Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

“Human beings are unique in being able to be wicked, because they are unique in being conscious of what they are doing and in making deliberate choices.”​—Arnold Toynbee, historian, Mankind and Mother Earth.

ALL of us make deliberate choices. We do it every day. Most of our decisions have to do with the trivia of daily life​—what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, where to go. But some decisions have graver consequences that can affect us for the rest of our lives​—or can even shorten our lives.

When a doctor recommends an operation, the need to make a choice immediately arises. Is it worth the risk? How experienced and reliable is the surgeon? Will it extend or shorten my life? A serious decision has to be made.

Away back in history, deliberate choices were made that have affected mankind ever since. And those decisions have a direct bearing on our question, Why does God allow suffering?

Man​—‘Unique in Being Wicked’?

The Biblical account of early history indicates that man was not the first intelligent creation with free will and the ability to choose. Nor was he, in fact, either first or “unique in being able to be wicked.” A higher form of life already existed​—“godlike ones,” spirit creatures, also called angels.​—Psalm 8:5.

One of these “godlike ones,” of whom there are millions, saw his opportunity to become a real god-ruler for the first man and woman, instead of Jehovah their Creator. Using his free will, he deliberately lied to the woman to induce her and, through her, her husband to be disobedient to God. He implied that God was a liar and a deceiver. He told her that independent thinking and acting would not lead to death, as God had stated, but asserted: “You are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad.”​—Genesis 3:1-5.

By his course of action, this godlike one started a rebellion against God’s rulership​—a rebellion witnessed by millions of angels. In this way the exercise of rightful sovereignty became a universal issue. That opposing angel became God’s adversary, which from Hebrew is translated “Satan.” By putting in doubt God’s truthfulness, Satan also became the first slanderer, which from Greek is translated “Devil.” This initial rebellion triggered the chain of events that has led to mankind’s sufferings