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Lesson 4Why Does God Allow Suffering?
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How do we reconcile anguish and suffering with the Bible's portrayal of a loving God? Why would He allow the horrendous miseries that afflict humanity? Does the Bible explain suffering?
Many people, the faithful and the faithless, look at calamities—whether personal, national or global—and agonize over these questions. In this lesson we will see how the Bible addresses this enigma: Why does God allow suffering?
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What's in this Lesson
How do we reconcile anguish and suffering with the Bible's portrayal of a loving God?
How can we have true freedom of choice and still gain freedom from suffering?
Only the Holy Scriptures reveal the true and lasting solutions for people's suffering. It is to God's Word that we must look to solve our problems.
Evil and suffering exist because God allows us to have free will.
If God can do all things, why didn't He just create us with perfect character?
Christ did not suffer because He deserved it. He endured suffering for our benefit: to help fulfill God's purpose for us.
One of the greatest puzzles for many people is why God allows good people to suffer.
Since sin is the major cause of suffering, much unnecessary suffering can be avoided by faithfully obeying God, by keeping His commandments in the letter and in the spirit.
The Bible refers to another aspect of human suffering, called time and chance in Ecclesiastes 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
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Most of the inequities in life are the result of thousands of years of accumulated human customs and traditions, as well as the uncertainties of time and chance. We cannot justly blame them on God.
The Bible puts our sufferings into proper perspective.
Satan is a major reason for people's suffering.
Many tragedies and much suffering can be traced to their source: our own all-too-human actions and decisions.
The suffering of a man named Job explains much about why character is more important in God's eyes than the discomfort and pain we experience in this life.
Man's existence includes both suffering and the exaltation of life.
A brief summary of definitions for words used in this lesson.
These questions are intended as a study aid, to spur further thought on the concepts discussed in this lesson and to help you apply them on a personal level.
Do Christ and God the Father have compassion for sufferers? Why doesn't God relieve the suffering of mankind now? What has Jesus Christ already done to relieve suffering? Following are answers to these questions and more.