Rather than share my own words on this, I would like to present a few quotes from
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t023.html on this very subject.
First, they acknowledge the seriousness of the question:
Quote:
The “problem of pain,” as the well-known Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, once called it, is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith.
All true science and history, if rightly understood, support the fact of God. This evidence is so strong that, as the Bible says: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).
Most atheists, therefore, without any objective evidence on which to base their faith in “no God”, must resort finally to philosophical objections. And this problem of suffering is the greatest of these.
That is, they say, how can a God of love permit such things in His world as war, sickness, pain, and death, especially when their effects often are felt most keenly by those who are apparently innocent? Either He is not a God of love and is indifferent to human suffering, or else He is not a God of power and is therefore helpless to do anything about it. In either case, the Biblical God who is supposedly one of both absolute power and perfect love becomes an impossible anachronism. Or so they claim!
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Yes, that is exactly what those atheists claim. They quote Epicurus daily, as if some long-dead Greek's words can beat the Living and Eternal God!
Before venturing to answer, the author provides us with a reminder, one well worth quoting: We do not have the right to question God.
Quote:
We need also to recognize that our very minds were created by God. We can only use these minds to the extent that He allows, and it is, therefore, utterly presumptuous for us to use them to question Him and His motives. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
“Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why hast Thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20).
We ourselves do not establish the standards of what is right. Only the Creator of all reality can do that. We need to settle it, in our minds and hearts, whether we understand it or not, that whatever God does is, by definition, right.
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After that, well, I don't see much point in summarizing the rest.
If you're wondering why God allows the innocent to suffer, you are sinning by your wondering. Enjoy Hell!
OK, fine. Short version.
Babies/retards: Original sin. Not innocent. Would be sinners when/if capable; thus deserving of suffering and Hellfire.
The rest of us should be grateful for our sufferings. After all, Jesus lived 33 years on Earth, and was beaten and crucified in His last days, then died temporarily before resurrecting Himself. He, as the author correctly points out, suffered MORE THAN ANY HUMAN BEING EVER DID OR WILL, and so our petty sufferings -- like the chronic agony of untreatable cancers, like years of imprisonment and torture at the hands of atheists, etc. -- are for God's glory and something we should be grateful for.
Ahh, I bet the atheists are thinking I'm making things up, because this isn't what their "Pastor Feelgood" said in Sunday school. More quotes are in order:
Quote:
The Lord Jesus Christ, who was the only truly “innocent” and “righteous” man in all history, nevertheless has suffered more than anyone else who ever lived.
...
With our full faith in God's goodness and in Christ's redemption, we can recognize that our present sufferings can be turned to His glory and our good.
The sufferings of unsaved men are often used by the Holy Spirit to cause them to realize their needs of salvation and to turn to Christ in repentance and faith. The sufferings of Christians should always be the means of developing a stronger dependence on God and a more Christ-like character, if they are properly “exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).
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Oh, right. Babies and retards:
Quote:
There is really no such thing as the “innocent” suffering.
Since “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), there is no one who has the right to freedom from God's wrath on the basis of his own innocence.
As far as babies are concerned, and others who may be incompetent mentally to distinguish right and wrong, it is clear from both Scripture and universal experience that they are sinners by nature and thus will inevitably become sinners by choice as soon as they are able to do so.
The world is now under God's Curse (Genesis 3:17) because of man's rebellion against God's Word.
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That's right, kiddies. Adam and Eve sinned. God cursed everybody as a result, so we are ALL sinners now, unless we repent. Those unable to repent -- like babies and retards -- will receive the same eternity of punishment that all who refuse to repent receive.
Will you?
Note: It is not the position of Landover Baptist Church or of my own congregation that God is "all-loving". The Bible does not indicate this; in fact, it specifically states that He hated
and hates many people, all the way from Esau to the fornicator next door. However, this alternative argument is presented above because many visitors to this forum refuse to accept the Biblical fact that God hates as much as, if not more than, He loves.