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THE SURPRISING ANSWER IS "YES, HE VERY WELL MIGHT."
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHERS AND THEOLOGIANS HAVE BASICALLY
GIVEN TWO DISTINCT ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION
DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES.
THE FIRST ANSWER GOES BACK TO THE FOURTH CENTURY,
AND A THINKER NAMED IS ST. AUGUSTINE.
AUGUSTINE SAID GOD COULD HAVE MADE A WORLD WITH NO PAIN OR
SUFFERING, BUT TO DO IT, HE WOULD HAVE HAD
TO ELIMINATE HUMAN FREE WILL.
IN OTHER WORDS, TO MAKE CREATURES LIKE US WHO ARE TRULY
MORALLY FREE, GOD HAD TO ALLOW THE REAL POSSIBILITY THAT MANY
OF US OR EVEN ALL OF US WOULD CHOOSE TO DO BAD THINGS.
AND HISTORY SHOWS THAT EVERY GENERATION OF HUMANS HAS MADE
THAT WRONG CHOICE AND PERPETRATED GREAT EVIL
ON EACH OTHER.
SO GOD DID NOT CREATE EVIL.
WE FREE CREATURES DID.
AND EVEN GOD COULD NOT ENTIRELY ELIMINATE EVIL WITHOUT TAKING
AWAY OUR FREE WILL.
THERE'S ALSO A SECOND ANSWER.
THIS ANSWER GOES BACK EVEN FURTHER IN HISTORY TO A MAN
NAMED IRENAEUS WHO LIVED JUST SHORTLY AFTER
THE TIME OF CHRIST.
IRENAEUS SAID GOD WAS IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MATURE SOULS.
GOD WAS NOT JUST INTERESTED IN CREATING MORALLY FREE
CREATURES, BUT HE WANTED THOSE HUMANS TO BE ABLE TO GROW AND
DEVELOP BY FACING DIFFICULT MORAL CHOICES.
IN A WORLD THAT CONTAINED
A PRETTY HIGH LEVEL OF EVIL AND SUFFERING,
IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO PRODUCE THE HIGHEST LEVELS
OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT.
NOW, EVEN IN A WORLD THAT WAS MOSTLY GOOD,
WE COULD LIKELY PRACTICE TRAITS LIKE KINDNESS,
RESPECT OR GENEROSITY.
HOWEVER, QUALITIES SUCH AS COURAGE, ENDURANCE,
COMPASSION AND, MOST OF ALL, SACRIFICIAL LOVE,
COULD ONLY BE DEVELOPED IN A WORLD FILLED WITH PAIN AND EVIL.
I WAS A PRACTICING ATHEIST FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS OF MY LIFE.
AND AS A LAWYER, BUSINESSMAN, I FOCUSED EVERYTHING ON
MATERIALISM, SECULAR SUCCESS.
I HAD NO TIME FOR EMOTIONAL THINGS, SPIRITUAL THINGS,
AND I LIKED IT THAT WAY.
THERE WAS NOTHING THAT WAS GOING TO GET IN THE WAY OF THAT.
UNKNOWN TO ME, DURING THOSE 20 YEARS MY PRECIOUS MOM
CONSTANTLY PRAYED FOR ME.
AND SHE WAS PRAYING THAT ANYTHING WOULD REACH ME,
ANYTHING WOULD REVEAL GOD TO ME.
IT WAS IN LATE 1999, ACTUALLY THAT MY MOM FOUND HERSELF IN A
BATTLE WITH CANCER, AND AT THAT TIME I WAS ACTUALLY HELPING HER
OUT ATTENDING ONCOLOGY APPOINTMENTS WITH HER,
AND THERE WAS ONE ONCOLOGY APPOINTMENT WHERE IN ONE
INSTANT I ACTUALLY HAD MY ATHEISM JUST SHATTERED.
IT WAS JUST ONE INSTANT OF PAIN AND SEEING HER PAIN AND THE
REALITY OF LIFE AND THE TRUTH OF GOD WAS THERE BEFORE ME.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHO THIS GOD WAS AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO REACH
HIM, BUT I KNEW HE WAS THERE AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
I STARTED PRAYING.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHO I WAS PRAYING TO.
I STARTED PRAYING FOR MOM AND HER PAINFUL TRIAL.
AND AT THAT TIME MY HEART STARTED OPENING UP TO ALSO LOOK
AT THE CLAIMS OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE.
AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY STUNNED AT THE EVIDENCE.
AND MOTHER'S DAY 2000, I GAVE MY LIFE TO JESUS,
AND IT WAS THAT DAY THAT MY MOM'S 20 YEARS OF PATIENT
PRAYER THEY WERE ANSWERED.
AND IT WAS ALSO THAT DAY WHERE HER BATTLE WITH CANCER HER
PAINFUL TRIAL WAS GIVEN MEANING.
AND I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHY DOES A LOVING GOD ALLOW BAD
THINGS TO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE,
I THINK MY MOM ACTUALLY SUMMED IT UP BEST IN ONE OF HER LAST
JOURNAL ENTRIES BEFORE SHE DIED.
AND I WOULD LOVE TO READ THAT IF I COULD.
SHE SAID, "GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYERS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS AND
"DOES ANSWER A MOTHER'S MOST FERVENT PRAYERS FOR THE SOUL
"OF HER BELOVED SON.
"WHAT A GRAND PURPOSE FOR MY CANCER.
"I AGREE WITH PAUL IN ROMANS 8.
'FOR I CONSIDER THAT THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS PRESENT AGE
'ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE COMPARED WITH THE GLORY
THAT SHALL BE REVEALED IN US.'"
AND I KNOW IN MY HEART THAT LIKE CHRIST,
MY MOM SUFFERED AND DIED FOR ME.
AS HARD AS THAT WAS FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND AND COMPREHEND,
I NOW VIEW IT THROUGH MORE ETERNAL GOGGLES, AND I NOW SEE
MEANING AND PURPOSE AND HOPE IN MY LIFE,
AND I MADE THE BEST DECISION I EVER COULD HAVE.
FOR ALMOST AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER I'VE BELIEVED
IN JESUS CHRIST AS MY SAVIOR.
I WAS RAISED BY LOVING, GODLY PARENTS WHO HAVE
ALWAYS SUPPORTED AND ENCOURAGED ME.
AND I'VE BEEN VERY FORTUNATE, BUT IT HASN'T
ALWAYS BEEN AN EASY ROAD FOLLOWING JESUS.
I'VE ASKED THE QUESTION, "WHY?" MANY TIMES.
I WAS ABUSED AS A CHILD BY A RELATIVE.
AND THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I WAS HURTING SO MUCH INSIDE THAT
I WANTED TO END MY LIFE.
I QUESTIONED GOD'S LOVE FOR ME AND EVEN
HIS VERY EXISTENCE.
BUT THE AMAZING THING IS, MY FAITHLESSNESS DID NOT
CHANGE HIS FAITHFULNESS.
GOD PROMISES TO NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US.
AND THE HOPE I HAVE IS THAT DESPITE WHATEVER
CIRCUMSTANCES MAY BE AFFECTING MY LIFE, THEY
DON'T CHANGE THE REALITY NOR THE STEADINESS NOR THE
STRENGTH OF HIS LOVE FOR ME NOR HIS PURPOSES
FOR MY LIFE.
ONE OF THE REASONS I STRUGGLED SO MUCH AND STILL
DO AT TIMES IS BECAUSE I CAN ONLY SEE WHAT'S RIGHT IN
FRONT OF ME.
I CAN ONLY SEE THE SHORT-TERM PAIN.
AND GOD, HE SEES THE LONG TERM AND THE JOY THAT
LIES AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM.
NOTHING IS PURPOSELESS IN THE HANDS OF THE LORD.
OUR PAIN IS NOT WASTED, AND HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE VERSES IS, "FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I
HAVE FOR YOU, DECLARES THE LORD, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU
AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE."
AND THAT'S WHY I HOPE.