Theologians and philosophers cannot figure it out. If God is merciful and good—but also omnipotent—why is there such terrible suffering? The columnist and commentator Walter Lippman wrote: “The greatest of all perplexities in theology has been to reconcile the infinite goodness of God with his omnipotence. Nothing puts a greater strain upon the faith of the common man than the existence of utterly irrational suffering in the universe.”
Another writer, Walter Kaufmann, put it this way: “Faith in immortality, like belief in Satan, leaves unanswered the ancient question: is God unable to prevent suffering and thus not omnipotent? Or is he able, but not willing, to prevent it and thus not merciful? And is he just?”
The last century has seen indescribable suffering. Two world wars left much of Europe and Asia devastated, with tens of millions dead and injured. Despots throughout the last century have engaged in genocide and mass murder of innocents. The evils of war, oppression, racism, disease and natural calamity (to name a few) continue unabated even as mankind struggles to deal with them. If God is merciful, how can these things be?
Sometimes, when people are confronted with the great suffering in the world, they become discouraged. They conclude that there cannot be a God—or that He is indifferent, otherwise He would never allow such pain to happen. How would you explain it?
Many “theologians” are essentially philosophers who reason about God and spiritual matters. Theology—the word means “god-study”—was invented in ancient times by the polytheistic Greeks who believed that spiritual knowledge could be achieved through reasoning. But the one true God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets and the Apostles—said that He reveals Himself to us through His word. There are things that we can know only through His revelation—such as right and wrong—and His plan for humanity. What God reveals in His word about the suffering of humanity is most illuminating and encouraging.
The Short Answer
The short answer is as follows: Humanity cannot have freedom of choice and freedom from suffering at the same time. God gave mankind free moral agency. Therefore, God can be good, merciful and omnipotent and not always intervene to save us from the consequences of our choices—particularly when those choices violate what He has told us is right and wrong. God permits us to make our choices during this current age in which evil not only exists but also abounds. But how did our world become like this? Your Bible explains.
In the third chapter of Genesis, we read the account of the initial rebellion of Adam and Eve against God: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:1–5).
We know, from other parts of the Bible (Revelation 12:9; 20:2), that the serpent is Satan—a rebellious angel formerly called Lucifer. It was not because Eve was unintelligent that Satan was able to deceive her. It was because she wanted the fruit. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).
Deciding what is truly right and wrong is the province of God who knows all things. But Satan enticed Adam and Eve with the great lie that they could have the God-like power of determining good and evil for themselves—without disastrous consequences. He told them, in effect, that mankind can “socially construct” its own moral laws and no suffering will come from it. Adam and Eve quickly discovered the magnitude of Satan’s deception. In Genesis 3:14–19, God outlined the hardship and suffering that would come as a result of their disobedience. This basic situation has continued for mankind ever since.
Mankind continues to reserve the knowledge of good and evil—right and wrong—to itself. It builds its institutions and moral systems on the shifting sands of human perception, and to the extent that those systems recognize what God has revealed to be right and wrong, they tend to produce good fruit. But to the extent they violate God’s divine moral law—an act called sin—they fail, producing great suffering for mankind (1 John 3:4). Why does God allow mankind to suffer? In an important sense, the world suffers because it insists on it. “Natural causes” contribute to the suffering of mankind, but much of the world’s suffering has its origin in its spiritual failures.
In the Genesis 3 account mentioned earlier, Satan deceived Eve, but the account makes it clear that Eve accepted the deception because it allowed her to do what she already wanted to do. The Bible says that Satan “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), and much of its sin operates in that manner. To illustrate the problem, let us imagine a story of a rather unusual store, run by Satan.
Satan’s “Little Shop Of Deceptions”
Once upon a time, Satan decided to open a store called, “Satan’s Little Shop Of Deceptions,” and he located it on a busy street near a major university. He was leaning in the doorway one day when a learned man came walking down the sidewalk looking very disturbed and frustrated.
“Whoa, Professor,” called Satan. “What seems to be the problem?”
The Professor had been deep in thought, but he stopped, looked up and decided to explain his predicament. Satan continued to lean casually in the doorway as his potential customer approached.
“I have learned a great deal about the world,” explained the Professor, “and there are a lot of very enticing things I would like to do, but this Judeo-Christian moral system is extremely inconvenient to me. It’s too restrictive for a man of my sophistication, but I haven’t been able to reason a way out of it.”
Satan perked up and said: “Boy are you in the market! Come on in! I’ve got a great little deception here that will allow you to do whatever you want and still assert moral authority. You’re going to just love it!” As he stepped behind the counter in his shop, Satan continued to explain. “What I have for you today is the modern, updated version of a classic deception I sold to a group of ancient Greeks called the Sophists more than two millennia ago. I’ll remind you of how it went back then,” he said, and he began to read from a fine book on intellectual history.
“According to Sophists such as Protagorus, man was the measure of all things and his own individual judgments concerning everyday life should form the basis of his personal belief and conduct—not naïve conformity to traditional religion… Claims to the contrary, whether religious or philosophical, could not stand up to critical argument. The ultimate value of any belief or opinion could be judged only by its practical utility in serving an individual’s needs in life.”
“Sophists recognized that each person had his own experience, and therefore his own reality. In the end, they argued, all understanding is subjective opinion. Genuine objectivity is impossible. All a person can legitimately claim to know is probabilities, not absolute truth…. Hence, the Sophists concluded in favor of a flexible atheism or agnosticism in metaphysics and situational morality in ethics. Since religious beliefs, political structures and rules of moral conduct were now seen as humanly created conventions, these were all open to fundamental questioning and change” (The Passion of the Western Mind, Richard Tarnas, pp. 27–29, emphasis added).
Satan continued: “That’s the way I sold it back in the good old days of ancient Greece, but my modern, semantically-enhanced version goes like this: “Since there is no God, all moral systems are socially constructed—and therefore, they are equally valid.” Satan chuckled and added: “I just love that word, ‘valid.’ It always confuses ‘em.” He continued: “If you can convince yourself and others of this principle, then you can make your own rules and still assert moral authority! Your main concern will be your own personal power and you will be a god unto yourself, knowing good and evil!”
The professor was overjoyed. “Thanks Satan,” he said gleefully. “I’ll put this to work right away.”
Deal With It
What is one way you could deal logically with that deception? It is easy. It is not a question of whether all moral systems have equal validity; it is a question of whether all moral systems have equal outcomes. They do not—as we can easily observe from history and our daily lives. We—both as individuals and collectively as societies—have freedom of choice, but depending on what we choose, the consequences may be good or evil—for others and ourselves.
So, can humanity expect to have freedom of choice and freedom from suffering at the same time? Obviously not. We can observe how wrong moral choices made by individuals and societies affect outcomes and produce suffering. Just because we intend for some socially constructed moral system to have good outcomes does not mean that it will. Wrong moral choices bring bad results whether we think they should or not. Notwithstanding what the ancient Sophists and their modern, “sophisticated” descendants believe, divine law does not need our consent to exist and operate. It exists objectively. And if true moral law is not socially constructed, mankind must consider that it has an author. A full knowledge of it must be revelatory. The good news is that we have a source of knowledge that reveals what is truly right and wrong. But the bad news is that, like Adam and Eve, few want to obey.
“The Real Thing”
What does God reveal to mankind about this matter? His knowledge is much higher than ours. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
God reveals that his “understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28). “For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 33:4–5). “And My righteousness will not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6). “Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?” (Psalm 71:19).
That last question goes right to the point. Concerning being righteous (having the quality of rightness), who is like God? No one, of course, because human beings are neither all-knowing nor all-powerful. Yet mankind insists on taking the knowledge of right and wrong to itself, and for thousands of years, the outcomes have been disastrous—both for individuals and for societies. The Apostle Paul cautioned the Church in Galatia: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction” (Galatians 6:7–8, NIV).
This is not to say that when one of our loved ones suffers from sickness or some of life’s calamities that person always brought it on himself or herself. Far from it. Suffering may be caused by the actions of others—as in automobile accidents—or simply be time and chance occurring in an age where mankind as a whole has insisted on going it alone. But God genuinely cares about our suffering and promises that the current mess humanity has made will not be the status quo forever: “And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:8).
Is God Uninvolved?
The Bible teaches us that in this age God is allowing mankind to go its own way, make its own mistakes and suffer its own consequences. Some people do evil to others intentionally, while others do evil under deception. In addition, the Bible acknowledges that we do not control everything in our lives. Natural disasters occur, and “time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). But is God uninvolved in the affairs of men? On the contrary! God is very involved, and the Bible is filled with many different ways that He is. The following are just a few.
The Bible reveals that God has a plan for humanity. Simply put, He is “bringing many sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and Jesus is “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). But in this age of man’s rebellion, God is allowing the world to learn the consequences of rejecting His way of life—His divine moral law. God said that when we gained sufficient power, we would destroy ourselves unless He intervened. Jesus plainly stated in His Olivet Prophecy: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22). God said that He intervenes in the affairs of mankind to effect His plan for mankind. That promise is a great source of hope for a troubled world, because when God intervenes, He does it to accomplish what He has promised.
God’s intervention in the lives of those He calls into His Church is another way He is involved. For example, Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). When the Father draws us, he grants repentance and upon baptism, He forgives our sins through unmerited pardon. By Jesus’ sacrifice, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). The giving and working of God’s Holy Spirit is a miraculous intervention in the life of every one of God’s children. It is God’s Spirit that enables us to live as He has instructed and transforms us inwardly as we do so. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). That is an important and blessed intervention. The capacity for understanding and obedience that God’s Spirit brings is lacking in humanity today, but it will not always be that way. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
God answers prayer, and He is very involved with us individually in many ways—as in our healing. Paul taught: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:14–16). God cares about His children, hears our prayers and leads us out of our trials. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God will intervene to make even our personal trials work for our benefit if we obey Him. “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:27–28).
God says that He may intervene for any member of society solely out of His mercy, goodness and compassion. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion’” (Romans 9:14–15).
These are just a few of the many Biblical examples of God taking an active part in the lives of mankind, the Church of God as a whole, individual Church members and other members of society. Clearly, God is willing to be very involved in our lives in this age, even as mankind continuously rejects Him.
So, why does God allow mankind to suffer? The short answer is that mankind insists on it. The whole world has long been deceived into thinking it can “socially construct” right and wrong for itself. But it cannot; God says that we lack the competence. The world has chosen the road it is traveling, and for a time must live with the consequences of that choice. There cannot be both freedom of choice and freedom from suffering as long as the world rejects and denies God. There are bad consequences and evil outcomes, because the outcomes of all moral systems are not the same. This is the result of only one thing. True moral law exists whether the world believes it or not, and that divine law must be revealed by its Author. Sadly, we still live in an evil age, and there is still much suffering in it.
But if we believe and obey God, we can have access to His infinite wisdom, because: “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). In God’s view, even the unsophisticated person who believes Him is wiser than the worldly professor. But if we do not trust and obey, we are on our own—which is where the world finds itself now.
Certainly, God’s Church has suffered great persecution through the centuries. As Jesus explained: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18–19). And in addition to persecution the Church must deal with “time and chance” and temptations and trials “such as is common to man.” But Paul assured the people in the Church that, even in this evil age, “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
In addition, the Church has the encouragement of knowing that there is a sure hope for the world. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). God has promised that the day is coming that He will intervene “with a rod of iron” to establish His Kingdom and save humanity from itself.
Paul wrote: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:16–19, KJV).
Even as the world suffers, the Church has the blessing of God’s way of life now and a sure promise for the future.