Job is humbled by this encounter, and at last appreciates that God’s unlimited power cannot be fully understood by human beings. He asks impossible questions that show Job how little he can understand about God’s ultimate plan. Job’s wife tells him to reject God and to accept that he is dying, but Job refuses.Įventually, God appears to Job. Then he suffers horrible weeping sores all over his body. He is devastated, but he remains faithful and praises God. God allows Satan to put Job’s faith to the test by causing him to suffer.įirst, Job loses his livestock, his servants and all his children. Satan challenges God, saying that Job is only good because he has a happy life. The Bible tells the story of a man called Job who is described as a good man who loves God. Stained glass window showing the Prophet Job But ultimately, it is up to individuals to choose whether or not to follow God’s instructions. The gift of free will comes with guidance from God about how to be good, such as the Ten Commandments or the teachings of Jesus.
Therefore, although he exists, he cannot interfere in any suffering humans experience as a result of their own choices. Christian solutions to the problem of evilĬhristians have developed several different solutions to the problem of evil and suffering in the world:
Ĭhristians also believe that God is omniscient, which means that he must know about all the suffering happening in the world. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? (Epicurus).
The Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus described God as malevolent, meaning cruel, when explaining the contradictions between the nature of God and the presence of evil and suffering: Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Evil and suffering present a big problem for those who believe that God is all-loving and all-powerful.
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