Does God Exist? The Atheistic Argument of Pain and Suffering by Lonnie Woodruff An argument often used by those who do not believe in God states that the amount of human pain and suffering in this world denies the existence of God. They will argue that those who believe in God claim that God is totally good, kind, loving and benevolent. They will then conclude that a God such as this could not possibly permit the people He created to undergo the amount of pain and suffering that everyone experiences in their lives today. Therefore, they will claim that the existence of pain and suffering proves there is no God. This may be the most effective argument atheists use against the existence of God because it plays to the emotions of people. There are many emotions attached to the physical and mental sufferings we experience personally or that are experienced by our friends and family. We have all heard people ask questions such as, Why would God let this happen to me? or maybe even, Why did God do this to me? When people are asking questions such as this during difficult times, it might become easy to question the existence of God. Even those who have a belief in God may begin to wonder why they are experiencing such pain and suffering when they love God. Therefore, during emotional times, some may be tempted to question the existence of God, especially when people are telling them that a good God would not let this happen. The society in which we live seems to be drifting farther and farther away from God. Our children are forced to study evolutionary theories in school, and many of the professors in our colleges and universities totally deny the existence of God. Our young people are being pulled away from a belief in God and are having to make the most serious decision in their life at a young age. Therefore, we must be very diligent in teaching our youth how to answer arguments put forth by atheists that could cause them to question their faith. In order to teach our children, we must first have a good understanding ourselves of why pain and suffering exists in this world. God's Word tells us that we must be able to answer those who may question our beliefs. 1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
In this short paper, we hope to help Christians understand the fallacies of this atheistic argument and show that the existence of pain and suffering is no reason to cause people to question the existence of God. We should also understand that those who claim to be atheist are probably not going to be convinced by an explanation of this argument; however, the Word of God is very powerful and is capable of working in the lives of anyone. Since atheists do not believe in God, they may not consider, or even be capable of understanding, the reasons God has given for the existence of pain and suffering in this world. They do not want to be constrained by any rules that might be given by a higher being. They also do not want to believe that any power exists greater than man. It is their desire to believe that man is the supreme being and in total control of all his decisions and actions without any consideration for the authority of God. Because of this, they devise theories such as the Big Bang Theory, which attempts to explain the existence of this universe and an intelligent being like man. They also have to come up with arguments that support their beliefs in order to convince others. This is where the argument of pain and suffering comes in. There are many logical reasons to believe that God exists; therefore, atheists have to devise arguments to support their belief that God does not exist. We cannot expect to change their minds, but, hopefully, we can have an impact on those who might be swayed by this argument, as well as solidify the faith of those who do believe in God. The argument atheists make concerning the existence of pain and suffering in this world is a specious argument. It looks like a good argument on the surface and seems to be very plausible, but when examined, it soon becomes clear that it is filled with great misconceptions of who God is. Their argument is based on a true belief that God is totally good and that everything He does is good. They will then proclaim that the existence of pain and suffering is not good. Then, by connecting the two concepts, they will conclude that if a good and loving God really existed, He would not allow the pain and suffering that everyone experiences. Since this argument has the possibility of leading people to question the existence of a God, we must understand how to answer it. The fact is: God is totally good, and everything He does is good. There are many passages throughout the Bible that speak of the goodness of God. 1Jn 1:5 says: 1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Light represents good and darkness represents evil; therefore, God is totally good and there is absolutely no evil in Him.
Please read some other verses in the Bible that confirm this aspect of God. Psa 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful. Psa 5:4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. Mat 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Along with the concept that God is totally good, He is also called Holy and Righteous. See the following verses. Psa 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. Psa 92:15 To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psa 99:5 Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool He is holy. Therefore, the argument of pain and suffering is based on a true belief that God is totally good, Holy and Righteous. To be holy is to be pure or blameless, and righteousness shows that He is totally just and lawful in every way. God has never done anything wrong. He is pure and completely blameless in everything He has ever done. Therefore, the argument of pain and suffering uses a belief about God that His followers hold. It is based on truth. That is one reason why the atheistic argument of pain and suffering is so convincing to many people. Atheists will say that if a God like this existed, He could not possibly let the pain and suffering of this world continue. We will now examine the speciousness of this argument. As Christians, we need to understand that not only is God good, but He is totally good in every way. One of the arguments made by those who question the existence of God because of pain and suffering is that Christians claim that God created everything; therefore, he created a world filled with all types of pain and suffering. They then claim that a good God would not have done that. This is where we begin to recognize the fallacy of the argument. One problem with this argument is that God did not
create a world filled with pain and suffering. He created a perfect, sinless world that contained no pain and suffering. After the 6 days of creation, God looked at what He had created and said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). It contained no evil and, therefore, contained no pain and suffering. God created a perfect man and woman and placed them in a beautiful garden called Eden. In the middle of this garden, God placed two unique trees the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In order to understand what God did in the garden of Eden, we must first examine the purpose of these two trees. The Tree of Life was placed in the garden to give Adam and Eve the opportunity to live forever in the perfect state in which God had created them. See Gen 3:22. Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore, the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden would have enabled Adam and Eve to live in a perfect physical state forever. Since there was no death in the Garden of Eden, there was no pain and suffering. As atheists are quick to point out, a loving God would not have created a world filled with pain and suffering. They are correct in that statement. God did not create a world filled with pain and suffering. He created a perfect world where man could have lived forever with no suffering of any type. The second tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of this tree. Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,. This gave man a choice. Adam and Eve now had the freedom to choose to obey God or disobey Him. This is what is commonly called free will. If God had not given man a free will, He would have been creating a being to worship Him without any choice. This is obviously not what God wanted. He wanted a being that would love and obey Him because they desired to do so. Because of this, Adam and Eve had a choice of obeying God by not eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or disobeying Him and eating of that tree. Therefore, God created a perfect, good world, and He also created a perfect man and woman to live there. They were given free will in order to demonstrate that they loved God and desired to follow Him. The command to refrain from eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil also came with a warning of the consequences of disobeying this command. Eating of the fruit of this tree would cause them to die. God told them:
Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The warning of death shows the extreme value God placed on Adam and Eve obeying His command. It was not some small or insignificant punishment that they might have been willing to take in order to see how good the fruit of this tree tasted. It would kill them! If someone told us today that the fruit of a certain tree was deadly, we would not even consider eating it because it looked like it might taste good. God gave Adam and Eve a command that they should have never even considered disobeying. Therefore, if Adam and Eve ate of this tree, they would be expressing a total disbelief in the words of God and complete disobedience to His command. At some time after Adam and Eve were placed in the garden and had been warned of the consequences of eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, a serpent came into the garden and talked with Eve. This serpent represented the devil. He told Eve that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was good to the taste, and that it would not kill them. He also enticed Eve with words that appealed to her pride. He told her that the fruit of this tree would make her wise like God because she would understand the difference between good and evil. Please read the following passage. Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; Gen 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Gen 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. Gen 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Now, Adam and Eve had a choice to make. They could believe God or the serpent. The devil was able to convince Eve that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was good for food, and if they ate of the tree they would not die. (See Genesis chapter 3) He also persuaded Eve that the fruit of this tree would make them wise like God by knowing the difference between good and evil. Remember that Adam and Eve did not know evil at this time. God did not create a world with any evil in it. At that point in time Adam and Eve had the choice of obeying God or the devil. They chose to follow the devil, and because of this, God drove them from the garden, and their bodies began the process of dying. With death comes pain and suffering. Read Gen 3:16-19.
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Notice that God told Adam and Eve that they would live in sorrow. This is the introduction of pain and suffering into this world. He also told them that they would return to the dust of the earth. Dying brings on much pain and suffering. Therefore, the devil, by his influence on Adam and Eve, is responsible for the pain and suffering in this world not God. By exercising their freedom to make a choice, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by following the Devil and eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They turned their back on the one who had created them and cared for them in the Garden of Eden. According to Gen 3:22, they became like God in the aspect of knowing the difference between good and evil right and wrong. Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Adam and Eve exercised their free will by choosing to obey the Devil instead of God. This also brought about the consequence that God had warned Adam and Eve would take place if that ate of this tree. Their physical bodies would now die. They were forced from the Garden of Eden to keep them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever. See Gen 3:22. With death comes the pain and suffering of our physical bodies, and with the knowledge of evil comes the mental anguishes that inundate this world. Therefore, when Adam and Eve chose to follow the devil and eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God placed in man the ability to distinguish between good and evil right and wrong. They now knew what God considered to be good and what He considered to be evil. Doing those things which are evil, is considered sin in the sight of God (cf. 1 John 5:17). It is impossible for any human being to live without sinning. Only Jesus was capable of doing that.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, God also tells us of the consequences of sin. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death,... Since everyone commits sin, everyone must die. Therefore, the actions of Adam and Eve brought the knowledge of evil into this world. This condemned everyone to death because no one is capable of living their life without sin, and all who sin will die. This is the reason why so much pain and suffering is in this present world. The evil in this world is the cause of our pain and suffering. The one responsible for this pain and suffering is the serpent, the Devil, who tempted Adam and Eve. This event set up a battle between good and evil on this earth that will be fought until Christ returns at the end of time. This battle is described in Rev chapter 12. Rev 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, Rev 12:8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Rev 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Notice in the above verses that the Devil is called the serpent. He deceived Eve, and continues to deceive the whole world because everyone has sinned. Since the time that Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and were cast from the Garden of Eden, there has been a war going on between good and evil on this earth. Therefore, the devil is responsible for the pain and suffering in this world not God. We must understand that pain and suffering is synonymous with evil. It is important to understand that God is totally good and at war with evil in this world. In fact he cannot even look on evil. Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:.. God is totally good and he cannot look on evil; therefore, pain and suffering will continue in this world. Now, we must look at some of the other characteristics of God besides good, holy and righteous. God is also a God of wrath. Please read the following verses.
Jer 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath;... 2Ki 22:13 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us." The above verses speak to the battle between good and evil taking place in the world today. God has always given mankind directions or commands to follow in order that man might be good. As is repeated many times throughout Scripture, man has often failed to follow God's commands. Man of his own free will continually chooses to follow the ways of the Devil instead of obeying the commands of God that are given in the Bible. When the man whom God created willingly chooses to follow the Devil, God becomes angry, even to the point of wrath. One great example of this occurred shortly before the great flood of Noah. God looked down on the earth and saw that evil was on the hearts of man continually. Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. In the following verse, we see God's reaction to their wickedness. Gen 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Because of man's participation in evil continually, God was sorry He had made man. In the next verse we see how God deals with evil. Gen 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." Because of the evil that existed in the world at the time of Noah, God was sorry He had made man and determined to destroy all that were doing evil. The only people who were not destroyed were faithful Noah and his family.
Remember, there is a battle between good and evil on this earth. God's answer to evil is to destroy it. Since God is totally good, when He destroys evil, He is doing good. When God destroyed all those committing evil in the time of Noah, He was doing good. This was a battle in the war between good and evil that God won. The only people who were not destroyed at this time were Noah and his family, who were attempting to follow God to the best of their ability. They found grace in the sight of God. See Gen 6:8. In another instance recorded in Genesis chapters 18-19, God looked down on Sodom and Gomorrah and saw that they were totally evil. He then told Abraham that He was about to destroy these cities. Abraham pleaded with God to relent and not destroy these cities if He could find 10 righteous people living in them, but He could not find any; therefore, God destroyed them because of their evil ways. He did good by destroying evil. God does not condone evil and will have no part in it. The only people who avoided the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were faithful Lot and his family. God will not destroy those who are righteous. God also destroyed those who were evil many times in the Old Testament. He commanded Israel, His chosen people, to destroy nations around them who were practicing all forms of evil. By destroying these heathen nations, God was doing good. The people of Israel were punished often because of their failure to follow God. When they committed evil and refused to follow God, He punished them. Therefore, to expect God to condone evil and take away all pain and suffering is going totally against the nature of God. Since sin, or evil, is totally against the nature of God, then why does He allow it to continue? It is because of other characteristics of the nature of God. Not only does He love mankind, He is a longsuffering and merciful God. He loves the people He formed and desires that they turn to Him. He is willing to allow evil to continue in order that some might be saved. 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He loves us so much that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross in order to provide a way of forgiveness from the sins we commit. If we choose to follow Him, this will allow us to live eternally in a place with no pain or suffering. The following verse is speaking of Jesus.
Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, This is also precisely what God has told mankind throughout the Bible concerning the end of this world. When Jesus returns, death will be destroyed. See 1 Cor 15:24-26. 1Co 15:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 1Co 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. At the end of time, when Christ returns, death will be destroyed. This will also take away all pain and suffering; however, it will only be taken away for those who have followed God on this earth. They are the ones who have believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and have followed His commandments. This is the way God has made for man to finally escape pain and suffering at the end of time. Those who have done good on this earth and followed the ways of Jesus, will live eternally with God in a totally good state where evil does not exist. Therefore, there will be no pain and suffering. Those who do not believe in God and refuse to follow His ways, will continue to live in pain and suffering forever. Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Those who claim that God cannot exist because He allows pain and suffering in this world do not understand God. Those people who claim that if God is good, He should remove all pain and suffering from this world have no idea what they are asking. They would not want Him to eliminate all pain and suffering from this world because God's answer to evil is to destroy it. God will never do anything to enable evil. He destroys evil! The elimination of pain and suffering would mean the destruction of everyone who commits sin or does any evil. Removing pain and suffering from this world without destroying those who commit evil would allow people to participate in any type of evil they desired without any repercussion at all. For God to condone evil and remove all pain and suffering without destroying those who practice evil, would be totally against His nature. He is good... totally good. God would be making the participation of evil possible and that would be condoning evil. We suppose that is exactly what many in this world would like today. They would like to do whatever they please with absolutely no consequences. That is also what those who do not believe in God desire. They do not want to believe in a higher power to whom they are responsible. This type of thinking would eventually destroy the morality of everyone in this world. There would be no right or wrong, good or evil, in the
mind of man. We must not be fooled by those who argue against the existence of God. It is not an intellectual argument: it is a contrived argument to allow people to do anything they please. Therefore, those who make the argument that God does not exist because He allows pain and suffering in this world have little understanding of God and how He works in this world. We must also understand that the destruction of those who practice evil is totally in the hands of God. God's people are not commanded to physically destroy evil in this world. God has told His followers: Rom 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. God is the only one who is totally good and has the right and power to physically destroy those who participate in evil. He will do this when Jesus comes back the second time at the end of this world. As mentioned before, in Old Testament times, God sometimes used His people (Israel) in order to destroy nations that were evil. So, should His people (Christians) destroy evil today? Absolutely! However, we destroy evil in a totally different way. Christians are to destroy evil by bringing sinners, those who practice evil, to Jesus Christ who will forgive all their sins. This will remove their spiritual pain and suffering today and their physical pain and suffering when He comes again. This was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in the following passage. Isa 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah prophesied of a time to come when the followers of God would no longer use the sword to go to war against nations. The plowshares and pruning hooks show that God's people will work the fields of the nations of this world in order to turn people to God. God's people no longer make literal war against the nations of this world. Instead, we attempt to teach the people the ways of God, thereby converting them to Jesus Christ and removing their sin to destroy evil. Finally, at the end of time, God will destroy all who practice evil in an everlasting hell. Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Hell is described as a lake of fire. That means that pain and suffering will never end for those who practice evil and refuse to accept forgiveness by following Jesus. At the end of time, God will remove all pain and suffering for His followers in a place called Heaven. The fact is: pain and suffering in this world should turn people to God, not away from him. Since pain and suffering is the result of evil, people should desire to be relieved of pain and suffering for eternity by turning to God. For some reason, we have the tendency to blame the suffering of this world on the wrong being. God has never done anything that was not good. The one who opposes God and promotes evil is Satan. We must not blame God for the sufferings in this present world. The pain and suffering in this world was brought on us by Satan not God. The choice that man made to follow Satan brought death, pain and suffering, and all manner of sorrow into this world. God is long-suffering and merciful. He allows this world to continue in order to give people an opportunity to turn from their evil and do that which is good. It is not even practical to expect God to remove pain and suffering from those who practice evil and follow Satan. Understanding how God operates in this world will probably never convince the atheists who are determined that there is no God. However, it should solidify the faith of those who believe that God exists. It should also help those who have wondered about this argument of pain and suffering so often used by atheists to see the weakness of the argument. Hopefully, it will also give us the confidence we need in order to answer those who question the existence of God by using the argument of pain and suffering. It should now be clear that the argument devised by atheists that God cannot exist because of the pain and suffering in this world is a specious argument. It is designed to play on the emotions of people and cause them to question the existence of God. When the argument is examined, it shows they have little or no understanding of the attributes God, or how He has dealt with the people of this world since creation. This contrived argument falls apart when examined and should never cause anyone to question the existence of God. In fact, if atheist are willing to make this type of argument against the existence of God with such little knowledge of God, it should convince people that their only purpose is to attempt to support their non-belief in God. They do not believe in God and want to convince others of their claim that God does not exist. They must believe this would be beneficial to them because many people in this world still believe in God, and because of this they are still somewhat bound by the moral attitude of those people. They are not totally free to do as they please. They are still somewhat constrained by the laws and attitudes promoted by God-fearing people. The sad reality of this is that many people, especially in our nation, are seemingly turning more and more away from God. They are either being convinced by the arguments of atheists, or they have the same desire as atheists to be their own god and do as they please. The frightening aspect of this is that the atheistic
way of thinking has almost totally infiltrated our public educational system. Our children are forced to learn the atheistic views of creation and are not allowed to hear the opposing view that everything was created by God. We as believers in God have a formidable task in front of us. We must make sure our children attend church and study about God in our Bible classes. That is almost the only way our children will learn about God. We must also redouble our efforts in our homes to make sure we give our children a good foundation for their belief in God so they may be able to stand against the many attacks they are likely to receive against their beliefs throughout their lives. We urge everyone to continually study the Word of God in order to answer those who question our beliefs. We know God will bless you as you study His Word and follow His ways.