FaithAlone.net

Why Does God Allow the World to be So Unfair and Painful?

The question of why God allows suffering and injustice is one of the most common questions that a believer in any religion will be asked. It even has a proper philosophical name - The Problem of Evil.

The fact that pain and unfairness exist in the world is not a logical problem, nor does it prove that God doesn't exist, nor does it prove that God is evil.

Inequality

It's doubtless that everyone reading this, without exception, is already well aware that life is tremendously unfair. Our opportunities, health, parents, education, calamities that befall us - none of it is fair. Some people are born into wretched conditions, with birth defects, and have a bad quality of life from cradle to grave.

This is not a startling revelation to the God that made everything, as He knows about this situation and allows it to exist.

A Christian is to keep two things squarely in mind when pondering this:

  1. Anyone who genuinely seeks for Eternal Life from the Lord will find it (Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10, Hebrews 11:6, Deuteronomy 4:29, Psalm 9:10, Proverbs 8:17, Acts 17:26-27: 1 Chronicles 28:9, Romans 2:5-8, John 7:16-17)
  2. God has vastly different expectations for different people (2 Corinthians 8:12, Mark 12:41-44, Luke 12:48, 21:1-4)

In light of the first fact, a mere "blip" of 70-80 years of misery pales in the light of a glorious eternity with Jesus in the new creation, where they will never experience pain or sorrow ever again. By the time one has spent 100,000 years in a glorified body, it will seem like a small thing to have suffered for a few decades.

The second fact means that God is reasonable, and will reward those who did even a little, if they had little opportunity, just as He will reward those who did a lot with a lot of opportunity. He is not unjust.

Pain

Atheists who dismiss God with the "problem of evil" often correctly point out how absurdly painful existence can be here on earth. There are some situations that can render a person in abject agony for many years, or even all of their lives.

Here there are two scenarios to consider:

  1. The person is experiencing pain as a result of someone else - be it the fall of Adam, someone else from the past, or someone alive today
  2. The person is experiencing pain as a result of their own sin

For the first case - which applies to every single person on this planet at one time or another - see the above section on inequality. God will right every wrong, and He will judge you taking into account your circumstances that were out of your control. If you are a Christian, you also have special assurances that God is with you in a special way, regardless of what you're going through (Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5), and is using whatever the situation may be to your ultimate benefit (Romans 8:28).

The second case is a necessary part of having free will in a fallen world. When people disobey God, of course they are going to cause themselves pain, because the Creator's laws mandate everything that is the best case scenario - the perfect standard of righteousness (1 John 5:17). Sin is breaking the Law that was given to mankind to tell them to how live a good, pleasant life that's pleasing to the good God that made them (1 John 3:4). That's why breaking it causes pain. For Christians, sin may also include added chastisement from the Lord (Hebrews 12:6-11).

Conclusion

In summary, yes, life is tremendously unfair, and for many, tremendously painful. God is not aloof to these facts, and will be completely just and reasonable with His creation when judging them.

Eliminating God because of the existence of pain and inequality hasn't gotten rid of the problem. Rather, instead of having some framework to understand why there is pain, the Atheist has just made pain absolutely meaningless - but still present. So, eliminating God does not really get anyone any closer to a meaningful resolution to the problem that asking a question like this seeks to understand.