God certainly knows what He is doing. He also expects us to use our power of reason and not evade problems by pleading ignorance. Obviously we cannot understand everything but that doesn’t mean we cannot understand anything. Great thinkers like St Thomas Aquinas have dedicated their lives to increasing our understanding of Christianity. We have an obligation to answer to the best of our ability objections to the faith. That is one of the reasons why this website exists.
I am not saying that we should not exercise our intellects to understand things. God gave us this faculty to be used. And yes, completely agree, we should use it to the utmost.
But there will come a time when no matter how hard we try we will hit a wall because the simple truth is our intellectual powers are limited.
I can’t remember the name of the priest but he gave this example. If we are viewing a huge mural of pointilist painting up close with our nose almost pressed against the painting, what we see is a hodge podge blur of colours. But stand far away from it enough to have the entire mural in view and the whole painting suddenly makes sense.
The problem of evil in this world is the same. We are too close to it for us to truly make heads or tails about it. And the only thing that is true is that God knows what He is on about. We don’t. We are privy to some of His plans but not its entirety. So this is when we need to bow down in humitlity and accept that we do not know but it does not matter because God does. And He is the one doing the driving. It is hard to explain the suffering of the innocent but this will only make sense if we accept that God is in control.
From my own life experience I can explain it this way.
My niece was born with a big lump on her cheek and the doctors suggested they operate while still young so that when she grows up there will be no scarring. My sister and brother in law agreed. I think my niece was operated on at the age of 1.
When they put her in a straight jacket to stop her moving she cried in terror and pleaded with her cries to her dad to put a stop to whatever was happening to her. Her little heart was broken when dad did not come to her aid. After the operation she refused to let him hold her. The feeling of betrayal was written all over her hurt little face. It was a necessary operation she did not understand.
I think sometimes we are like that too. We do not understand and expect God to acquiece to our demands for answers.
The fact remains that if all evil in the universe were the consequence of sin God would be unjust.
Why would God be unjust if because of our own sin physical evil results. If a mother smokes and gives birth to a baby with defects do you blame that on God?
Why would He allow the whole of creation to suffer and be punished on account of a few individuals?
But He is not punishing them on account of a few individuals. Christ was very clear about that.
If someone in the train I am on ran amuck and started slashing everyone in view, I would not consider it a punishment should I end up being one of the victims.
If we hark back to Genesis, their fallen state is not a punishment for sin. It is a consequence of sin. Disobedience has consequences.
A priest (can’t remember his name) defined sin as a refusal to let God be God.
Human beings are certainly affected by the sins of previous generations but that is not why animals and beings on other planets suffer and die. Suffering and death are the inevitable consequences of life in a physical environment. Jesus told us to fear those who kill the soul, not the body. There is no need to invoke moral evil to explain physical evil…
I am not so sure about this. I suggest again that if you get the chance read "Why does God Permi Evil by Dom Bruno Web.
