Question:  Hi Greg,

            I have been discussing my faith with my Swedish nephew who is about 20 years old.  He accepts Christianity and defends it, but he says there are lots of contradictions in the Bible, and that he doesn’t understand why the devil exists if God created everything and everything is good.  If God created everything and has all the power, why did he create the fallen angel or the devil?

            Also, if God sees all “past, present and future” at once and he created us, he also knew that Adam and Eve would choose the fruit and that they would sin.  He created us with a free will so we would not be robots, but at the same time the amount of suffering, pain and torture that man has endured seems kind of repulsive.  Why would God let all of his children be hurt and suffer so much pain for so long?  For instance, in the Chinese history there were so many battles, murders, sacrifices and tortures.  These people could not have known God or Jesus during those times.  Why did all of that have to happen?

            I am stronger in my faith and understanding of Jesus Christ and God now than I ever was before, but I can honestly say that I was frozen when asked this question because I didn’t have any response.

            My nephew is searching and he will definitely benefit from your answer!!

            Peace be with you,

            Rob

Answer:  Dear Rob,

            This is an excellent question (the one that you and your nephew are pondering) to help us understand the God of the Bible.

            The God of the Bible did create all that we see and know—he gave humans the power of choice, and in so doing knew (and foreknew) that much suffering and pain would result.  But any other option would have been more like the robotic nature to which you refer.

            So God created us, and gave us choice—and in so doing knew that we humans would often choose the wrong and the sinful (just like Adam and Eve did in the Garden).

            Why would he do this?  Out of his love.  If he didn’t love us, he wouldn’t have created humans this way, or at all, in the first place.  Why “make a mess” of the universe?  Why introduce pain and suffering?  Things were going along just fine without humans.

            A similar dilemma, although simply human in its implications, often faces adults who marry and decide to have children.  Why do that?  Adults are simply facing heartache, pain, sacrifice, years of responsibility, etc., etc.—in becoming parents.  Why share your life?  Why not just be selfish and enjoy the peace, quiet, and serenity?  The answer is that parents want to share their lives, they love that child with whom they want to share everything.

            And how does God show us this?  The God of the Bible is a God who is not remote and distant.  The God of the Bible makes our lives significant and given our lives meaning—and the lives of all humans who have ever lived and ever will, by visiting our world, becoming one of us.  He did not simply watch us and observe us.  In Jesus he became one of us.  In Jesus he knows what it is like to be a human—to suffer, to experience pain, to be betrayed, to be killed, to be misunderstood, etc.

            God loves us—that is the answer to the dilemma you are considering—and the only rational and logical answer.  Only Christianity offers such an answer—no other “ism” gives a complete and satisfying answer, for they cannot.  Only God can do that—he has, and he does, and he will.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht