tragedy

   This time on earth is so difficult right now for many people, not only in our nation, but around the world. I was reading through some message boards the other night, which is not something I normally do. Anyhow, I was reading responses to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and a majority of them broke my heart. It is for this reason that I'm here typing a response to these concerns of others. Their comments were to the effect of, "God did this, and I don't want to serve a God like that," or, "If God is so good, and this act was perpetrated on innocent people, God cannot exist." I realize that many people may stop reading at this point because they realize I'm just another "naive, stupid" Christian, and for that I'm sorry. I know the relationship I have with the Lord and it's out of this love that I want to share this topic with anyone who will take the time to read it. Let me preface this entire letter with this point: If you really want to learn more about this, I suggest buying books on this in your local Christian bookstore. I'm by no means an expert, and I'm not a very good writer, but I'll do my best to share what I do know.

     A majority of this letter will be summarizing the first chapter of The Case for Faith, by Lee Strobel. Many people may not put much trust in what this guy says, but I can tell you, the original book he wrote, The Case for Christ, was written not to prove Christ, but to DISPROVE Him. He was an atheistic journalist who set out to disprove the God I place my faith in. It was through his reasearch that he became convinced of the fact that Christ was God's only son who was crucified on the cross for our sins and who was raised again on the third day, that those who accept him would gain eternal life with God the Father.

     "Either God wants to abolish evil in the world, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how comes evil in the world?" -Epicurus, philosopher

     The search for an answer to this question began after Lee Strobel talked with Charles Templeton, a man who was with Billy Graham in the very beginning, but quickly turned away after Billy gained prominence, at least as I understand it. Templeton had shown a Life magazine cover to Strobel showing a woman in Africa holding her child who had just died because of a lack of rain. Templeton argued that if God is so great, and all that was needed was a little rain, would it have been too much to ask for Him to provide some to prevent the death of an innocent child?

     The argument is that because evil and suffering exist in the world, a loving God cannot. To say that God CANNOT exist is a bit extreme. It is "intellectually arrogant," Strobel writes. This view stating God cannot exist because of this is atheism. Atheism assumes that a finite being, a human, can fathom and determine the existence or nonexistence of an infinite being. It assumes that the individual has searched the universe and determined that they know everything about it, to adamantly proclaim the nonexistence of God. If I were to ask you how much you thought we knew about the sum total of things to be discovered in the universe, what would your answer be? 2%....3%; I'll give you 4%. To think that we know much more than that would also be arrogant I believe. Anyway, what do you think the chances are that out of the 96% of the universe that we know nothing about that there might be God out there?

Faith, in our World

     "Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist. I don't have faith in two plus two equals four or in the noonday sun. Those are beyond question. Scripture describes God as a hidden God. You have to make an effort of faith to find him. There are clues you can follow."

     God does not destroy our faith; He provides us with enough clues to make an educated decision about whether or not to believe in Him, without having to do it blindly. Some people use the term "blind faith" to describe how they trust in God, but I don't like that term because it connotes having to trust in someone without having enough information to do so logically. "If we had absolute proof instead of clues, then you could no more deny God than you could deny the sun. If we had no evidence at all, you could never get there. God gives us just enough evidence so that those who want Him can have Him." God gave us free will as part of His design. This free will includes the ability to decide whether or not to trust in Him and believe in His son, Jesus Christ. He gave us this freedom to choose because of His infinite love for us. His ultimate desire is for all of us to recognize who He is and to glorify His name, but if He made no provision for our freedom to choose, demanding that we all worship Him, would that be perfect love? Of course it wouldn't.

     "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all you soul." -Deuteronomy 4:29

     There is an argument that if God exists, how can there be so much evil in the world? To that, Augustine replied, "If there is no God, why is there so much good?" What an incredible point that I think gets overlooked quite often. We tend to remember the tragedies so much more, probably because they are so horrific when they occur. The images of destruction from the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks were so terrible that we see them very clearly. During this time, it's equally important to not forget that a great deal of people are "normal" and want to do good for others. There have been many great days in our history, and to overlook these is to throw away some remarkable days indeed!

Evidence for God through evil

     The fact that evil exists and almost universally the definition of evil is the same, provides some evidence for the existence of God. This seemed contrary to logic for me, but after reading this book and really thinking about it for a while, it makes sense. Christians describe God as good, love, holy, etc. The consequences of this belief determine for us how we view the world around us. We think murder is wrong, sexual assault is wrong, bringing guns to school is wrong; the list could continue. These are moral laws that we believe to be true. Why do we believe this? God tells us so in His word, the Bible. But wait a minute! Before I became a Christian, didn't I still think these wer wrong? Of course, but how!? I still thought they were wrong because I had a relatively clear image of what was right in most instances, especially on these particular issues. I think that most people would agree that there are moral laws that they use to draw the line between what is right and wrong. The basis for determining what is right and wrong is God and His perfect ways. To determine that something is wrong is to say that it falls short of some correct way to handle a situation. Humans were given the knowledge of right and wrong by God in the Garden of Eden, as a result of eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. People who don't believe in God should not have any qualms about killing people or sexaully assaulting them. I know there are exceptions, but I'm speaking to the average person with basic moral principles guiding them. I've heard atheists claim that there is no problem with killing people, there is no problem with sexually assaulting people, taking whatever you want from someone even if it's theirs; that the only reason they don't do it now is because of the legislative laws against it, but I don't think they truly believe this. They are trying to defend their position of atheism against the argument I've just made. If after all of this they agreed with what I've said about right and wrong, wouldn't that discount their belief in no God? The other option is, of course, that they are mentally unstable and unsafe to be around society. I can't read their minds to determine which it is, but I have a hunch they're simply on the defensive.

     "Atheism is cheap on people, because it snobbishly says nine out of ten people through history have been wrong about God and have had a lie at the core of their hearts."

     "Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapen everything it touches--look at the results of communism, th emost powerful form of atheism on earth."

Did God create evil?!

     The chapter talks about 3 attributes that Christians believe about God, and then it discusses them in detail in relation to the existence of evil in the world.
     1. God is all-powerful
     2. God is all-knowing
     3. God is all-good

1. God is all-powerful

     Often in response to this statement there are things skeptics will say to attempt trap Christians into defending a God others don't think exists. They'll say, "If God is all-powerful, can He make a rock that's too heavy for him to lift?" On the surface, it seems like this is an important issue that must be addressed in order for the Christian to continue in their faith. If God can create that rock, then it means that He is not all-powerful because He can't lift it. If, on the other hand, He can't create it, it looks like again, He's not all-powerful because there's something He can't create after all. Well, the short answer is that He can't create this rock. Why? The idea of this rock is absurd. It doesn't exist, and it doesn't make sense to exist. He can't create this rock because there's nothing too heavy for Him to lift. It's just an absurd idea that sounds like it carries weight on the surface, but when examined, it really makes no sense. There are lots of things God can't do! WHAT?! Not my God! Oh yes, our God. He is perfect; He can't make mistakes, He can't create things that are too hard for Him, He can't tolerate sin (because He is holy).

     Many people wrongly assume that God created evil. This assumption is wrong; God created the possibility for evil; people actualized this possibility. We get upset with God because of all of the evil in the world, when really we should be rejoicing, not at the evil, but at the fact that God gave us a free will. Does He want us to choose good every time? Yes, of course, He's holy. Will we always? No. It's against our very nature to choose what s holy and righteous in His eyes. God could have created a world without hate, without sin, without evil, but this world would also have been without the highest value in the universe....love! Love?! That's right, love! Love never forces itself onto others. Creation of this world automatically chooses God for people who might not necessarily choose Him had they been given the choice. All of the atheists, agnostics, muslims, cultists, and others would have been forced into loving God, obeying Him and living their lives for Him. Based on their lives now, I'm sure they would much rather have the freedom to choose something other than God. The main point to remember during all of this is that to create a world where there's free will, means to create a world with the possibility of sin. To try to do otherwise is to create a world without this freedom.

2. God is all-knowing

     This section of the chapter is so good in the book, I might have a difficult time paraphrasing it; I may just have to quote it a lot. I'm doing the best I can with the writing skills I have.

     "Let's begin this way. God, if he is all-wise, knows not onl the present but the future. And he knows not only present good and evil, but future good and evil. If his wisom vastly exceeds ours, it's at least possible that a loving God could deliberately tolerate horrible things like starvation because he forsees that in the long run that more people will be better and happier than if he miraculously intervened. That's at least intellectually possible. God has very specifically shown us how this can work. 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. I'm referring to dei-cide. The death of God himself on the cross. At the time, nobody saw how anything good could evr result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw that the result would be the opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy in history brought about the most glorious event in history. Here, God lifts the curtain and lets us see it. Elsewhere he simply says, 'Trust me.'"

     I think at times, we are quick to point a judgmental finger at God for allowing certain horrific things to take place. Who is man to assume a higher level of knowledge than God, to assume that the allowance of some evil is horrendous for a God to allow?

     "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8,9

     I'll admit that I don't have it figured out; there are many things that I do understand about God, but there are many more things that I simply do not. He's given me just enough information to know who He is; he allows and calls me to trust him for the many things I don't have a clue about.

3. God is all-good
     God allows many things to happen in our lives that if we allowed them to happen to our children we would be called monsters. God allows some people to get into horrible accidents, to be afflicted by terrible diseases, and to die for no reason. This doesn't necessarily mean God is a monster. On the flip-side of things....we wouldn't be very good parents if we stepped in every time our children got into trouble. If everytime there was an opportunity, we stepped in to save the day. As great as it sounds to do so, it really would not be good parenting. There are lots of things parents don't do for their children that they could very easily do....homework, chores. We don't put a bubble around their entire world.

     Quote from the book: "I remember when one of my daughters was about four or five years old and she was trying to thread a needle in Brownies. It was very difficult for her. Every time she tried, she hit herself in the finger and a couple of times she bled. I was watching her, but she didn't see me. She just kept trying and trying. My first instinct was to go and do it for her, since I saw a drop of blood. But wisely I held ack, because I said to myself, 'she can do it.' After about five minutes, she finally did it. I came out of hiding and she said, 'Daddy,daddy--look what I did! Look at what I did!' She was so proud she had threaded the needle that she had forgotten all about the pain. That time the pain was a good thing for her. I was wise enough to have forseen it was good for her. Now, certainly God is much wiser than I was with my daughter. So it's at least possible that God is wise enough to foresee that we need some pain for reasons which we may not understand but which he foresees as being necessary to some eventual good. Therefore, he's not being evil by allowing that pain to exist."

     Many virtues that we highly esteem would not be possible in a world without suffering and pain...courage, strength (not the kind you get at the gym), patience, determination, honesty (it's only difficult to tell the truth when the consequences are considered; in some situations there may be suffering as a result)....the list could really continue on and on.

     Strobel poses a pretty tough task in this chapter. He challenges you to create a world in your mind that is utopian. As you make your decisions, think logically through the consequences of your decisions and correct thos problems too. "Every time you use force to prevent 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."

Pain in our lives

     Evil people get away with wicked things all the time; things that tear families and lives apart. Murder, rape, adultery...why doesn't God intervene and prevent these things from happening? People see the world around them and immediately jump all over God, claiming that He's evil for allowing them to get away with something like that. The fact is that those people are not getting away with it. "Justice delayed is not necessarily justice denied. There will come 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. Criticizing God for not doing it right now is like reading half a novel and criticizing the author for not resolving the plot."

     Wow, this book is really good. It answers so many question in other chapters besides this one. I'm going to have to quote a lot again here. If you have the means, I highly suggest going to purchase it. The reason I'm quoting so extensively from it is becase I realize many people will be more likely to read it here than to actually go out and make the effort to purchase it themselves. I think this stuf's important, so I'm trying to get as much of the pertinent information to you as I can.

     "One philosopher formulated an argument against God in this way: first, there is no reason that would justify God in permitting so much evil rather than a lot less; second, if God exists, then there mush be such a reason; so, three, God does not exist.   That's like saying it's reasonable to believe in God if six Jews died in the Holocaust, but not seven. Or sixty thousand but not sixty thousand and one, or 5,999,999, but not six million."

     Suffering is not something that can be easily quantified. The point at which water boils, or the speed limit, or a grade on a test; these are things that can be easily quantified and have meanings associated with those numbers. Suffering and pain are not like that, however. At what point is suffering and pain so immense that it disproves the existence of God? This is crazy to even think that, once you start to analyze it, but many people tend to think that way without really contemplating what that actually means.

     Pain in our lives is not always seen as bad, either. I've often heard how people learned from their pain, or that it made them stronger, or a better person. Theres's a saying, "that which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger." I think there's a definite truth behind that. People emerge from the trials in their lives and say they are better for having persevered; even people without religious faith express this. If people without God in their lives are able to bring good from evil, how much more good can be brought out with God in the picture?!

     God created this world and everything in it. He created the beautiful sunsets, flowers, and awesome summer days. he also let there be "blood and guts and flies buzzing around the cross." "And if he did that and then just sat back and said, 'well, it's your fault after all' --although he'd be perfectly justified in doing that--I don't see how we could love him. The fact that he went beyond justice and quite incredibly took all the suffering upon himself, makes him so winsome...How could you not love this being who went the extra mile, who practiced what he preaced, who entered into our world, who suffered our pains, who offers himself to us in the midst of our sorrows? What more could he do?!"

A matter of perspective

     "It's significant that most objections to the existence of God from the problem of suffering come from outside observers who are quite comfortable, whereas those who actually suffer are, as often as not, made into stronger believers by their suffering."

     James S. Stewart (Scottish theologian) said, "It is the spectators, the people who are outside, looking at the tragedy, from whose ranks the skeptics come; it is not those who are actually in the arena and who know suffering fromt he inside. Indeed, the fact is that it is the world's greatest sufferers who have produced the most shining examples of uncoquerable faith."

     I guess all I can really say about that is wow!

That's all for now

     I hope this letter was an encouragement to you. It was to me while I typed and re-read the chapter. For those of you who read this and are already believers, I hope I was able to share something new with you. For those of you who do not have a relationship with Christ, I hope that if this was a stumbling block for you, that it moved it out of the way, or at least gives you a starting place from which to launch a deeper investigation. I recommend picking up "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel as well as "The Case for Christ." Although I've not personally read "The Case for Christ" I've heard from my trusted friends that this is a very good book too. In the coming weeks, Lord willing, I will be posting a page that basically shows why we need a savior and why Jesus is the way, and how to approach Him with that request in your heart. If you're ready to do it now, don't wait on me to post that page by any means, though. Talk with a local pastor or a trusted Christian friend in your life and they would be happy to share the Gospel of Christ with you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a wonderful day.