WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL?

Tuesday’s horrific mass murder of innocent Americans leaves all rational people shocked, angry, grief-stricken, and numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts carry a deep ache. How could this happen in our nation?

As mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers begin to share their stories of the horror, this tragedy will be become even more personal. As this tragedy becomes more personal, it will become more painful and as our pain deepens, so will the questions. Why does God allow evil to happen? If God is so great, and so good, why does he allow human beings to hurt each other?

The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God’s image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered, and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt. Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.

God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it , evil would vanish. But God doesn’t want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.

Yes, God could have kept the terrorist from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God would also have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.

You may hear misguided minds say “This must have been God’s will.” Nonsense! In a world of free choices, God’s will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don’t blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In heaven, God’s will is done perfectly. That’s why there is no sorrow, pain, or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God’s will everyday. It isn’t automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
The Bible explains the root of evil: “This is the crisis we're in: God’s light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness...because they were not really interested in pleasing God.” ( John 3:19 Message Translation) We’re far more interested in pleasing ourselves.

There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits, or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.

No doubt this weekend houses of worship across America will be packed.
In a crisis we cry out for a connection with our Creator. This is a deep-seated, universal urge. The first words uttered by millions on Tuesday were “Oh God!” We were made for a relationship with God but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide, and direct us through our grief. My prayer is that you will attend a house of worship this weekend and reconnect with God. But it’s your choice.

Dr. Rick Warren is founding pastor of America’s second largest congregation, Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, CA.

Free-agency.

That's good Reformed language!

Actually, it is even correct to say that man has true free will if we correctly define free will. The problem is, the average person thinks that a sinner's free will includes what has been called "the power of contrary choice."

The will, by definition, does not include the power of contrary choice. The will is the "choice faculty" of the soul, not some "contrary choice faculty."

Since this kind of discussion ordinarily confuses dull sinners, Luther and the other Reformers were correct to argue that fallen man's will is by no means free to do what thoughtless folks assume for it. Luther said that the will is necessarily bound in the chains of the sinner's evil, fallen nature.

(That agrees perfectly with Scripture.)

So, "free will" language wound up being replaced in the Reformation with "free-agency" language.

Free-agency.

That's good Reformed language!

The will, by definition, does not include the power of contrary choice. The will is the "choice faculty" of the soul, not some "contrary choice faculty."

(That agrees perfectly with Scripture.)

So, "free will" language wound up being replaced in the Reformation with "free-agency" language.

Actually, the Original Sin nature and the need for a virgin birth was part of the sermon in my church the Sunday before Christmas. Pastor also seemed to say something exactly like: "Mary is not the Mother of God!" Ha! You would have liked the message; definitely not the typical fluff and without substance message you typically hear when you know visitors are present.

I thought it strange that pastor would talk about certain Heretical beliefs, but my wife pointed it out to me that he was talking about certain things to us. The point being that the True church is far too tolerant of such spiritual garbage. I didn't think it was very controversial until later at lunch with a few members it came up that some were offended that he said some things especially about Mary. Of course, had they not been instantly offended, they would have realized that he was not denying what is in scripture, but was addressing certain garbage passed as faith.

I haven't been to a churh for about 30 years-so I am going on what I had learnt when I was only 18.My belief is a combination of many religions and I believe I am a righteous person.(something like John T. in Pulp Fiction.)and yes I do confess to having sinned in the past,although I will never kill anyone.(I have become a pathisist.)When I die I will confess all my sins and ask repentance.(Or maybe before I die.)You DON'T have to go to church to believe in GOD.(Going to church consistenly doesn't automatically give you a free pass to heaven,you can still sin.)

I'll address your points in reverse order:

Going to church isn't a get into heaven free pass. You are correct. The Bible speaks plainly that the churches are full of chaff, people who think they are saved but aren't. The Bible also says that the churches have tares, people who are sown into the churches by Satan.

And you don't have to go to church to believe in God. James 2:19 Even the demons believe--and tremble! But all the saints will eventually have a taste to gather with other saints to glory in the Lord.

But you are deadly and eternally wrong to think that there is any possibility that you will confess all your sins and ask for repentence. First of all, you cannot possibly remember them all and the Bible is clear that a single sin is enough. And repentence is what God commands of you, not something that you ask of Him. Secondly, it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Hebrews 9:27). It will be too late for you to confess your sins after you have died. Your judgment will have come upon you and unless you enter His presence wearing a garment of Salvation that Chist Jesus has put on you (Isaiah 61:10), you will perish forever.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust in anything less than His unchanging grace. For His Covenant with me is Sealed with His own blood which He Shed for His own glory. I have been given a Down Payment of this Promise in the form of His Holy Spirit. This is the Solid Rock upon which I stand. Your ground is sinking sand.

You may claim to have never killed anyone, but you have counted the blood of Jesus as a common thing. To kill a man is a small matter next to that. The nearest word to Pathisiest in my Dictonary is the word pathetic.

My Belief comes directly from God through His Word. Here is what He has to say about your righteousness:

Romans 3 "There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."

Isaiah 64 For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned--
In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.

But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.

Come and fall upon your face before your Creator Christ Jesus and confess to Him that He is the Potter and you are the clay who desperately needs Him. Taste my Jesus and see that He is good.

I don't care too much for the article... I think the pastor hit a few good chords, and missed a few as well. I think people need to stop trying to answer this question... just understand that this is the world we live in now. God already provided a way out... His son. We can accept Him, or keep complaining.

A few weeks ago some visitors came to our bible club. I didn't agree with everything they said, but they opened my eyes a bit on the September 11 attacks. One of the guys talked about how God would humble the Israelites with the Moabites, who were a small nation. When the Israelites would turn away from God, God would stop protecting them, and sure enough, the Moabites would defeat them and plunder and so on. He said that this is similar... America has turned away from God so much, and now, well, look at it... a little nation is humbling us. I don't necessarily agree with this concept, but its a way of looking at it. It makes sense.

What angers me is how when evil acts occur, we immediately begin to question God. We blame him. We never put the blame on those who commited the acts. Why do people do this? We expect so much of God, yet we blame him for all the bad things, and we never thank him for his blessings. Blame the attackers, and let's move on.

Let me repeat the question: Why do we allow evil?

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