by OldManBurns

Created on: August 23, 2009   Last Updated: August 24, 2009

I honestly cannot understand why so much confusion and hostility can arise from such a basic question! Opponents of Christianity use this question as one of their prime weapons to attack our faith, and often win arguments that really shouldn't be in the first place. It seems this is a case of mankind trying to be more intelligent than he actually is.

Allow me to explain. The question is a valid one, and if Christians wish to illuminate their faith more to their critics they should learn how to understand other people's viewpoints better. I feel this is where a massive amount of Christians fail. Fingers go into ears and any opinion other than their own is simply ignored. This is equally true of atheists and other religious groups.

The atheist states that God cannot exist because if He is a god of love then He would not allow all the awful perversions of mankind to exist, or alternatively He would intervene on behalf of the decent people who live essentially good lives. This clearly does not happen on a large scale, therefore God does not exist and Christianity is a farce. Period. The argument has been won and the fingers go back into the ears. And Christians are accused of being simplistic!

Nobody bothers to examine the other side of the coin. Which is that if God did exist then he would be true to His character. How do we know His character? Read His Word. What does His Word say? That He has created mankind in His own image. In other words man is born an essentially good creation. However he is still a sinner in other words he will make mistakes and do bad things. Yes, even Christians do bad things! This bit is important, and cannot really be discussed in an intelligent manner with bigots and those that refuse to discuss emotive ideas in a civilised manner (you know who you are!), but God has created us to serve Him in a manner that will make Him proud of us.

However, He has given us one MASSIVE gift that too many refuse to acknowledge: free will. In short, mankind is born essentially good, but circumstance and a sinful nature will put mankind in situations where he will sin and he will make mistakes. Just like the scriptures say we will. Through an individual's journey through life, no matter how unlucky or how extreme and unfortunate their circumstances they always have the free will to make their own choices. And when this is comprehended it is easy to understand why there is so much pain in the world.

It is because in this world there will always be those who chose to inflict misery on other people. Or who are too greedy, selfish or stupid to think out the consequences of their actions (several corporations, organisations and countries should be feeling pangs of guilt round about now). And because God has given us the right to think and decide for ourselves, this precludes Him from interfering with every evil decision which mankind makes. If He did He would be 'cheating', as it were. And He has said that He won't. End of story.

When all this is considered (without the emotional fits from the usual suspects) it strengthens 'the Case for God' even more. Christians, for their part, should learn how to explain their belief in their faith better to non-believers, instead of judging them and just writing them of as sinners destined for Hell. I'm sure God said we should be witnesses of our faith and leave the judging to Him...?

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