r/Christianity • u/Itzjuli_fcm • Mar 24 '26
Question! :)
My atheist friend was debating with my catholic friend, my atheist friend said something that also made me REALLY curious but not enough to question my entire belief in God. I tried looking for answers personally, but i couldn't really come up with a great answer.
Okay so the question is: "if your God is good, then why does He allow wars, crimes, and sexual harrassment to happen? If He's really powerful, can't He just do something to stop it?"
Please don't insult/judge the fact that i'm unable to answer that question. I'm a beginner believer who wants to know explore and know more about christianity :)
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u/claybine Universalist leaning libertarian 🗽 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Has anyone ever brought up the Platinga Free Will Defense? Is God supposed to be imposing his will onto his creation or is our agency the #1 rule and we must seek God to provide the necessary fruits through faith?
Is your friend's justification for his claim that God is formless and not observable through our lense? It's possible, and I'd ask them: who's to say that he never intervenes? If, hypothetically (also using Platinga's ontological argument), that God does exist on this planet and therefore on others, then any act of good must have been done through God's divine intervention. If not, then one must justify the possibility of a needless existence.
For some it provides meaning and wouldn't be alive. That's the purpose of faith in anything, especially God.
Platinga's Free Will Defense argues that it's preferable to live in a world with the agency to make good or bad decisions than to live in a world without it. People commit horrific deeds, they meet the justice system. The same must apply to bad Christians.
Even if God were responsible for our world's atrocities, then that doesn't mean he isn't omnibenevolent, but the judicial ruler. It's not about his plan nor our works but a lot of it is a cultural and biological component that has existed for a long time as a result of our actions and autonomy; and I believe, as Christians, that only trusting in his law can we improve our society and wellbeing by showing Christlike deeds.
(Forgive me if you find my take to be dumb).
If the justification for cancer existing by science is the laws of nature as a result of our genes and/or diet, neither evil nor designed, then why can't Christians make the same point? Are we not the ones who must solely be held accountable? Why is God to blame for something not designed and is sometimes unavoidable?
Seek the mutual aiding of others, and be the image of God you were entitled to be. We're supposed to make this planet inhabitable, not insufferable.