Apologetic: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Topic:

This question can be asked in a couple ways, as it is stated in the title is the most common way. This phrasing usually focuses on the the goodness of people and that those people deserve things in life to be better. Another way to to look at this question could be, “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” This question looks at the badness of people and that those people don’t deserve good things. In light of both questions there is a reality that bad things happen to good and bad people and also that good things happen to bad and good people. What is God’s role in all of this?

Facts and Biblical Foundation:

-Every good thing is a gift not a right. James 1:17-18

-All people are broken and "bad" at their core. If people were truly good, we wouldn’t need a savior. Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10-20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8

-Trust God’s ways. He knows what we need better than we do. He is faithful and good. Prov. 3:5-6.

-Jesus was the good person and yet he gave himself up as a sacrifice for us. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

-Suffering may serve a purpose

-We can’t know what God is doing in everything Job 38-39

Note: Not all of these things are constructive to say to someone in counseling after finding out a bad situation they are in. These truths are still in play, but may hurt in a counseling setting. They are very applicable discussing the issue philosophically.

Where to Start:

Is a God who only has good thing happen really a God worth following? If this were the reality, God would be no more than a grandfather who spoiled his kids. There would be little need for a personal relationship, just the stuff. The real God is revealed to be more holy and loving in light of the evil in the world. He gives us hope, love, and redemption in dark places. Start with grieving the bad thing the student is experiencing, affirm the badness of it, and guide them to see that God is bigger than the bad things going on and extremely loving to all people even to the point of sending his son who was blameless to take on the sin of the world. Through Jesus, God understands that bad things happen to the good person, yet Christ considered it worth enduring the cross to demonstrate God’s love to people that don’t deserve it (all of us).

Where to Learn more:

http://carm.org/why-do-bad-things-happen-good-people

http://www.gotquestions.org/bad-things-good-people.html

http://412teens.org/qna/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people.php - a question and answer format for students

http://www.everystudent.com/journeys/why.html - a resource designed for students

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/evil.htm

Apologetic: Why Does Evil Exist?

Topic:

This question is often posed in light of God’s love. “Why does evil exist if God is good and loving?” This question comes out of the tension we live in on earth. We see the mess, pain, and hurt around us and wonder where it is from. For some this question is a reason to discredit God because evil limits his goodness or love.

Facts:

• Evil is not a thing like the other things God created and said was good. Evil is the result of wrong choices. Genesis 3
• Evil is rooted in broken spirituality.
• Evil is the result of choices, not God’s design.
• The cross is God’s part of the practical solution to evil. Our part is to repent, to believe, and to work with God in fighting evil by the power of love. - Peter Kreeft.
• God is love (1 John 4:8).
• God hear God more clearly through pain, than when things are going well.
• As believers we have hope in pain. 2 Corinthians 4:17

Biblical Foundation:

After God made everything he said it was good (Genesis 1-2). He made man in his image and said it was very good. In creating man he did not make a robot or puppet, but rather a being that has choices and a will to make its own choices freely. Through the temptation of the serpent in the garden and the wrong choice Adam and Eve made, sin and evil entered the world. Genesis 3 record this event and the consequences that came from sin. Until christ returns and the new heaven and new earth are revealed we life under God hoping for his creation to be restored to the way he intended it yet facing the reality of its brokenness.

Where to Start:

The problem of evil as this question is often called tends to assume that evil is bigger than God. The reality is that the opposite is true. God is bigger than evil. God’s character is the opposite of evil. Through the cross God has defeated evil. At the end of time the new heaven and new earth will exist without pain, suffering, or tears. In the mean time, evil and pain point us and our students to God and develop Godly character.

Where to Learn more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-small/why-evil-suffering-exist_b_2829441.html - A secular perspective of this question.

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/evil.htm - A philospher’s explanation

http://billygraham.org/story/if-god-exists-why-is-there-evil/ - An essay from Billy Graham’s ministry

http://www.josh.org/resources/study-research/answers-to-skeptics-questions/why-does-a-good-god-allow-evil-to-exist/ - A good article from Josh McDowell