequences such an action would bring.
Understanding why God allows evil and its resultant suffering requires a fundamental understanding of one of God's greatest gifts—as well as how man has continually abused that gift.
The gift is free will —or, as it is more popularly called, freedom of choice. God granted this freedom to our first human parents, Adam and Eve, at creation. But over the millennia we have proven ourselves to be woefully inept stewards of this precious gift and its far-reaching responsibility.
As God explained to ancient Israel, the freedom to make choices is essential to developing righteous character (Deuteronomy:30:15-19
). Without freedom to choose, we would be little more than robots, with our behavior either preprogrammed and unchangeable or dictated in all its details by an outside force such as God Himself.
). Without freedom to choose, we would be little more than robots, with our behavior either preprogrammed and unchangeable or dictated in all its details by an outside force such as God Himself.
But that is not God's intent. He has different expectations of us because of His much higher purpose for us. He wants us to choose to obey Him from the heart. He wants us to enthusiastically love and cherish His values and standards, which are based on two overriding principles —loving Him with all our hearts and loving others as much as we love ourselves (Matthew:22:35-40
).
As we will see, choosing to obey God and learning to love others when we have the freedom to do otherwise is vital for the future God has planned for us.
To be cont'd.
God bless you all.
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