What is the significance of suffering? The meaning of misery? The cause of calamity? Or the purpose of pain? Just because we don’t know a good purpose for some evil does not mean there is no good purpose for it. There are many things we don’t know. And there are many things we once did not know but now do know. So it should be expected that in the future we will discover good purposed for things which we do not now know a good purpose. Take an illustration from science. Evolutionists once claimed there were some 180 vestigial organs (with no known function) left over from our animal ancestry. Over the last century or so, this list has shrunk to six! Study has shown that the unexplained is not necessarily the unexplainable. Likewise, just because we don’t know a good purpose from some suffering does not mean there is none. God informs us that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” Deuteronomy 29:29 Scientists cannot currently explain everything in the natural world, but they have good reason to believe that there are explanations for the things they can’t explain. Unexplained evils are not unexplainable, and many evils we once could not explain we can now explain. Certainly Joseph did not know why he was sold as a slave into Egypt by is brothers, later however he was able to say “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” Genesis 50:20 Pain is designed to keep us from self-destruction such as chest pain to avoid heart attack, pain in lower side to prevent death by a burst appendix. We have all suffered loss of loved ones for no explained reason, however if for no other reason, God sometimes allows us to suffer pain so we can comfort others suffering in a like situation. The truth is that we learn more enduring lessons through pain than we do pleasure. God is more interested in our character than our comfort; more concerned about our holiness than our happiness. If we knew in advance that we would have a son who would become Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden, wouldn’t it be better not to conceive him to begin with? God had to create free creature who could sin before He could produce free creature who can’t sin. So the best possible world would be one where people were truly free to sin, did sin, but despite their sin God brought about a greater good by allowing it and then providing satisfaction and forgiveness for it. In short, even if a free but sinless world is actually achievable, it may be morally less desirable, since the greatest good would not be achieved in it. Forcing people to “freely” believe is a contradiction in terms. God is love (1John 4:16) and love cannot work coercively, only persuasively. The problem is that all do not want to be saved. God is willing to save all, but all are not willing to be saved. One day God will say “Have it as you will”. The nature of an all-good God assures us that this world which He did create is the best one achievable without violating anyone’s free will. A good parent permits a possible accident every time he permits his teenager to drive the family car; however, he is not promoting it. God allows evil to produce the greater good. So now that we have discussed the persistence and purpose of evil, next week we will look at the problem of physical evil then miracles and evil to give you some more food for thought. Excerpts from chapter 5&6, If God, why Evil? By Norman L. Geisler, I encourage you get this book and read all of Dr. Geisler’s research and 50 years of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level.
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