Why does God allow all the pain, suffering, and evil in this world?

I think the first thing to do, in trying to answer this question, is to examine what we think about God’s character.

If we believe that God is good, loving, and perfect then I think the answer can be discovered more easily. It may not be a fully satisfying or adequate answer from our human perspective but it is the best answer I have found.

I say this because it means that I need to trust that a loving God would ultimately set up the best world possible. Prior to creation, He would have been able to look ahead and see how all of the possible scenarios would work out in the future. This means the world that God has made must be the best option. It ultimately comes down to the question, “Do I trust God?”

I have come to the point where I am willing to trust that God has set up the type of world that would maximize the number of individuals who will hear him and freely choose to respond to his love. This world has to be a world where “free will” exists because love cannot exist unless it is freely chosen. The problem with “free will” is that individuals can choose to say or do unloving and evil things. And all people make mistakes. We unintentionally make “free choices” that have a negative impact on us and others. This explains most of the reasons for the pain, suffering, and evil in the world. It is caused by us. G.K. Chesterton answered the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” with this simple response, “I am”

But this does not adequately explain why God allows terrible sickness, injuries, and the crushing results of natural disasters like the recent tsunami in Japan. I have not found a satisfactory answer for this question. It just doesn’t seem right. But I am prepared to trust a “Good” God with this paradox and will wait patiently for a fuller explanation when He gets me to the other side.

PS – If we decide not to believe in a loving and perfect God then we really shouldn’t worry about the source of evil or at least not try to assign blame. If there is no God then we have no absolute moral law. If there is no absolute moral law it means that absolute good and evil do not exist. This means that the presence of good and evil actually supports that God is real. Otherwise, when we hear on the news about murders, riots, and war it is (as Ravi Zacharias has said) “Mankind worshipping his maker”. Our maker in this case is pure “CHANCE”. As many atheists believe, “Slim + Time + Chance  make up the formula for how we arrived here and what happens to us is just the result of Chance”.