24Mar
“If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why doesn’t he do something about the evil, pain, and suffering in the world? Perhaps he is all-loving, but not all-powerful and, therefore, cannot do something. Or perhaps he is all-powerful, but not all-loving, and therefore he will not do something about the evil, suffering, and pain in the world.” With slight variations, that series of logical arguments is a commonly expressed basis for many skeptics who reject the idea of God.
For many, that simple logical reasoning (syllogism) drives the nail in God’s coffin. Yesterday I suggested that we need to recognize and deal with the reasons that keep us from believing in the existence of a God who is and rewards our efforts to reach out to him. Without that assurance, we cannot hear the voice of Jesus (see #CV19Daily 3-23-20).
What assumptions undergird my opening argument against the existence of a loving and powerful God? One hypothesis, which expressed in conjunction with this syllogism is, “Only an evil or demented person would refuse to put an end to suffering if they had the means.” At first glance, we will all tacitly agree with that statement. But in the light of the beliefs of Christianity, which includes an endless future punctuated by several judgments on and elimination of evil, the timeline of God’s removal of suffering in the world is not as utterly unreasonable.
Granted, from my limited experience with existence, no duration of suffering is acceptable, except that it is. You may wonder, “What does that mean?” The pain and torments of “hell week” are reasonable to develop the Navy Seals. The fact that some don’t make the cut, and some are injured, is part of a justifiable experience in the light of the bigger picture.
One will argue, “If there were no evil, there would be no need for the Seals!” But we must carefully weigh the consideration that there can be an overarching reason that would warrant the presence of evil. The unacknowledged inference behind my opening argument against the reality of an all-powerful and all-loving God is that we think that he should do things as we would.
Most of the anger toward and rejection of God is predicated upon God, not doing things the way I think he should. If God is all-powerful and all-loving, he will see existence and the interaction of all quite differently than I will. This short discussion represents only a teaspoon out of a swimming pool’s worth of reasoning, but it is a start.
For this discussion, I need to acknowledge the difference between intellectual and emotional satisfaction. I don’t think that anything will remove the anguish we all feel over suffering. However, there can be valid logical reasons for suffering’s existence. But those reasons won’t make us feel any better about pain.
Given our freedom, we “make our own bed.” Solomon said, “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.” (Proverbs 19:3 NIV)
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