 |
|
|
|
August 4th, 2012
10:00 PM ET
My Faith: The danger of asking God ‘Why me?'
(CNN)–When I was diagnosed with cancer, the question “Why me?” was a natural one. Later, when I survived but others with the same kind of cancer died, I also had to ask, “Why me?” Suffering and death seem random, senseless. The recent Aurora, Colorado, shootings — in which some people were spared and others lost — is the latest, vivid example of this, but there are plenty of others every day: from casualties in the Syria uprising to victims of accidents on American roads. Tsunamis, tornadoes, household accidents - the list is long. As a minister, I’ve spent countless hours with suffering people crying: “Why did God let this happen?” In general I hear four answers to this question. Each is wrong, or at least inadequate. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The first answer is “I guess this proves there is no God.” The problem with this thinking is that the problem of senseless suffering does not go away if you abandon belief in God. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said that if there was no higher divine law, there would be no way to tell if any particular human law was unjust. Likewise, if there is no God, then why do we have a sense of outrage and horror when suffering and tragedy occur? The strong eat the weak, there is no meaning, so why not? Friedrich Nietzsche exemplified that idea. When the atheist Nietzsche heard that a natural disaster had destroyed Java in 1883, he wrote a friend: “Two-hundred-thousand wiped out at a stroke—how magnificent!” Because there is no God, Nietzsche said, all value judgments are arbitrary. All definitions of justice are just the results of your culture or temperament. My Take: This is where God was in Aurora As different as they were, King and Nietzsche agreed on this point. If there is no God or higher divine law then violence is perfectly natural. So abandoning belief in God doesn’t help with the problem of suffering at all. The second response to suffering is: “While there is a God, he’s not completely in control of everything. He couldn’t stop this.” But that kind of God doesn’t really fit our definition of “God.” So that thinking hardly helps us with reconciling God and suffering. The third answer to the worst kind of suffering – seemingly senseless death – is: “God saves some people and lets others die because he favors and rewards good people.” But the Bible forcefully rejects the idea that people who suffer more are worse people than those who are spared suffering. This was the self-righteous premise of Job’s friends in that great Old Testament book. They sat around Job, who was experiencing one sorrow after another, and said “The reason this is happening to you and not us is because we are living right and you are not.” At the end of the book, God expresses his fury at Job’s ”miserable comforters.” The world is too fallen and deeply broken to fall into neat patterns of good people having good lives and bad people having bad lives. The fourth answer to suffering in the face of an all-powerful God is that God knows what he’s doing, so be quiet and trust him. This is partly right, but inadequate. It is inadequate because it is cold and because the Bible gives us more with which to face the terrors of life. God did not create a world with death and evil in it. It is the result of humankind turning away from him. We were put into this world to live wholly for him, and when instead we began to live for ourselves everything in our created reality began to fall apart, physically, socially and spiritually. Everything became subject to decay. But God did not abandon us. Only Christianity of all the world’s major religions teaches that God came to Earth in Jesus Christ and became subject to suffering and death himself, dying on the cross to take the punishment our sins deserved, so that someday he can return to Earth to end all suffering without ending us. Do you see what this means? We don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random, but now at least we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he doesn’t care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths of suffering himself. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Someone might say, “But that’s only half an answer to the question ‘Why?'” Yes, but it is the half that we need. If God actually explained all the reasons why he allows things to happen as they do, it would be too much for our finite brains. What we truly need is what little children need. They can’t understand most of what their parents allow and disallow for them. They need to know their parents love them and can be trusted. We need to know the same thing about God. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Timothy Keller. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
Editor’s note: Timothy Keller is senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York and author of The New York Times best-selling book "
"So abandoning belief in God doesn’t help with the problem of suffering at all."
This sentence is proven false every time a Christian Science member refuses medical help for a child.
Suppose you see a ball rolling up a hill. You would exclaim, "we have a problem of balls rolling up hills".
The reason you see this as a "problem" is that you have an a priori expectation that balls should roll downhill based on your experience of countless balls rolling down hills. Now if you lived in a universe where every ball you had ever seen rolled up hill, then you would not find a problem at all in the ball rolling up hill. Now suppose you lived in a universe where balls randomly rolled up or down hills. Would their exist a problem with the direction of travel of the balls?
The fact that their is senseless suffering is not a problem at all in a universe where there is nothing but senseless suffering and senseless bliss. The so-called "problem of senseless suffering" ought to be compared to the problem of senseless bliss, it is equally meaningless in the reality of a stochastic universe.
Let me be clear, if you abandon belief in "God" the so-called "problem of senseless suffering vanishes instantaneously because it is entirely identical to and indistinguishable from the a priori assumption that the universe has a supernatural creator.
Not sure what happened in that post with "their" and "there", spell checking? editing?.
@Nobody – I make that same mistake all the time. I"ve known the difference between there and their, since I can remember, but I keep making the same typo. So, their you go... hehhee
If it's too good to be true it probably is. Most intellegent people would except this as an Axiom about most everything except....religion. Fear makes humans do crazy stuff.
Freud astutely called out the incessant and illogical insistence on religious ritual for what it really is – neurotic behavior.
Anyone who asks 'god' anything is talking to him or herself.
Absolutely correct! 100% delusional aptly defined as a mental disorder.
It is the pinnacle of embarrassment that a meaningless story with an imaginary premise can show up on a news site.
We need to show the world how f*ucking ridiculous religion and a belief in a god is. On top of it their so called god is a bigot.
Most people are pretty eager to embrace skeptical thinking or critical thinking skills with regard to every day decision-making. Skeptical thinking involves objectively weighing the evidence for or against a claim, questioning the assumptions, asking yourself the possible motives of the person making that claim, and asking yourself what biases you might have in evaluating that claim. It isn't as easy as it sounds, and actually requires some conscious effort.
The problem is that most of us consider religious claims to be exempt from critical thinking. Many religions have built-in safeguards against skepticism (e.g., questioning is sin, faith is noble, doubts are the devil whispering in your ear, etc.). Further, we have acquiesced that it is simply rude to think critically about religious claims. Why?
I would argue that the first step in understanding religion and understanding the reality of the universe is to stop thinking of religion as being above question, and to question it just as vigorously, if not more vigorously, than we would the claims of salesman. After all, if you honestly are interested in finding out the truth about the universe, wouldn't you really want to know what is real?
Regarding the quest for truth, let me trot out one of my favorite maxims:
Lead me to those who seek the truth.
And deliver me from those who have found it.
If you don't believe in God that is fine with me, if you believe in God that is fine with me. Just don't shove your ideas down my throat or you will wish you didn't. The choice to believe or not is your business and to some to your own folly. I myself think it is none of your business if I chose to believe or not.
Frank, thank you for posting this. I respect your view. The entire problem is that it doesn't end there for Christians and believers. It NEVER ends there.
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." – Mark 16:15
"preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." 2 Tim 4:2
See their deity commands them to spread this garbage to everyone they can. Conversion has always been central to the major religions. Of course Christians will always say that they just spread the word and it's the Holy Spirit that does the conversion. My friends, this is absolutely splitting hairs. Their goal is still conversion, and I don't care for that mentality one bit.
Just what would you consider "shoving it down my throat"? A statement of one's own beliefs, expressed in your presence?
An attempt to convert? An explanation of faith as a spiritual person understands it? It seems that so many who do not possess faith are likely to scream when they hear anything about other's spirituality and have no ability to discuss the question. In that, you may be shoving your own lack of faith down the throat of the believer. Comment boards are full of this kind of protest, keeping real discussion out of the picture. Aren't we more intelligent than that?
RBurns, I have no issue with discussing religion in forums like this. But as I said earlier, it rarely stops there. Attempts at teaching creationism in schools, attempts as passing laws rooted in Christian beliefs, and the posting of scripture in government building are just a few of the examples where Christians take their beliefs beyond simple discussion. THAT is why Christianity is such a problem.
God is real and the issue isnt why doesn't He come down and reprogram the machine or install a new cosmic OS. The problem is man. Its always been man thats the problem. Adam was the first one to choose the wrong path and its been passed on since that time. God has though always had a people,those that believe,in fact in Romans 1 it says that people are without excuse because Gods attributes are plainly visible through His creation. Looking out at the universe and seeing its majesty or even looking at something as complex as the human body to behold its wonder leaves little room for doubt that a designer created it all.
You can ask the question a lot ponder.So if God knows all things and He knew man would fall why did He create him.Well if you could enter the mind of God wouldnt that be quite a feat.We can postulate but thats about it. We know He was created for Gods good pleasure the scripture says. We know he was created with a free will. I believe God knew the end product would be better than the first.Sure God could change everything in a heartbeat and make us robots that always do good but without free will its nothing spectacular.The real issue is that evil comes from a fallen darth vadar type being called Satan.Men do evil because they choose to and are slaves to it really. Why blame God?
Its a historical fact that a man named Jesus Christ entered time and space. Its also a fact He rose from the dead after paying for the sins of the world. Its also a fact He claimed to be the great I AM in Exodus 3:14 ,Jehovah God.So God had a plan and the Scripture says that those who believe were chosen in Him before the foundations of the world.So He knew about this plan before Adam sinned and plunged this world into kaos.
The ultimate irony is that men in their darkness and brokenness blame God when really its man who did it all.This is all mans fault. Sin sickness and disease were our doing not Gods. With all that said God heals today,Ive seen it. But the greatest healing man refuses and thats to receive Jesus forgiveness and accept His Lordship.See God became a man and walked upon the earth and even though all man and all God Jesus never sinned.Then He allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified for you and me. He then rose from the dead. He has a people too and He is coming back soon. So next time you want to blame God look in the mirror my friends.
Steve, what is your educational background, and when did you start believing in God?
So, when my friend's 12-year old son died of bone cancer, that was "man's" fault?
Such a loving god to punish a child for the ignorance of grown men who lived thousands of years ago.
Steve, IF you were good at math, you'll have no problem with this...
Majestic known universe + evil + sin + goodness + love + suffering + God = Majestic known universe + evil + sin + goodness + love + suffering
Solve for God.
Isaiah 45:7
I am the Lord. I create Light and I create darkness. I create good and I create EVIL. I am the Lord.
"Its always been man thats the problem"
How sad that you're so self-loathing. In fact, it's ONLY man that has ever provided solutions to any of the world's ills, which you would readily recognize if you only thot about it for awhile. Did God give you clothing, or housing, or coaching, or medicine, or the internet, or your AC unit, or a kiss on your booboo when you were little? No, only PEOPLE give a rip about you.
All of your so called facts are totally hear-say. They would never stand up in a court of law. There are no living witnesses of these "facts". There is no "supportive evidence" to conclude that all of the things you spoke of, actually ever happened. If I was on a jury, the bible would dismissed as pure hog-wash.
Im very sorry to hear of any children who die of disease,its tragic. Its tragic that before they get born they are torn from their mothers womb through abortion too. I still refuse to blame God for sin...sickness or death.When Adam sinned it entered the whole human race.
I knew my post would strike a nerve....because its true.
@STeve – your god put that tree there, and he KNEW they would eat from it (he is all-knowing). He has nobody to blame but himself. If I put an oreo cookie on the coffee table, and told my 2 year old not to touch it... what do you think would happen? Your God, who supposedly created everything, is responsible for everything's behaviors.
Steve, right now you're just making noise. Answer the questions I asked earlier and you might get a worthwhile conversation started.
I know it hurts to look in the mirror ! Years ago I climbed out of the 60's after all my rock messiahs had died and when I found myself,as people love to say,I was appalled at just how truly wretched and ugly I was.
Book of Steve 12:101a
I am not on trial here....your just lucky I posted..... farewell...set your sails to the wind and lash the tiller in the truth mode and dont be afraid of facts as you sail on into the Bible...He is real...fear not.
@Steve – With each post you lose more and more credibility. I was looking for meaningful dialogue between my concept of the universe, and someone elses sensible concept. I think I'll keep my search lights on.
Its not for lack of information or an over juiced ego which I need to satisfy, as to why I dont want to debate the Universe or the veracity of the Christian model. Its simply that I dont want to spend the best part of my morning in a pointless debate.The burden of proof really rests with men as to the origins of humanity and matter...and of course the Universe.Christians really need do know more than take a skeptic out at night under a full canopy of stars to see a designer at work. To explain that this just started on its own, without intelligence is laughable. Modern scientists by the droves are leaving evolution and the notion that this all just happened by itself,now of course they stop short of calling it God but thats to be expected.A design needs a designer. To see the human body or the solar system for example and say it evolved would be like walling out in the desert and seeing a Rolex on a rock.exclaim....."Wow isnt evilution wonderful". Not to mention the fossil record which should be full of thousands of transitional fossils is silent. So for me to come and adress the question here on CNN in the way I did was not because I lacked facts. It was planned because it answers the question and points those who are really seeking to the truth. I am fully capable of a conducting a vigorous debate but frankly...would just rather have another cup of Sumatran and swim on my pool or go get my dove hunting license. Be at peace brother....and if your not be a seeker.
Wait, so the idea of no God is dismissed because "abandoning belief in God doesn’t help with the problem of suffering at all."
Yet, he then goes on to say — when he declares the "correct" answer at the end — that, "We don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, or why it is so random". Well, can't we dismiss the idea of God because "believing in God doesn't help with the problem of suffering at all"?
He also dismisses the idea of their not being a God because "then why do we have a sense of outrage and horror when suffering and tragedy occur?" When I heard about the shootings in Colorado, my thoughts were not "Oh my! That one individual has committed a lot of morally wrong choices!!" No, my thoughts were about the poor people who went to see a movie and were met with violence and death. I was able to identify with them and imagine myself having to endure so much pain and loss. I was able to recall painful events in my life, and of losing people I loved. In short, it's empathy. Something we can pretty easily see as an evolved adaptive trait that would benefit social groups. You can then make plenty of arguments for empathy being the foundation of our moral system. We don't want to see things done to others that we know we wouldn't want to happen to ourselves.
+1.
Schopenhauer didn't need a believe in a sky fairy in order to feel empathy for others. I guess it's too much to ask that the author do a little reading outside of his holy truth-text.
Awesome, awesome post!
IF There Is No god Qho Rule this eeaarrth The One And Only One U S A...
Loko what are you trying to say its not getting thru try again. Steve your so wrong no god gods, but their are monsters out there you might want to look at your life and see where you went wrong really there is no such thing as gods its all in your mind there has never been nor will there ever be. FYI jesus been dead 2000+ years hes not comeing back.
"The first answer is “I guess this proves there is no God.” The problem with this thinking is that the problem of senseless suffering does not go away if you abandon belief in God."
I have yet to see anyone say "the problem of senseless suffering will go away by abonding the belief in God." This is nonsense. King and Nietzsche both had it wrong, and so does this pastor. One does not need God to feel outrage at the suffering of others, nor is a god necessary to have morality or societal ethics. Violence is natural- we see it daily in nature, though humans are the only species that take pleasure in violence against our own kind. This is unique to us. Societal laws work to control such violence because it is bad for the individual and the group. God is not needed in this equation- all that is needed is a sense of justice for all, a recognition that community is better sustained by setting rules to live by, and a desire for community to flourish.
"The second response to suffering is: “While there is a God, he’s not completely in control of everything. He couldn’t stop this.” But that kind of God doesn’t really fit our definition of “God.” So that thinking hardly helps us with reconciling God and suffering."
He is correct that this does not fit the idea of an omnipotent, omnicient, all-powerful God. But sying that this type of response doesn't fit the idea of God in no way invalidates the statement. The more honest statement might look something like this: "If there is a god, he's not in control, not involved here anymore, or may not have ever been."
The third and fourth answers addressed come up against the same problem as the second; they make the assumption that there is a god and that that god is involved in human life, cares about what happens, and has some control over events taking place on Earth.
"It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he doesn’t care." Or is it that those who believe in God cannot let themselves believe he is a god that doesn't care?
"I have yet to see anyone say "the problem of senseless suffering will go away by abonding the belief in God." This is nonsense."
But the so-called, "problem of senseless suffering", does go away if we abandon belief in "God". If we abandon belief in "God" then we are left with reason and reason is the best tool to alleviate senseless suffering, besides if we accept stochastic origins to the universe then senseless suffering poses no riddle.
The suffering is there whether there's a God or not. It's the "senseless" part that's inconsistent with God's existence. If there WERE a God, there'd be some sense to it, but clearly there isn't.
While PREACHERS waste their time and words trying to explain why God allows painful deadly diseases to hurt the people he "loves", the SCIENTISTS are busy working the LAB and using their time productively to CURE DISEASE. No preacher or priest for the last 2000 years has done a farthing's worth of improvement of human health and comfort. All they do is sit around and invent clever explanations for why God – if this character actually exists – gives us pain and suffering. WHAT A WASTE!
Do you have and idea how idiotic your words are. Seriously?
Very true
@David – The post is spot on. Even when Xtians get sick, the first place they go is to the hospital ... not church. GO FIGURE!
David, don't just hurl insults, provide explanations. In what way is this comment idiotic? Makes perfect sense to me!
Way to add to the discussion David. Pitiful.
"Suffering and death seem random, senseless."
One paragraph later: "The problem with this thinking is that the problem of senseless suffering does not go away if you abandon belief in God."
Um. If there are no gods then suffering and death are random and senseless. That would be observation in perfect agreement with explanation. That sounds like good reasoning to me.
plenty of evil in this world. i think that there is a good mix of bad and good. people seem to think this life is heaven but its not. lots bad in this world which means God is not in control down here. I dont think in the bigger picture one should ask WHERE WAS GOD IN COLORADO...if there is the other side then its a better place than here. Maybe 100% control by the big guy and we dont have anything to worry about. There is plenty of pain and suffering in this world. i have seen it, touched it and tasted it. I have seen evil and I have seen good. We should all live on the good side and appreciate it. We could all live in say Uganda...plenty of bad there...poverty, desease, death..America is a pretty fantastic place. We have some evil here but really limited in comparison to other countries. Perhaps GOD helps us a bit to keep it that way.
You didn't build that. Someone else did.
tool.
He meant the infastructure that allows for people to to grow and build, if it were not for the roads electric lines gov assistance all those gopers crying over that comment woulnt have their buissness. So maybe he should have said for the simple minded folks You Didnt Build that Alone.
I guess we want the proper mixture of democracy and communism to replace religion... been there tried that... next solution?
Should we resist efforts to eliminate cancer until we have found something to "replace" it?
Nothing has to replace religion once we get rid of it. We just behave more rationally and scientific. People don't need a make-believe friend to get through their lives. They only think so because they've been conditioned since birth to believe Santa is real.
Um, democracy is a political system, and communism is a political/economic system. Your post makes no sense, Zman.
Actually, we HAVEN'T tried replacing religion with democracy, and I for one would love to give it a shot.
Our sys is fine we have proof that a disbelief in the existence of deity is on the rise, and were still open to those who choose to delude themselves. look faith in nothing is still nothing, faith in a lie or a story based on a book of lies, is still a lie. we dont need fear of hell or some other sort of damnation to just be good to each other. That will take evolution a bit longer to do. Change the heart of man hmm gona be a while.
Timothy Keller, I suggest you begin you education again starting with middle school science and mathematics. May be that will enlighten you on how to use your brain to think properly. Just because you give a silly reason for something does not make it correct. A reasoning is correct if it can be verified by experiments and consistent observation, and established by control experiments and observations. You are making arguments out of thin air, for example – the problem with this thinking is that the problem of senseless suffering does not go away if you abandon belief in God. Now how ridiculous is that! Yes the suffering went away for all of the abused children who finally gathered the courage to give up on God and your nonsensical church. It went away for many women who freed themselves from the clutches of the fundamentalist mormon church. Examples are numerous and I can write a book of a list of examples where suffering actually ended when people gave up on your hypothetical cloud daddy.
xmxm, sorry but your response is nothing but sophistry,
I agree,,,,,the arguments given are unfounded and have no reasoning behind them, other than faith and what the writer believes is correct. annoying to hear people try to justify things that cannot be justified.
Just ignore the xian loser comments and thank you for stating something sane.
Teaching – if you think he is speaking of sophistry, then you don't understand the word.
When are we going to see an article on here that FLAT OUT states there is no god.? Even things up CNN. If the internet is the new "church" for atheists, (MORE FLAWED LOGIC IN THAT STATEMENT) then shouldn't CNN get some physicists or Richard Dawkins writing some articles on here. I never saw Higgs quoted in "The God Particle" articles. He said "I wish he wouldn't have called it that, now I'll have to explain that and I'm an atheist." MAN UP CNN you are supposed to be professional and unbiased, I think the word is "journalism"
It is surprising that my comment keeps getting censored
1. How did evil start?
Evil began on earth when Satan told the first lie. Satan was not evil when he was created. He was a perfect angel, but he “did not stand fast in the truth.” (John 8:44) He developed a desire for worship that rightly belongs only to God. Satan lied to the first woman, Eve, and persuaded her to obey him instead of God. Adam joined Eve in disobeying God. Adam’s decision resulted in suffering and death.—Read Genesis 3:1-6, 17-19.
When Satan suggested that Eve disobey God, he was mounting a rebellion against God’s sovereignty. The majority of mankind have joined Satan in rejecting God as Ruler. Satan has thus become “the ruler of the world.”—Read John 14:30; Revelation 12:9.
2. Was God’s creation defective?
The humans and angels whom God created were perfectly capable of obeying God’s requirements. (Deuteronomy 32:5) God created us with the freedom to choose between doing good and doing evil. That freedom gives us a way to express love for God.—Read James 1:13-15; 1 John 5:3.
3. Why has God allowed suffering?
For a time, Jehovah has tolerated rebellion against his sovereignty. Why? To show that no effort to rule without him benefits people. (Jeremiah 10:23) After 6,000 years of human history, the issue has been settled. Human rulers have failed to eliminate war, crime, injustice, and disease.—Read Ecclesiastes 7:29; 8:9; Romans 9:17.
By contrast, those who accept God as their Ruler benefit themselves. (Isaiah 48:17, 18) Soon, Jehovah will bring all human governments to an end. Only people who choose to be ruled by God will inhabit the earth.—Isaiah 2:3, 4; 11:9; read Daniel 2:44.
4. What opportunity does God’s patience provide?
Satan claimed that Jehovah cannot win the loyal obedience of anyone. God’s patience allows all of us opportunity to show whether we favor rule by God or rule by man. We indicate our choice by the way we live.—Read Job 1:8-11; Proverbs 27:11.
@Lexe
You said, "It is surprising that my comment keeps getting censored"
CNN uses WordPress blogs for their opinion pieces, and they use automated censoring that looks for words, or fragments of words, that are considered offensive. If your post doesn't show up, it most likely had a forbidden word in it.
On the Belief Blog, repeat posts, even those that were previously censored and not displayed, will show a message stating that you posted it before.
The following words or word fragments will get your post censored (list is incomplete):
arse as in Arsenal
bastard
bitch
cock as in cockatiel
coon as in cocoon
cum as in circumstance
cunt
douche
effing
fag
ftw
fuck
homo as in homosexual
hooters
horny
hump
jackass
jap
jism
kinky
kooch
nipple
orgy
pis
porn
poo as in spooked
prick
queer
rape as in grape
sex as in homosexual
shit
slut
smut
snatch
spic as in despicable
tit as in constitution or title
twat
vag as in vague
whore
wonderful us
wtf
To circumvent the filters you can break up the words by putting an extra character in, like: consti.tution (breaking the oh so naughty "tit").
It's not censored...we are just tired of reading quotes from a deeply flawed 2,000 year old book written by a small group of ghost writers who did not have a first hand account of most of what they wrote.
Beautiful article. Really enjoyed it.
Once upon a time, in a village in a far away place, lived a magical little person. The magical little person was given birth by a woman that did not have intercourse with a human, she was impregnated by a ghost. This magical little boy did many magical things for many years. One day some people had enough of his magic and they nailed him to the cross, he died. He was then placed in a cave and came back to life three days later and flew up into the sky to live forever and forever.
understand that maybe suffering is a consequence of poor choices, but what about natural disasters? If God is benevolent and omniscient then why create a world with hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc?
1. How did evil start?
Evil began on earth when Satan told the first lie. Satan was not evil when he was created. He was a perfect angel, but he “did not stand fast in the truth.” (John 8:44) He developed a desire for worship that rightly belongs only to God. Satan lied to the first woman, Eve, and persuaded her to obey him instead of God. Adam joined Eve in disobeying God. Adam’s decision resulted in suffering and death.—Read Genesis 3:1-6, 17-19.
When Satan suggested that Eve disobey God, he was mounting a rebellion against God’s sovereignty. The majority of mankind have joined Satan in rejecting God as Ruler. Satan has thus become “the ruler of the world.”—Read John 14:30; Revelation 12:9.
2. Was God’s creation defective?
The humans and angels whom God created were perfectly capable of obeying God’s requirements. (Deuteronomy 32:5) God created us with the freedom to choose between doing good and doing evil. That freedom gives us a way to express love for God.—Read James 1:13-15; 1 John 5:3.
3. Why has God allowed suffering?
For a time, Jehovah has tolerated rebellion against his sovereignty. Why? To show that no effort to rule without him benefits people. (Jeremiah 10:23) After 6,000 years of human history, the issue has been settled. Human rulers have failed to eliminate war, crime, injustice, and disease.—Read Ecclesiastes 7:29; 8:9; Romans 9:17.
By contrast, those who accept God as their Ruler benefit themselves. (Isaiah 48:17, 18) Soon, Jehovah will bring all human governments to an end. Only people who choose to be ruled by God will inhabit the earth.—Isaiah 2:3, 4; 11:9; read Daniel 2:44.
4. What opportunity does God’s patience provide?
Satan claimed that Jehovah cannot win the loyal obedience of anyone. God’s patience allows all of us opportunity to show whether we favor rule by God or rule by man. We indicate our choice by the way we live.—Read Job 1:8-11; Proverbs 27:11.
OK, Lexe, at one point I was feeling kind of sympathetic with you because of your lament that you couldn't tell why your carefully crafted comment wasn't getting posted, but this is at least the 4th time I've seen it, so my sympathy has evaporated. Now you're just a troll.