Why Does God Allow Suffering To Happen Religion Essay

In this paper I will depict why and how the God of Judeo-christian Scriptures responds to evil in this universe, and how a divinity of the Three informs our apprehension of God ‘s response. First I must turn to the ‘why ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe ; chiefly because God is a loving God, and because God is a merely God. Secondly I will turn to the ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and agony ; through redemption as the ultimate response, and besides through Christians as embassadors for Christ. I will eventually seek to supply position to God ‘s response to evil and enduring in this universe by using how a divinity of the Trinity leads us to understand this response.

WHY GOD RESPONDS TO EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD

God responds to the immorality and agony in this universe because God is a loving God. There is no denying that immorality and agony has entered, and is a changeless in this universe. The beginnings of immorality are every bit old as the creative activity of adult male, stemming from the autumn of adult male in the Garden of Eden ( Gen 3 ) and are still present in humanity today. God created the universe ( Gen 1 ) , loves the universe ( John3:16 ) and it is this love, the love of God, that is one ground ‘why ‘ God responds to the immorality and agony in this universe, which I will now spread out upon.

The ‘Grand Story ‘ of God or ‘Meta-Narrative ‘ is a narrative that abounds in showing God ‘s love towards adult male. Granted, to the looker-on the Judeo-christian scriptural meta-narrative could be violative and seen as violent from an foreigner ‘s position as it could be seen to enforce on others who have different narratives, but when extrapolated in item it shows, if nil else so strongly, God ‘s love for adult male in an immorality and agony universe. It is of import to get down with “ Israel ‘s first and decisive brush with God ” which “ was at the Exodus ”[ 1 ], which is a unusual topographic point to get down. Most would believe that creative activity would be the topographic point to get down, but it was in fact Israel ‘s Exodus where we see the expansive graduated table of God ‘s love for his chosen people, and where a form of love is established. We read in Exodus 3:7-8 that God has so seen the wretchedness of his people in Egypt, has heard their call for aid and rescue from bondage, and is concerned with their agonies. “ So I have come down to deliver them from the manus of the Egyptians and to convey them up out of that land into a good and broad land, a land fluxing with milk and honey ” . God shows his love towards people who are enduring, and deliver them from it. This is the start of the form which continues the full Bible, that God shows compassion and love to those who are enduring.

The 2nd minute in this meta-narrative that demonstrates God ‘s love is the passage of a program for our redemption. The demand for redemption arose when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, and God ‘s program for redemption, to reconstruct us to a right relationship with him one time once more, Centres on the coming of God ‘s boy, Jesus, who died on the cross, paying the penalty for wickedness one time and for all ( Gal 1:3-4 ) . Fiddes notes that “ a loving God must be a sympathetic and hence suffering God. ”[ 2 ]It was through the agony of Jesus that God can be sympathetic, and as such show love. Redemption is the chief portion of ‘How ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in the universe, and as such I will spread out this point subsequently in the paper, but it must be included in showing the ‘why ‘ God responds to evil and enduring, as it is the ultimate show of Love. “ For God so loved the universe that he gave his 1 and merely Son, that whoever believes in him shall non die but have ageless life.A For God did non direct his Son into the universe to reprobate the universe, but to salvage the universe through him. ” ( John 3:16-17 ) It was this ultimate act of redemption that genuinely displayed God ‘s Love for world – this act of the Father, in directing his boy incarnate, with the end of redemption of the universe,[ 3 ]which genuinely demonstrates the gracious love of God “ that puts us in touch with… Jesus. ”[ 4 ]

The 3rd minute in this meta-narrative that demonstrates God ‘s love is the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ( Acts 2 ) , to all trusters. God ‘s program did non merely stop with Jesus, but it continues today through the work of the Holy Spirit, which I will besides discourse further in item subsequently in this paper.

It must be noted that we are instructed in the Bibles, that “ God is love ” in 1 John 4:17. This gives us assurance as we live in love, and live in God and He in us, that upon judgement twenty-four hours we will be spared. This subject of opinion is one facet of God ‘s love which I must now turn to.

A most interesting and improbable point, which might look out of topographic point, and to some argue the antonym, is God ‘s show of Love through opinion. Judgement is a subject that permeates the Bibles every bit much as God ‘s love permeates the Scriptures, and the two are ne’er separated for long. One illustration of utmost opinion is the inundation ( Gen 7 ) , and another would be the metropoliss of Sodom and Gomorrah ( Gen 19 ) which I will look to now. Sodom and Gomorrah were judged because of their evil. Their Acts of the Apostless were so despicable before God that devastation of those people and that topographic point was the lone manner God could halt their evil from distributing and pervading other metropoliss and towns. It is interesting to observe that Jesus negotiations about Sodom in Matthew 11:23-24. Jesus ‘ point is that for those towns or metropoliss ( and people ) that have had far more exposure to God ‘s love and gracious ego revelation, opinion will be more terrible for them than for a metropolis such as Sodom, which will still be condemned, but opinion will be served more harshly for those who have had a disclosure of God.[ 5 ]God ‘s love leads to righteous rectification. It is non love to be able to acquire away with anything and everything. It is because God loves us that he corrects and subjects us ( Hebrews 12:6 ) , and it is this point of opinion which leads to the following major ‘Why ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe, and that is because God is a merely God.

God is a merely God. This really point brings opinion into apprehension, because God acts against subjugation for merely intervention of all. It is starkly demonstrated in the Exodus from Egypt, which we have already discussed, but more visible radiation is shed upon this in the personal Acts of the Apostless of Jesus, such as the cleaning of the temple ( John 2 ) .

Jesus ‘ end was to convey the land ( Matt 6:9-13 ) , and the mark of this coming was the transmutation of corrupt economic, political and spiritual energies in order to run into human demand, something prophetically enacted through the symbolic force of the temple cleaning.[ 6 ]

It is justness for the laden – politically, socially, economically and sacredly – which demonstrates why God responds to evil and enduring in this universe. How could a God who loves his creative activity put up with corruptness, something that threatens the really nature of His creative activity? God ‘s justness justly falls upon all those who love evil, and hatred righteousness ( Romans 1:18-2:16 ) .

Because God is a merely God, He views everyone as equal, and treats them as such. This rule ties in once more with opinion, that each individual will stand before God on judgement twenty-four hours and be called to account for all the wickednesss he has committed. It is the exact solution to those who would falsely see themselves elect or deserving of particular intervention by God in any manner. Because “ All people are of equal worth in the eyes of God ”[ 7 ], God treats all people the same, and gives us an illustration to follow. The function of Christians in ordaining this justness in our societal sphere is of import. So of import that I have devoted a larger part of this paper to that point, under the ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe.

So if God Judgess the universe as a merely God to come to the deliverance of the oppressed, how could he teach his people to pass over out an full race of people, such as is recorded in 1 Samuel 15:18? This is a good point, and a inquiry which I will seek to turn to. The most of import regulation of pollex here is to cognize what context this direction was given. As the state of Israel was rolling in the sweet for 40 old ages on their manner to Canaan, “ the Amalekites picked off the weak, ill and aged at the terminal of the line of March and viciously murdered these strayers. ”[ 8 ]These people were barbarous, barbarous, and wicked people. They burnt kids as gifts to their Gods, practiced buggery, bestiality and many more evil frailties. It is this evil which God judged, because God is a God who loves righteousness and hates evil.[ 9 ]

I want to take a minute here to review where we have been taken in replying the inquiry ‘why ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe? First we answered the inquiry because God is a loving God. Second it was answered because God is a merely God. It is now clip to look into the ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe.

HOW GOD RESPONDS TO EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD.

How God responds to evil and enduring in this universe is chiefly in two parts. The first is God ‘s ultimate response ; redemption – which I will turn to foremost. God ‘s ultimate desire for his creative activity is to be in a right relationship with him. This was subverted by our debut of wickedness, in our really nature, get downing with Adam and Eve in the garden, dubbed ‘the autumn ‘ as we fell out of this right relationship with God. This set up a form which all coevalss would follow and looked like a black result for humanity. But God, who is love, and loves each of us, had a program to reconstruct our relationship. This program was shown to many Prophetss throughout the centuries, and was eventually realised in the coming of Jesus, his one and merely boy to Earth, to be the incarnate[ 10 ]presence of God here on Earth. Jesus sought for the state of Israel to atone of their wickednesss, and at their refusal Jesus set about set uping his Kingdom here in Earth. Jesus lived a impeccant life, that was like none-other. He on a regular basis healed people, performed miracles, and even raised people from the dead. These miracles were marks to those around him of his beginning, but were seen as blasphemy to the proud powers of the clip, which merely saw Jesus as a menace to their power.

Jesus constitution of his land was merely possible through the forfeit of his ain life.[ 11 ]It was in Jesus decease that he paid the punishment of wickedness, and his Resurrection proved its adequateness and acceptableness to the male parent. This was God ‘s program wholly along! “ God is non merely known for who he is. God is besides known for what he does. ”[ 12 ]We came from what seemed a ritualistic hopeless life, to a life full of hope, grounded in the ageless life offered by God, available merely through the actions of His boy on the cross which reconciled the universe to Him.[ 13 ]

Redemption is what sets us free from the bondage of wickedness, and restores us to a right relationship with the Father in Eden. “ Salvation encompasses the whole individual ”[ 14 ]and we do n’t even merit it! “ God does non owe redemption to anyone ”[ 15 ]but he freely gives it to all who seek it. It is non merely one portion of us, but the entireness of our being that is saved from wickedness and decease! What fantastic hope Jesus has left us with as his bequest. The other thing that Jesus left us was the Holy Spirit. There is no more compendious account of this than Fackre:

The Spirit descends from the ascended Lord to organize the Church and launch it on its mission. This go oning work of Christ by the power of the Spirit brings redemption.[ 16 ]

It is by the go oning power of the Holy Spirit, that people can be saved. Those people who are saved, and go on this relationship with the ascended Lord are normally known as Christians who jointly are the church, and through the power the Holy Spirit have much work here on Earth to make, which brings us to the 2nd ‘How ‘ .

The 2nd ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe is merely possible by redemption, and that is through Christians. It is a Christian ‘s duty as Christ ‘s embassadors[ 17 ]to move against unfairness, to uphold equality for all, and to follow Christ ‘s illustration.

We are instructed to “ make good to all people ” in Galatians 5:10, and the practical outworking of this is simple for Christians. We must stand against unfairness. This is called by Mott a “ Mastery of the fallen nature… in an attempt to be conformed to the will of God. ”[ 18 ]Our fallen nature does non of course stand against unfairness, and for a Christian to stand against unfairness, he must get the better of their iniquitous nature, and follow the will of God. As Christians who are free by the grace of God, we are compelled to “ do do-gooding a natural dimension of the Christian life. ”[ 19 ]It is non an option, but a must for true Christians to oppose unfairness.

With Christ as our illustration to follow, Christians must make what Jesus did.[ 20 ]Jesus recognised that the hapless were being subjected to exclusion from normal society, and foremost goes to the hapless with the message that they are included in God ‘s Kingdom and hold rights to all the benefits of it.[ 21 ]These rights are non obtained because they are hapless, but because they are kids of God.[ 22 ]As such, it is most of import that Christians understand that this is to be their response besides, as it is ‘how ‘ God has left us to demo his love and response to enduring in this universe. For us to truly understand the ‘why ‘ and ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe, it is of import to understand the divinity of the Trinity.

HOW A THEOLOGY OF THE TRINITY LEADS US TO UNDERSTAND GOD ‘S RESPONSE TO EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD.

God is one God, in three individuals – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is by Jesus ‘ disclosure to us in Matthew 28:19 that trusters are baptised into this apprehension of God in three individuals. John opens his Gospel history recognizing Jesus in creative activity, an accreditation antecedently merely given to God the Father. But John ‘s accreditation is valid. Jesus sends trusters the Spirit, to go on his plants here on Earth. The Spirit is “ related closely to Jesus ”[ 23 ]and is sent in His name by the Father ( John 14:26 ) .

But how does this really affect God ‘s response to enduring? It is affected because their relationship as Father, Son and Spirit, is love – perfect love in relationship. So how does God react to enduring if he ‘s ne’er experienced it? Actually He has experienced agony, in the individual of Jesus, and it is from this apprehension of hurting[ 24 ]and enduring that God responds to evil and enduring in this universe – because God can sympathize[ 25 ].

Decision

In this paper I have described why and how the God of Judeo-christian Scriptures responds to evil and enduring in this universe, and how a divinity of the Three informs our apprehension of God ‘s response. First I addressed the ‘why ‘ God responds to evil and enduring in this universe ; chiefly because God is a loving God, and because God is a merely God. Second I addressed the ‘how ‘ God responds to evil and agony ; through Salvation as the ultimate response, and besides through Christians as embassadors for Christ. I eventually provided position to God ‘s response to evil and enduring in this universe by using how a divinity of the Trinity leads us to understand this response. There is no uncertainty that God is a Loving God, and Acts of the Apostless against immorality and agony in this universe.