Why does God allow suffering?

soul_on_fire said:

I beleive that gives it off pretty well.

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Could you please point to the specific verse that shows that God punishes others for Adam and Eve's sin?

I think possibly you're confusing being punished for their sin and having to face the consequences of their sin.

you don't need a verse for that. They did do it which means their minds weren't strong enough to refuse the deceiving, that's sort of logical.

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It's not logical at all. In fact, it's a logical fallacy known as post hoc ergo protor hoc, which is a Latin phrase that essentially means "because 'X' happened, 'Y' must be the result".

You're only assuming that their minds weren't strong enough but the truth is, you don't know the reason why they gave in to the serpent.

The very fact that God gave them the choice shows that they were capable of making the choice.

I can't say much for it except that it's a test. We have the choice between God, Jesus Christ, and death, and God, in His love of us, let's us make that decision.

soul_on_fire said:

What about diseases and sickenesess? They just come to people no matter how sinful or not they are.

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These are of Satan and the original curse. But remember Satan does not have authority unless we let him.

Jesus tells us how to handle Satan, and drive out these things.

Glory be to God.

soul_on_fire said:

What about diseases and sickenesess? They just come to people no matter how sinful or not they are.

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Did you know that death never entered the picture, until Adam sinned?
Somewhere in the Bible, God says, "From dust you came, and to dust you will return". Or something to that end. I'm pretty sure God was talking to Adam. Death! The result of sin. Both physical and spiritual.
Spiritual death is being absent from God's presence, or "being alienated from God". Separated from God. But He made a way for "atonement". There are two words that make up the word "atonement". AT ONE. We are now again "at one" with Him. And that's the part that matters, because it deals with eternity.
As far as Physical death is concerned, we all have to die. So, if we all have to die, something has to make that happen. Which is where, (I think) sickness, disease, and old age come into the picture. If our bodies were in perfect health, how would we die, other than accidents? It's obvious that we can do thing to shorten our lives, like smoking, overeating, even being angry all the time! And I know of something else that could accelerate our deaths. The Bible says something to the efect that if we honor our parents, we'll live long on the earth!
This is just the tip of the iceberg, I'm sure!

Angel4Truth said:

Suffering exists because of sin period. If there were no sin there would be no suffering. God doesnt want us to sin and gave full knowledge of what sin is and asks us not to do it because we bring suffering on ourselves and inflict it on others because of sinfulness.

While we are forgiven though Christ for our sins - the effects of them remain. There are still consequences for actions. for example if you hurt someone and they forgive you it wont nessesarily remove the consequences such as damage to relationship etcc. those things remain. The same with the effects of our sin - what we choose has long reaching effects.

We are not "punished" for someone elses sin - there is not one person who can claim they have never sinned even once. Suffering is the result of sin being in the world period and i believe youve been alive long to have seen at least once the effects of an action youve taken on someone else. That is what is meant by sin spread to all men. Our actions and choices to sin have long reaching effects many times even effects we have no knowledge of - causing ourselves and others to suffer.

We can be forgiven though Christ but the effects of sin will remain untill the world is made perfect without sin.

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Sorry, just saw forum rules. Nevermind.

Why does God allow suffering?

soul_on_fire said:

I get the whole "Adam and Eve ate the apple" thing, but why is it that thousands of years later God still punishes billions of people for something two people did long ago? Isn't that kinda... mean?
And God told them not to eat from that tree, but he created humans curious and with a weak will power, wouldn't that suggest he actualy WANTED people to suffer?

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Well, Soul_on_fire, I wanted you to know that you can be a Christian, and take the Adam and Eve story as allegory, rather than literal truth. Many perfectly respectable Christians interpret in just this way.

Now. On to the substance of your question. Please note that I am suggesting, rather than pronouncing, answers. As has already been said, there are many thoughts on this matter, since it is a fairly obvious difficulty with God's allegedly perfect goodness.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of evil, and though the resultant suffering may be identical, the cause is different.

There is natural evil, such as earthquakes, predation, and disease.

There is moral evil, such as the holocaust or the tobacco industry.

Moral evil is easier to deflect from God than natural evil, for it is down to the freely made choices of humanity. But, if we were not free, the thinking goes, there would be little for God to love in us, and little for us to love in God.

As for natural evil, then it seems an integral part of the earth that spawned us. It is difficult to see how humanity could have evolved without the predatory 'survival of the fittest' filter of natural selection. Without the tectonic structure of the earth's crust, there would be no earthquakes, but no mountains, no micro-climates, none of the infinite variety of landscapes that we exploit in our various ways to provide our means of living. And as for disease, it seems to me to provoke a need to understand how we are made, so that we can cure, maintain, and possibly in the future, improve, our bodies.

As for suffering itself, it is merely the signal that, physically, psychologically, or spiritually, we are taking damage. It needs to be an unpleasant signal, so that we are motivated to avoid damage. But without that feedback, there would be nothing but death to limit the amount of damage we take, which has obviously unpleasant consequences.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Dear soul on fire. You had some very good replies, may I ask you, with love and humility, what would you like God to do? God made us in His image, God gave us brains and the wherewithals to aleviate suffering, Jesus God-Son, and Jesus God-Son, died that we might live. Jesus also taught us to love, to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds, and love all others, as we love ourselves. Also God always allows good to prevail, we were given some good examples by rob64, and there is much heartache which God abhors and wishes undone. It sounds very callous, but we can learn by mistakes and sad happenings, and we are living on Earth to learn to become loving and obedient adopted sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. One day many of us will return to our original home, and Jesus told us, (while on Earth) " be ye perfect as God is perfect." God does not want us to suffer, but God has given us free will to choose Good, or Not Good, soul on fire. Greetings from emmy, sister in Christ.

soul_on_fire said:

I get the whole "Adam and Eve ate the apple" thing, but why is it that thousands of years later God still punishes billions of people for something two people did long ago? Isn't that kinda... mean?
And God told them not to eat from that tree, but he created humans curious and with a weak will power, wouldn't that suggest he actualy WANTED people to suffer?

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Hi soul_on_fire,

Here is the way that it has been shown to me.

Without a choice of good or evil in our lives, we would be much like robots. God created us so that He can have family. He wants you and I to be His children and family.

He set before us life and death and hopes we choose life so that we will live. (Deut. 30:19)

Sickness comes to us all through sin. Sin is use pulling away from God, who is Life.

Just like plants that need sunlight to live, so do we need His Light/Truth to live spiritually.

When we pull away from Him, whether we do it knowingly or unknowingly it causes us to join those spirits who are in error and brings death into us which makes us sick.

God said that His people/mankind are perishing because they lack knowledge. It is because we do not seek His mind and to know HIm that we bring sickness into our lives.

I hope this helps, you can pm me with any questions you have....

God Bless,

Angel Of Fire

soul_on_fire said:

I get the whole "Adam and Eve ate the apple" thing, but why is it that thousands of years later God still punishes billions of people for something two people did long ago? Isn't that kinda... mean?
And God told them not to eat from that tree, but he created humans curious and with a weak will power, wouldn't that suggest he actualy WANTED people to suffer?

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I truly believe Suffering is a part of life, an exceptional growth period. I know that in my deepest most desperate days of suffering, it was then that I became humble and seeked God with my whole heart. It was then I cried out for Him, his protection, his love.. and it was then that I truly found God and His love. Through those exhausting painful months, I grew leaps and bounds spiritually and my heart opened and expanded in ways I never knew possible. Without that suffering I might not have stopped to notice how God surrounds us every day and in every moment. The suffering here on this planet is nothing in comparison to the love we will have when we are home again. This is not our home.

Angeloffire said:

Hi soul_on_fire,

Here is the way that it has been shown to me.

Without a choice of good or evil in our lives, we would be much like robots. God created us so that He can have family. He wants you and I to be His children and family.

He set before us life and death and hopes we choose life so that we will live. (Deut. 30:19)

Sickness comes to us all through sin. Sin is use pulling away from God, who is Life.

Just like plants that need sunlight to live, so do we need His Light/Truth to live spiritually.

When we pull away from Him, whether we do it knowingly or unknowingly it causes us to join those spirits who are in error and brings death into us which makes us sick.

God said that His people/mankind are perishing because they lack knowledge. It is because we do not seek His mind and to know HIm that we bring sickness into our lives.

I hope this helps, you can pm me with any questions you have....

God Bless,

Angel Of Fire

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I really like your answer. Thanks for sharing this.