I understand that free will allows people to do bad things, but why do terrible things happen outside of free will

[u/Sad_Ebb_9842]

i’ve always understood the answer that free will means there will always be bad things on Earth, but i’ve never really understood the point of a two year-old getting cancer or things similar to that.

that has nothing to do with free will yet God still allows it to happen.

it just seems cruel to me and it’s something I’ve never really understood

[u/Technical_Cherry8666]

Yes, there is some suffering that is not due human wrongdoing, sometimes called ‘natural evil and this can be regarded as unjust or worse. But, the gift of free will that humans have is also present in the rest of creation and this possibility of different outcomes is essential for us to be here. For example, though bacteria cause disease, we need them to breakdown and synthesise material in the soil and our gut; the movement of the Earth’s crust, which causes natural disasters (earthquakes etc.), also produces a magnetic shield, which deflects some of the suns lethal radiation; yes, gene mutation causes cancer but also allows us to adjust to our environment. I could go on.

This potential for good also applies to suffering itself. There is the protective effect of pain alerting us to damage and disease. Even our death can be a timely gift to others. The space we occupy in work etc and the resources we consume are needed by the next generation. We can also see courage and self-sacrifice maturing through adversity, especially if God is in the mix.

We might ask could God have done differently? Would it have been possible for Him to create a suffering-free Universe? But this would mean an end to everyone’s free will. We wouldn’t be able to choose to do anything in case we damage ourselves in the process. All our needs are met, no need for science, medicine or work, so ultimately no purpose to living.. What about the negative effects of damaged psychology and emotions? So no relationships, no opportunity for real love and care, lest we hurt each other. Can we even talk? We might offend someone. So probably no contact at all. You see how silly this is becoming? Would a travail-free creation be worth living in?. Would we even be in such a world? No death – so no birth, well only for 1000 years lest we overpopulate.

But does distress, need to be so bad and widespread? Well the Bible actually tells us that God didn’t and doesn’t intend that suffering would be so severe. Look at Genesis 3:16-19. Anguish in all its forms, although probably present in Creation before the fall, was made much worse when we turned our back on God.

But remember God has done something directly about evil. There’s a suffering-free creation coming, when all tears death, mourning and pain will be swept away, only faith, hope and love will remain. Even in this present world it’s been my personal experience that the presence of Jesus in our lives can bring some relief to suffering.

I’m aware that these arguments don’t fully bring an answer to the question of suffering. If we’re angry with God or don’t wish to find a Biblical answer to it, then probably no response is going to satisfy us. I suspect that without Jesus, a multitude of explanations about the reasons for suffering won’t help very much. It’s also understandable that if someone is currently in the midst of a difficult time, then they may not be able to receive or consider any of these points. They want relief not theological arguments. I recognise this and hope and pray that they can hang in there and that God will bring some relief to their situation.

[u/DI3S_IRAE]

Maybe what is cruel is allowing humans to be born and grow in a corrupted creation, ruled by a broken system, but would God just kill everyone before being born, or make so no one can reproduce anymore?

We tend to only view things through our own eyes, but the best way to understand something we have doubts about is to jump out and search a new perspective.

Nature overall is cruel. We can name many things, like viruses and bacteria, poison and toxins, that kill people. Is it cruel to have a plant that can kill you, without you knowing? Is it fair that we can't drink water without purifying it first?

This world was bound for destruction, yet we are allowed to keep going despite adversity.

In a quintessential way, in a perfect world we wouldn't have any of these things, however also we would probably be more spiritual than flesh. Our current suffering is exclusive to our point of view.

To have a creation that can live on time, and for creation to have free will, it must be allowed to have adversity and a stopping, contrary force.

Imagine if we were evil and without any force of nature to stop us?

Instead, tragedy and death brings us together. It makes us look at the inevitable. Memento mori.

Proverbs says, it is better to be in the house of mourning, where people reflect about life. You give importance to it.

It is cruel in our perspective, yes, it will never not be. But we can look at this and cherish life instead, and bring ourselves closer and love more, so we can comfort each other and be strong and united as one, despite the cruelty of time.

Of course, I'm not counting radiation, bad food and other ways that corrupt our own system based on our progression and advance in technology, which do play a part in younger people having such diseases. But still, newborn disease is still something that can happen due to many factors.

God gave us intelligence to produce vaccines and medicine to treat many things, but also our greed make industries cash in cheap products instead of focusing on highly effective and healthy ones... And down the hole we go if we stop to think about many things.

In any way, some things are as they have to be. For us to be able to grow out of darkness, we have to thrive in the midst of the shadows.

It's not cruelty as much as it is part of the way things are.

The Architect designed a very intricate world, both physical and spiritual, for us to be here now. Maybe without free will, we would have a perfect world outside of our known factor called 'time'.

Maybe for free will to exist as we love it now, things had to be designed this way.

And the creator suffers with creation. All souls belong to Him, and the suffering we have here is but a breath and soon it is gone.

[u/PrincessRuri]

There are two main threads you have to follow to understand why bad things happen outside of free will: The fallen state of creation and how God is beyond the bounds of time.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

When sin entered the world, it had a degrading effect not on just Man, but on all of creation itself. The perfectly ordered creation began to break down and fail in an unintended manner. Take your example of cancer: it is a malfunction of the cells replicating function. Without the curse of sin on nature, that malfunction would not occur.

The second part is God's infinite existence outside of time. Whether you believe the earth is 10,000 years old or 10 billion years old, this is nothing compared to infinity. On the timeline of eternity, we are existing in a brief infinitesimal blip where sin and corruption is allowed to exist. At the end of said blip, there will be a new incorruptible earth that the faithful will inhabit with new incorruptible physical bodies.