Why would God care?

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I believe a lot of evil occurs because people simply fail to pray and ask God for His protection and providential care. That doesn’t mean you are guarenteed protection from all temporal harm. What it does mean is that you are putting yourself in God’s hands and therefore that “all things work together for good for those that love God whom are called according to His purpose”. Therefore, if God does allow an evil to happen despite our prayers, we know He is allowing it for our greater ultimate good. Remember that we must see this life in light of the eyes of faith. Eternity is forever whereas our lives, no matter how glorious or wretched, is a mere moment in time. If something happens for the good of our eternal soul, no matter how grevious it may be in the here and now, it must be deemed an act of love by God for our salvation.
 
Mark_Robert said:
I believe a lot of evil occurs because people simply fail to pray and ask God for His protection and providential care. That doesn’t mean you are guarenteed protection from all temporal harm. What it does mean is that you are putting yourself in God’s hands and therefore that “all things work together for good for those that love God whom are called according to His purpose”. Therefore, if God does allow an evil to happen despite our prayers, we know He is allowing it for our greater ultimate good. Remember that we must see this life in light of the eyes of faith. Eternity is forever whereas our lives, no matter how glorious or wretched, is a mere moment in time. If something happens for the good of our eternal soul, no matter how grevious it may be in the here and now, it must be deemed an act of love by God for our salvation.
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WRONG.

There is no greater good for an abused child whose entire childhood is a living hell and not one person is aware that they are in desperate need of help. They may grow up in silence, turn to drugs, remain silent and die alone in the gutter. There is no greater good for this poor soul who had his / her life torn apparent by another person.

Having a child made into a child soldier and forced to kill others or having a horrific crime perpetrated on an entire race of people…sorry, but there is no conceivable way that this unnecessary suffering at the hands of pure evil is for the greater good or could be considered an act of love by God.

You are seeing the world through Rose colored glasses. You must realize that there are tens of thousands of abused, beaten and victimized people that NO ONE even knows that they are abused, beaten or victimized.

Therefor, there is no one to step up to the plate and help these people…so your idea about people suffer so that we have the chance to help them and carry out Gods will…is well, bunk. :mad:

The world is a ghastly unfair place and I have yet to receive a suitable explanation why God would use his divine power to help a person sell their house or help someone win a sporting event, all the while people are being victimized the world over…with no one to help them.
 
beckycmarie said:
Dear onetimeposter,

I recommend for you this article by Dr. Peter Kreeft:

What is God’s Answer to Human Suffering?

And when you have the time, I hope you’ll listen to his talk,
Making Sense Out of Suffering

The talk takes the info in the article into much more detail. I think you’ll see things differently after reading and listening to what Dr. Kreeft has to say.
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Thanks. I read the article and it seems to have been written for a devout Christian. Two paragraphs jumped out to me:
*
You see, the Christian views suffering, as he views everything, in a totally different way, a totally different context, than the unbeliever. He sees it and everything else as a between, as existing between God and himself, as a gift from God, an invitation from God, a challenge from God, something between God and himself. Everything is relativized.*

…What then is suffering to the Christian? It is Christ’s invitation to us to follow him. Christ goes to the cross, and we are invited to follow to the same cross. Not because it is the cross, but because it is his. Suffering is blessed not because it is suffering but because it is his.

Try telling that to a 5 year old is all I have to say. 😦

Human suffering sucks and children suffering is even worse. I guess that’s the bottom line.
 
I used to wonder this too.

Then it hit me:

God is infinite. If you have ever taken calculus or upper level math you know that infinity divided by ANYTHING is still infinity.

That means if there are two people praying to an infinite God, God can give infinite attention to each person. Same if there are three prayers, four, etc. If there are 6 billion + people praying, God can devote his full self to each prayer.

That doesn’t mean that selling a house is an important as solving the sex slave trade or anything, but it does mean that God has “time” to listen to whatever is bothering us, no matter how small it is or no matter how many other pressing things are going on in the world.

Hope that helps! Interesting question!
 
onetimeposter said:
If God wouldn’t save starving children or a victim of horrible abuse, why would God help a person sell their house or help a person pass an exam?

I’ve never understood why someone would pray to God that their house will sell…when there are some pretty serious unresolved issues in the world.

Either your house will sell or it won’t…why would God influence that and why would God use his divine power to help you in the Real Estate Market?

Just curious, because in my Church, our Priest always prays that students will do well in their exams. It just doesn’t make sense to me at all.
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I know what you mean. I try to ask for things that are more clearly aligned with God’s will. If some day selling my house will help me provide a better house for my (future) kids, I’ll ask God to help me for their benefit. It can’t hurt to ask. But I think it’s best to ask God for spiritual graces for yourself and for others.
 
Even Adolf Hitler’s attempt at mass extermination of the Jewish people or his slaughter of 10 million Russians?

Yes God’s hand there, in the suffering. Ever heard of Anne Frank? how about Fr. Maximillian Kolbe?
 
onetimeposter said:
The world is a ghastly unfair place and I have yet to receive a suitable explanation why God would use his divine power to help a person sell their house or help someone win a sporting event, all the while people are being victimized the world over…with no one to help them.
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This seems to be saying God should only answer prayers in the affirmative for those in some grave physical danger. Why? Is there anything we cannot ask of our Father?

Whether His answer is yes, no, or wait if we unite our will with His we are accepting what is best for us.
 
onetimeposter said:
Thanks. I read the article and it seems to have been written for a devout Christian.
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Hi Onetime,

Peter Kreeft is a devout Catholic apologist and professor of philosophy. There are several excellent articles and audio speeches posted on his website. He is quite talented at explaining theology and philosophy for dummies, so I learn something new every time I visit his website. 🙂
Featured Writing Page
Featured Audio Page
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I think that the question at hand is:
[directly, or by implication]
Why does evil exist? Why does suffering exist?

Additionally:
Why does God have to be ‘notified’ - that a particular suffering is taking place?
That a particular evil is being perpetrated?
That a given deprivation is being experienced?
Doesn’t He know?
Isn’t He is omniscient?

And what of the prayer that was said, in any Mass around the world:
“Protect us from all evil…” followed by a tsunami that took the life
of a quarter of a million people, two years ago.
Why did we bother to pray this prayer?

Why is it said that God is ‘merciful’ - when remedy is found, for a particular deprivation?
Does this then indicate - by implication:
When one’s prayers of petition are not granted, that God chooses to be ‘unmerciful?’

Why is the “attribute” ground-game then changed?
Merciful = relief of given suffering
Unmerciful = no relief given, even though prayers were said.

In the end, we are to accept God’s will.

I once heard a priest say “Never try to ‘explain’ God’s actions.”
I thought that sound advice.

And, in the final analysis, this is all that any of us can do.
Accept His will.

We are commanded to pray. I often wonder if God commands this
because it gives us relief from the helpless feeling:
What can I do about this?
Is praying a relief for the one who prays, even when the remedy looked for is not granted?

Paul says “Pray always.”
Jesus said: "When you pray, say “Our Father, Thou Who art in heaven,
may Thy Name be held holy…Thy will be done…”

Is it the comfort of heart and mind given, when we pray a prayer of petition,
the ‘real’ reason that we are told to pray?
I don’t know, but I sometimes think so.

Is the real ‘mercy’ of God, that He gives us Someone to talk to,
about what is happening around us? As C.S. Lewis once wrote: [paraphrased]
God does each of the courtesy of hearing us out for a lifetime.

He will listen when others may not.

There is no necessary disjunction, between
'God’s will be done," and petitionary prayer.
In a sense, it’s like saying:
“Hey. It never hurts to ask.” http://bestsmileys.com/nono/9.gif

reen12
 
There is an alternate way of viewing suffering.

Mellenia ago, those who carried forward the knowledge
that God is One, asked themselves the question:
Why does evil exist? How does this uncontested fact
comport with an all-powerful deity, Who is also
omniscient? omni scio = knows all]

An account of the origin of human beings was crafted.
God, a man, a woman, a garden and a crafty snake.
The woman is cast as the heavy, caving in to the
snake’s propaganda, and then implicating Adam
as well, as she offers to him the forbidden fruit,
and he goes for it.

Now, exiled from the paradise of Eden, work is sweat-producing,
and Eve brings forth their children, in the pains of labor.
The number of problems, addressed by the creation account in Genesis, is large.
Same ‘explains’ why life in the world can be very hard.
There was no scribe, in the garden of Eden, to jot down these events.

We are to hold the Genesis account as reality.
God creates, man sins, man is ejected from paradise.
There is now sweat on the brow, as Adam works
to feed both Eve and their children, “east of Eden.”
If the whole of scripture is taken cum grano salis,
what can we know about God? He exists, He creates,
He wills relationship with human beings.

Why does He permit evil to exist? Why does He
grant relief, or fail to grant relief? Why would He have
created man, knowing what the dénouement would be?
How can we stand and look at the raw suffering that
exists, especially that of the suffering of children,
without asking “Why?” Why would He have set this all in motion?
He knew that innocent children would suffer - as a result of
the fall of man, in Eden.
He knew these children would suffer, when He hung the moon in the sky,
and as He rested from His labours, on the seventh day.

The most cogent assessment of the “whys,” in all of this,
was made by a character in a novel written by Albert Camus,
an existentialist of the last century. Plague has broken out
in the small town of Oran. Reiux, the physician, works night and day,
caring for those who have been stricken.
The priest, Father Paneloux, shouts from the pulpit -
that the residents of Oran are being punished for their many sins.

At one point, in the novel, Doctor Rieux is heard to say:
“I will not accept a world in which little children are made to suffer.”

And no biblical account of the creation of man, his fall,
and his saving, can possibly reconcile the absurd claim
that a grown man - at the height of his manhood,
who suffered agonies for less than 24 hours - could
possibly justify the terrible suffering that is endured
by children. God chose to create man. Which means
that He is ultimately responsible for that which occurs in life.
Christ, in His adulthood, *knew *why He was crucified.
A child knows not. A child just endures. And there is
something very very wrong with a world view that holds
that God had every “right,” to create Adam and Eve,
knowing that He would cast Adam and Eve out of the garden,
and that their sin is somehow complicit in the suffering of each and all.
God bears the responsibility, just as He bore the cross.
Yet even this, His passion, begs the question.
What - precisely what - ever ‘justifies’ the suffering of
children?

reen12
 
When I was 12, I asked - expecting a clear, concise reply:

“Father, we’re learning in history, that the change in the
English penal laws was considered a humane advance.
No longer would children be thrown in jail, when the father was in debt which he could not pay.
How is it, that we are still paying for the sin of Adam and Eve? Are human beings, then, more merciful than God is?”
I asked this question in all innocence.
I thought that this cleric would be able to reply. He couldn’t.
My eyes narrowed with suspicion, for the first time in my life. That was 50 years ago.

Does not Catholicism have an answer?
That adults suffer, I can understand, from a theological perspective.

quote: reen12
Why does He permit evil to exist? Why does He
grant relief, or fail to grant relief? Why would He have
created man, knowing what the dénouement would be?
How can we stand and look at the raw suffering that
exists, especially that of the suffering of children,
without asking “Why?” Why would He have set this all in motion?
He knew that innocent children would suffer - as a result of
the fall of man, in Eden.
He knew these children would suffer, when He hung the moon in the sky,
and as He rested from His labours, on the seventh day.

The most cogent assessment of the “whys,” in all of this,
was made by a character in a novel written by Albert Camus,
an existentialist of the last century. Plague has broken out
in the small town of Oran. Reiux, the physician, works night and day,
caring for those who have been stricken.
The priest, Father Paneloux, shouts from the pulpit -
that the residents of Oran are being punished for their many sins.

At one point, in the novel, Doctor Rieux is heard to say:
“I will not accept a world in which little children are made to suffer.”

And no biblical account of the creation of man, his fall,
and his saving, can possibly reconcile the absurd claim
that a grown man - at the height of his manhood,
who suffered agonies for less than 24 hours - could
possibly justify the terrible suffering that is endured
by children. God chose to create man. Which means
that He is ultimately responsible for that which occurs in life.
Christ, in His adulthood, *knew *why He was crucified.
A child knows not. A child just endures. And there is
something very very wrong with a world view that holds
that God had every “right,” to create Adam and Eve,
knowing that He would cast Adam and Eve out of the garden,
and that their sin is somehow complicit in the suffering of each and all.
God bears the responsibility, just as He bore the cross.
Yet even this, His passion, begs the question.
What - precisely what - ever ‘justifies’ the suffering of
children?
Click to expand...
Can no one offer reply?

reen12
 
Dear reen,

It’s because everything that happens God permits for our good in the long run. Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Life’s crosses are meant to purify us, as gold refined by fire. The more crosses we accept with resignation, the holier we become.

Yesterday I heard an outstanding talk on this topic from St. Michael’s Media. If you have 40 minutes, it’s well worth your time to listen to it.

Pain and Suffering
 
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