I recently received a heartfelt email from a woman who is about to lose her faith and is trying to understand why God allows bad things to happen.
I am not sure whether you’ll respond to this email or even read it, but I am writing because I’m at the edge of losing faith. I have been watching you on YouTube, and I must admit that I like your energy. I am not necessarily interested in defending the Catholic Church because a lot of Catholics have done terrible things, even though I would still never leave.Bad things happen to good people. How can I still believe? There’s so much evidence God exists, but it’s so hard to believe in a God who lets all those bad things happen. I know a lot regarding theology. It’s not what I am searching for, but to know it is worth it all—it is worth keeping faith.I am not angry because my grandma has cancer, nor my best friend having cancer and close to losing her life, but at those who are hypocrites, and God lets them do bad to innocent people…the stories would be so long…just want to know it is still worth it. How can I know?
I tried to give her a simple response to consider, at least as a start:
Why bad things happen to good people has always been a mystery and one of the major questions of philosophy and morality.
At the core, I believe, is the issue of us being free moral agents able to make choices for good or bad. Many people choose bad. The consequences of this are rampant.
It all started in the garden of Eden with the fall. God made a perfect universe, which was full of joy and peace and goodness. Adam and Eve, who were given charge of this new earth, disobeyed God, and brought evil and bad choices into the world, which culminated in bad things happening.
First, they were kicked out of the garden. Second, their son Cain killed his brother Abel. Sin became rampant in mankind because of Adam’s choice, but the “virus” of sin was passed on to his children and they to turned away from God.
God did not create the world with evil or suffering. We brought that on ourselves, and his “free moral agents” continue to choose what is wrong. He could have made us all robots with no ability to sin, but he wanted us to choose to love him with our free will.
Knowing his creation has been infected with this disease of sin and and he’s begun a great restoration program by sending his own Son to become one of us to start a new creation.
The first Adam brought sin into the world, and therefore suffering and death. The second Adam Jesus came as founder of a new reality or a new kingdom which he is implementing in the Church and when he comes back again, it will be fully implemented.
Unhappily, even the Church is made up of free moral agents that also make bad choices. They will pay penalty in the end.
Hope that helps. Maybe we can continue with the conversation.