by Firy

Created on: September 07, 2008   Last Updated: September 20, 2008

God is the Creator of All Things.

If God is the Creator of the universe, then He is responsible for everything, both good and bad. If there is the bad that God is not responsible for, then who is? Whoever is responsible for this bad, is he or she greater than God? If that is so then the assumption that God oversees everything is not true because there is that power responsible for creating the bad, which God is not responsible. But what does this mean? Does it mean that because God is not responsible for some aspect of the universe then He is lesser. Indeed in the contexts in which I've heard this statement that would make him lesser than He is, which is not the case.

This is the problem with good and bad are value judgments that we impose on things that God allows to happen to us. When something happens to us that we find disagreeable, offensive and so forth we label it bad. The same bad thing becomes good somewhere along the line and yet it was bad at an earlier time. A baby born to a mother with AIDS and HIV dies at birth and the family has a difficult time why a loving God would allow such a bad thing to happen. Further down the line that perspective changes when we realize the hardship of raising such a baby.

Another profound question follows about why a loving God would allow such a dreadful disease to begin. This is the same God who allows blissful lives. Yet you have seen Him bring to the same lives extreme mental torment, torture and discord even to families that carry money in minivans. Situations with plenty of luxuries at the expense of peace of mind are more than we can count. So there is agony from illness, which is bad and agony from wealth, which is good. Both are from God and He gives everything as He chooses.

Of course this idea now brings another subject on whether or not we choose what happens to us. my position on this is that we just are. We can choose to embrace the gifts that God has given us as they are or we can spend hours analyzing them under microscopes to see why the things we experience are so good or so bad instead of striving for a way to embrace these things just a a tree welcomes under its shadow every guest effortlessly. The latter is in my view our greatest challenge.

Hence this explains in very humble terms why the two opposing ideas can come from one good God. What a conflict to be associated with a perfect God? But let me ask you. Are you a good person? I think you'd say you are. IF you are, how it is that you are not always good? And if you believe you were created by a God who is also good, why is that the notion of badness associated with you still leaves you a good person and yet a good God sometimes allowing bad things to happen is not a good " person ' or is he? Clearly the story of good and evil or bad is as old as we are and whether or not we will come to a clear answer as to where things should be we probably may never find out. Ours it seems is to enjoy God's gifts whatever label we give them, good or bad and of course this appears easy to say!

Learn more about this author, Firy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.