The Case for
Faith
Notes from Lee
Strobel's book
Objection 1: Since
Evil and Suffering exist, a loving God cannot
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- If God is all powerful, he can do anything. If
God is all good, he wants only good. If God is all wise, he knows what is good.
So if all these are true - and Christians believe they are - then it would seem
that the consequence is that no evil can exist.
- But evil does exist !
God is all
powerful
- God chose to create people with free will
- God did not create evil - he created the
possibility of evil
- The source of evil is not God's power but
mankind's freedom
- Even an all powerful God could not create a
world where people had genuine freedom and yet there was no potentiality for
sin.
- You can't have a world where there's real choice
while at the same time no possibility of choosing evil
- But - if God didn't create human freedom - -
-there would be no humans !
- If God didn't create freedom of will - it would
be a place without sin and a place without suffering - but it would also be a
place without love, which is the highest value in the universe.
- Real love - our love of God and of others -
involves real choice......but with the granting of that choice comes the
possibility that people would instead choose to hate....
- Before the Jews introduced the world to 1 God
there was paganism, which says if there's evil in the world, then there must be
many gods, each of them less than all powerful, some of them good, some of them
evil....
- After God created the world - He said it is good
- - - without sin and evil.... God did his part perfectly - - we messed it up
!
God is all knowing
- If God knows all, then a loving God could
deliberately tolerate horrible things, like starvation, because he foresees
that in the long run, that more people will be better and happier than if he
miraculously intervened.
- He has demonstrated how the very worst thing
that has ever happened in the history of the world ended up resulting in the
very best thing that has ever happened in the history of the world - - the
death of God himself on the cross....
- At that time, no one saw how anything good could
ever result from this tragedy and God foresaw the result would be the opening
of heaven to human beings.
- So, the worst tragedy in history has bought
about the most glorious event in history.
- and if the ultimate evil could result in the
ultimate good - - it can happen elsewhere, even in our own individual
lives.
- Here, God lifts the curtain and lets us see it
-- elsewhere, he simply says, "trust me"
- Suppose you're the devil - the enemy of God -
and you want to kill him - but you can't.....However, God has this ridiculous
weakness of creating and loving humans, whom you can get at.....You've got
hostages ! So - you simply come down into the world, corrupt humankind, and
drag some of them to hell. When God sends prophets to enlighten them, you kill
the prophets also.........Then God does the most foolish thing of all - - he
sends his own son and plays by the rules of the world. - - - and you say
"A-ha I got him !"
- So - when we bleed and suffer, perhaps the same
thing is happening ! Maybe this is God's way of defeating the devil.
- Just as the disciples couldn't see anything good
from the cross at the time - - - we cannot see good emerging from struggles,
trials and suffering in our own lives....
- we can see how good came from the suffering and
death of Jesus - and we can trust that it will happen in our case too.
- The greatest Christians in history seem to say
that their sufferings ended up bringing them the closest to God - - and this is
the best thing that could happen, not the worst.
God is all
good
- dentists, athletic trainers, teachers, parents -
they all know that sometimes to be good - - you cannot be kind.... Certainly
there are times when God allows suffering and deprives us of the lesser good of
pleasure in order to help us toward the greater good of moral and spiritual
education.
- Moral character gets formed through hardship,
through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties.
- For example, courage would be impossible in a
world without pain
- The universe is a soul making machine, and part
of that process is learning, maturing, and growing through difficult and
challenging and painful experiences. The point of our lives in this world isn't
comfort, but training and preparation for eternity.
- See the Twilight Zone story...
- Every time you use force to take away evil, you
take away freedom......
- To prevent all evil, you must remove all freedom
and reduce people to puppets, which means they would then lack the ability to
freely choose love.
- If you did this - - you would lose the kind of
world a Father would want.....
The megaphone of
pain
- Evil people aren't getting away with anything -
- justice delayed is not justice denied.
- There will be a day when God will settle
accounts and people will be held responsible for the evil they've perpetrated
and the suffering they've caused.
- God is delaying the consummation of history out
of his great love for them
- Perhaps one can reason the purpose of
suffering, but why the necessity of the excess, which seems so cruel?
- because we're not God we can't say how much
suffering is needed. Maybe every single element of pain in the universe is
necessary. How can we know??
- We are made in God's image - - but we are not
morally good. Our good deeds are stained with self-interest and our demands for
justice are mixed with lust for vengeance.
Bearing the
pain
- Strobel believes all suffering contains at least
the opportunity for good.... but not everyone actualizes that
potential......Not all of us learn and benefit from suffering - thats where
free will comes in...we choose how to respond!!
- Just about every human being can reflect on his
past and say they've learned from that hardship
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