If God real why bad thing happen

[scary_robot_music]

I've never been one to doubt God's existence because of all the horrible things that happen in the world. I grew up very religious and eventually became an agnostic for a time, but for completely different reasons.

Lately on a lot of other forums on online venues I've run into a lot of atheists who will tell a story of something terrible, say a woman kidnapped and repeatedly raped while praying to be saved the whole time, but nothing. The cops eventually rescue her after a few weeks but she's broken and traumatized for life. Then the atheist says:

WHERE WERE GOD AND JESUS, CHRISTIANS????!!!! HAHAHA. CHECKMATE!

As if he's the first person to ever ask "If God real why bad thing happen"? It seems so childish, yet a lot of people think this way.

Since finding my faith again, my answer to this dilema has always been "I don't know, but God is real." I found this meme:



It's pretty good, but I don't think it would do much to convince anyone who might be on the fence about the existence of God in a debate between a believer and an atheist about the existence of God.

Does anyone have anything better? I mean something a bit less cerebral that might appeal more to the masses.

 

[Shaquilleoatmeal]

-Free will
-God is beyond our comprehension

Atheists won’t like those answers but it’s the truth.

 

[cormy_cormorant]

considering that all atheists are homosexual (and this comes with a whole slew of negative traits), their notion of good and evil is quite warped from reality. for instance, the fact that there are consequences if you engage in endless anal intercourse is proof enough of a godless universe. rather than get frustrated, just bear in mind that you will be trying to establish rational discourse with someone whose political and ideological leanings are all out of whack with reality.

 

[analyst_green]

There's a meme I saw but can't find it now. A man is in the desert dying of thirst. He sees water on flat ground in the distance but it is a mirage. On the other side he sees tall mountains and obstacles, and God is telling him to go there. There is water there but it is hidden behind the mountains. He refuses to follow God's plan and goes towards the easy to reach mirage instead.

I thought it perfectly illustrated that God sees our future, He sees what will most benefit us later on even if we must suffer today. And most people are not willing to struggle for Him even a bit.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Since finding my faith again, my answer to this dilema has always been "I don't know, but God is real." I found this meme:

It's pretty good, but I don't think it would do much to convince anyone who might be on the fence about the existence of God in a debate between a believer and an atheist about the existence of God.

This meme is the Biblical answer. God allows bad things to happen so that He may bring a greater good out of the bad situation. He accomplishes demonstrations of both His Just Wrath against sin and His Mercy toward sinners. Whether the atheist accepts that or not doesn't really matter, it's the truth. In fact, the Bible says that he will reject it because He is already rejecting God.

The alternative answer to this is God allows bad things to happen because free will. While this is true in a limited sense, it is not absolutely true. If God always allows evil free will choices and never puts a stop to them then He is the Deist God, He just doesn't care.

 

[NSOE]

The problem with bad things is only a concern for those who don't believe in God- there will be no remedy, ever, nobody will be made whole. All the many human caused bad things will also go unpunished, future generations may suffer from what they had nothing to do with, and nothing will save them at that moment or in the future.

If the atheists want to know the Christian perspective they must look at the whole system. We had been given a perfect world without bad things and we lost it by letting evil in. Now, God is good and merciful and he allows only a limited amount- much less than what we have brought/are bringing upon ourselves- of evil to afflict us, knowing what we can bear. Everything we deserve- all that we've stirred up- could crush us.

But all of that is finite and limited, even if a whole life is a long series of suffering, death will bring a stop to it. Recall how much our Lord and God Jesus himself had to suffer, and he didn't have to. This is the goodness of God.

Then imagine you're looking at your life from your place in Heaven- how insignificant, how infinitely small everything bad you went through will seem, maybe you'll have no memory of any of that at all. In Hell you might be tormented by amplified, horrible memories I suppose.

The only thing that will matter will be how close you got to living your life according to God's will, that will be your treasure, how you adhered to his commandments. The glory of God, the eternal life, the joy and happiness, all that goodness and beauty that exceeds our imagination is infinite and will last forever.

Going back to ninth grade now- even if the sum of all the bad things that came your way adds up to some terribly large numerical value, it is a finite number after all. That number over infinity is zero. The bad things we had gone through will have no significance.

That's our future, we don't have to guess if things may improve or not. What are atheists going to do when the going gets tough and there is no hope, with even worse things on the horizon, kill themselves? What is their reason for living?

Making it to Heaven is all that matters, like St.Paul- stay in this good fight, keep the faith, and finish the race.

---

If atheists accept our belief in God they must accept we also believe God didn't promise us a world without bad things here after Eden.

The Bible says life will be though, there will be pain.

But this is not our world any more, we have a way out, and there are no bad things happening in Heaven.

 

[Sandalwood Peak]

The universe is built on cause and effect. You might get hit by a car and die from blunt trauma. Just how it works. As you progress through life you will hit bumps in the road; abuse, pain, hopelessness, limitations, regrets, injustice, lost time, mistakes, etc. These things wear down your spirit like progressive age wears down your body. They also have a compounding effect on the urge to become depraved. The level of submission you have towards God determines whether those things are successful in extinguishing your soul. It works from a agnostic perspective as well. To make it super simple, agnostic friendly, it's about dying when the time comes with honor, standing on your feet, not on your knees. That's how I perceive it. Nothing to do with God being your babysitter.