Why does God allow suffering and evil in the world? With a lot of arguments brought about by this question, people, regardless of their belief, continue to question God’s thoughts on why such things exist.
The arguments started even in the early centuries. The presence of pain and evil has been eminent all throughout the years. In fact, this has been a big issue even before since there are so-called followers of God who committed both.
But what is pain and evil? Let’s begin with evil. The term only exists in the absence of goodness. If you do not do well in accordance with Christian beliefs, you are doing evil. This is how evil has been recognized. Those who do not follow God are committing sins. They are believed to go to hell if they perish. But other books also have other definitions of evil but the origin is still arguable. Theories state that evil is innate in oneself. Some theories also define evil as a psychological state. The arguments continue to rise especially because of how complex the topic is and that it relates to our beliefs as Christians and other religions. This has also been an argument to religions that support the theory of evil and that God allowed it to happen. But still, the question still remains: why is evil present?
Another question is the presence of pain and suffering. Most of us blame God for the pain we feel especially if it comes to a point where we become hopeless. The blame is put on Him because we should not be suffering at all. But there are also arguments to pain and suffering. Some would say that the presence of pain and suffering is due to the presence of evil. Those who do evil will let others suffer in pain. Eventually, those who committed evil will also suffer when the time comes. This suffering is believed to be the punishment of God for being evil. This is comparable to the book of Genesis when Eve and Adam who committed sins were punished by God. That is why most of us blame God even if we didn’t do anything evil.
But is really God responsible for the presence of evil and pain? God has gifted us with freewill. But the question is, did we use it to do good deeds? Are we doing what is right and just according to the law of the Bible? The Bible is our ultimate guide to salvation. Everything we believe in is because of the Holy Bible. The Bible mentioned pain and evil but didn’t blame God for it.
What is your stand if you feel pain? Do you blame God or you assess yourself if you are not the reason why you felt the pain? Have you been good? Did you commit evil acts? These arguments on why evil and pain exist will continue because we have freewill to think and decide. Reading reference books about these topics will help you realize things and that these things are made to be questionable.