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RITES
an older teen–
ger in a letter to a
syndicated columnist:
"Our Father who art in
Heaven, where have you
been? Our leaders are all
lunatics and tbe world is full
of s in."
This senior went on to thank
God for tooth decay, cancer,
nuclear waste and a plethora of
other i lis. Li k e
many, he blames
stand why all this suffering and set
the record straight.
Back to the Beginning
To understand the underlying
cause of humanity's sufferings, we
have to go back to the beginning of
human experience. That beginning
is recorded in the pages of the
Bible- and it has to do with
choice.
Despite the speculat ion of agnos–
tics and atheists the Bible unequiv-
they are without excuse" (Rom.
1:20).
God, indeed, began the universe.
God created also the first human
beings. We read: "So God created
man in his own image, in the image
of God created he him; mate and
female created he them" (Gen.
1:27). God created humans in bis
own image, in his own likeness–
godlike! The significance of this
fact is tremendous and overwhelm-
ing.
God made man
like himself, but in–
God for humani–
ty's heartaches and
difficulties.
If
there is a God, why does he allow suffering?
finitely limited in
comparison, and
physical, composed
of the elements of
the earth, subject to
death and decay:
lt seems the ten–
dency most of us
have is to blissfully
enjoy life, without a
care in the world,
when things go
right. And not give
God a thought one
way or the other.
T hen , when things
don't go our way or
when difficulty or
tragedy strikes, we
wonder why God
a1Jows it-why God
lets it happen!
Why Suffering?
Why does God allow
humanity to suffer?
T
know a sweet
11-year-old girl,
IS
GOD
TO
BIAME?
"And the Lord God
formed man of the
dust of the ground,
and breathed into
his nostrils the
breath of life; and
man became a living
soul" (Gen. 2:7).
N ote, man became a
living soul,
not an
immortal soul inside
the man.
What's most im–
portant is that God
put before the first
humans a far-reach–
ing choice.
Man Must Choose
God placed the first
humans in a beauti–
ful , protected gar–
den area in a region
called Eden. I n that
seemingly healthy
enough now, but
suffering from cystic
fibrosis. She'll be
fortunate to live past teenage. I'm
sure you have seen pictures of little
children in impoverished places
around this world, walking in a
daze, their little bodies emaciated,
their bellies bloated, diseased and
dying of starvation. Why?
On top of all these personal
miseries, world peace is shaky.
Nations continue to arm them–
selves to t he hilt, teetering on the
brink of a worldwide holocaust. l s
this God's fault? Why doesn't God
stop it now?
There is a reason why humanity
suffers, why God allows people to
have problems. lt's time to under-
June/ July 1982
by
Patrick A. Parnel l
ocably states: "In the beginning
God created the heaven and the
earth" (Gen. 1:1). There is no
other logical explanation for the
existence of our universe! An all–
powerful, all-mighty God began it
all!
Those who say God's existence is
unknowable have blinded them–
selves spiritually from compre–
hending the meaning of this
ordered universe! Says God: "For
the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eter–
na! power and Godhead; so that
garden was every kind of tree "that
is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food' ' (Gen. 2:8-9). Two special
trees God placed in the middle of
the garden; one called "the tree of
life," the other "the tree of knowl–
edge of good and evil."
Those two special trees in the
midst of the garden in Eden had
symbolic meaning. Those two trees
represented two differing life-styles
and accompanying knowledge and
attitudes to go along with them.
The tree of life represented God's
way of life, the way of giving, of
loving one's neighbor. It symbol–
ized the spiritual understanding
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