(Restatement of the question first printed Dec 1)
Hi, Jim Bob. My question is why should we, as the human race, believe God is good? Wouldn’t it have been better if God had NOT created us knowing we would make horrible choices and run our world into the ground? Since God chose to create Earth anyway—despite His omniscient knowledge that it would yield pain/suffering—does this shift God’s character toward the dark side? If God is not good, then it might begin to explain, at least in part, why we have a planet full of the pain and suffering we do (even if it’s self inflicted).
Signed,
Dark Side?
Dear Dark (part II),
I’m not sure the question is, “Should” we believe God is good?” but, “Is God in fact good?” We can, of course, believe anything we want about God’s goodness. Some people, because of how their lives have been a constant struggle, adamantly believe that either God does not exist, is indeed evil, or at least aloof and unconcerned. The question, “Why do bad things happen to good people,” has been a sticking point in humanity’s faith journey for millennium. Your question, “Wouldn’t it have been better for God not to have created us?” has been asked by everyone from Job (Job 3), the writer of Ecclesiastes (7:1), and countless saints of the faith down through the ages.
300 years before Christ, the Greek philosopher, Epicurus posed this dilemma in regard to the presence of evil in the world: If an all-powerful and perfectly good god exists, then evil does not. But, there is evil in the world. Therefore, an all-powerful and perfectly good god does not exist.
Since then, theologians and philosophers alike have been trying to unravel the problem of evil and the contention that God is good. Since the depth of my philosophical insights is limited to the deeper meanings of SpongeBob Squarepants, I’m not going to claim to have a definitive answer to a question that has stymied humanity for centuries. However, I can share what I believe and how I have come to terms with this dilemma.
Since I’m writing a blog and not a book, I’ll share my points in bullet form, but this is certainly not an exhaustive list:
§ God is good because the Bible says he is and I have experienced him as such. The record shows that he loves us and wants to be in relationship with us so badly that he poured himself into human flesh and died on a cross so that we could know life.
§ My parents were good but they weren’t stupid. They didn’t keep me in a bubble of comfort and ease because they knew I would end up spoiled or severely handicapped. God is our heavenly father who wants us to grow up, not a celestial grand-father who wants to spoil us rotten.
§ The difficulties of this life can only be understood in light of eternity. God’s ultimate design is not to make this life easy, but to help us become fully his. Pain drives us into his arms much more effectively than ease and comfort. That may not be an uplifting reality, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
§ God is good enough and loves us enough that he allows us the freedom to choose. God’s original intent was to live in a paradise relationship with us. We chose and still choose to go our own way. I’d wager 90% of all the pain in this world is the result of human choice.
§ Regarding the other 10% (natural disasters), it’s tough to love one another and reach out to others in need if there are no needs. Maybe God allowed this world to be fallen and people to be in pain so that those who were being filled with the love and goodness of God would have a means of expression. Just a thought.
§ Evil would be throwing us into the storm and leaving us. God is always there in the midst of the storm. As the Christian song says, “Sometimes he calms the storm, and other times he calms his child.”
§ God is so good he trusts us to discover him. Like a groom wooing his bride, God does enough to let us know he’s there without removing our ability to say, “No” to his desire for a relationship.
My suggestion: Keep asking the questions, but make a specific request of God, “Lord, show me your goodness so that I can come to know your love.”
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