One of the most difficult things to explain to people today is why evil is permitted in our world. Even harder to explain is how this evil is permitted despite a loving God existing. Recently, I read the heartbreaking comments of a first responder, whose faith has clearly been shaken, and I can't say that I blame him. But he was honestly trying to understand how such horrible things can happen. His comments:
Ok, I am a paramedic. I tried to save a 2 week old beaten to death by his father. I understand that what happens are consequences of your decisions, but what did that baby do? How does that fall into the whole loving god? Or the children born with major medical issues? The ones that can never leave the hospital, whose entire lives are spent laying in bed breathing and eating through tubes?These are honest questions, and he can't be faulted for asking them. I tried to give the best response I could to this, as I think it's a question that plagues the minds of many people today, both Christian and non-Christian.
Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well- Angelica Kauffman |