Hi Sean,

Thanks for the question.

A good and providential God permits evil and innocent suffering to pull a greater good out of it.

We may not see what greater good is being done at the time we are suffering, but we know that, in God's Providence, a greater good will be done.

Hope this answers your question.

Mike

Dear Sean —

I would like to add two things to Mike's excellent answer.

First, the question is the most profound in all human existence. It calls us to prayer and study and thought. You should go and read about what great religious authorities have to say. Don't expect an e-mail answer to life's greatest mystery. Ultimately, we bow our heads in humility, like Job.

Second, God made us free creatures. Now there is the great mystery! He shared with us His power of knowledge and love in a way that no other creature has! He wants love, not blind or coerced obedience. Love needs freedom. He wants us to choose Him, just as you would want a woman to choose you.

Freedom requires that we be truly free to choose. That means we are free to choose "not-God" or not-good. God lays Himself on the line, and then He makes Himself responsible for the consequences, by offering Himself for our salvation if we screw up (and we did and we do), and by showing His incredible power by making even the effects of the evil that we do, work for our good, if we turn to Him.

God loves you. May you love God. If you love truth, and justice, and beauty, and good — more than yourself — then you love God, even if you don't believe in Him. We seek Him because He is what we are made for.

Mary Ann

Sean —

To add to my colleague's answer, I would point out that God wants us to freely love Him. There is intrinsically no way to have us freely love Him without our having the capacity to choose not to do so. All evil things come from disobeying God and/or rejecting His love. It may not be the rejection of the individual who gets hurt (take a look at what happened to our Lord and Savior!), but the fault of those other individuals who also have freedom of choice.

Many people have asked me a similar question to the one you asked. They also asked C. S. Lewis and his answer still fits. Paraphrased, it is more or less as follows:

Robert Coutinho