Anonymous wrote:I don't think of it as "allow." Physical existence happens, with all the highs and lows that come with it. It's how we process that existence - how we cope, support each other, grow personally, learn new things, and rebuild is what living is all about. It's not about "fair" and who deserves to have good things vs. bad things. We all get a taste of both and cope differently. What crushes one person, another finds a way to draw strength from.

And no supernatural being is needed for any of this.

Anonymous wrote:because he's a Bronze Age myth used to explain an unexplainable world

got it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God allows free will.

Is there free will in heaven?

You'll never get anyone to answer this gotcha. Nice try tho.

Evangelical Christian here...

Heaven in eternity will be populated by those who of their free will made the decision to trust in Christ as their savior. When Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, we will all be resurrected, some to eternal life, some to eternal damnation (John 5:28). At the resurrection, those who trusted in Christ during their lives will be perfected in Christ. There will be no sin in Heaven because those who trusted Christ have submitted their will to His.

So the answer is yes, and no. Yes, the free will is ongoing from our earthly lives that Christ will make possible. But no, no one will choose sin because Christ will reign supreme, and that's what everyone who is with Him has decided they want.

This is more thoroughly covered in Romans 6-8 if you'd like to read it.

I am Catholic and grew up looking at Jesus on the cross and hearing the stories of martyred saints. The idea that suffering was something that happened as a punishment never occurred to me. Nor have I ever thought that suffering was something that God could, or would even wish to, end.

That being said, I just started reading “City if God” by St Augustine with my book club. The book was written around 400 AD, not long after the sack of Rome, and was partly a response to Roman pagans who blamed Christianity for the fall of Rome. He talks about suffering in the book. The pagan premise for suffering was that suffering was distributed by angry Gods. Augustine attempts to explain that suffering affects both good people and evil people. He basically says that the reason for it is two-fold: 1). This is how you show that you are a good person. If you are never tested, then good and evil look just alike. If there is never danger, then there is never courage. If there is never temptation, then you cannot resist temptation.
2). This is how you separate true virtue from accidental virtue. We talk all of the time about inequality. Some people are born with more: better looks, better health, more money, etc. But it is through suffering and adversity that you show your real virtue and worth. If you are always smiling and kind because you are beautiful and wealthy and life has always been kind to you, then that is an accidental virtue. However, if you remain kind when you are frightened or in pain, then your kindness is s true virtue.

Anyway, I believe that this underlying idea of suffering has been incorporated into much of Christianity, or at least Catholicism. Our greatest role models in the catholic faith (from Mary and the apostles to Joan of Arc to Marcelo Labor) did not avoid suffering and adversity, but face it with strength and virtue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God allows free will.

Is there free will in heaven?

You'll never get anyone to answer this gotcha. Nice try tho.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man allows suffering
World is messed up because people have made it so

What about natural suffering? Illness, natural disasters, etc

What about them? We live on a planet with earthquakes and unpredictable weather patterns. Sickness and disease are part of being a biological living creature

We have the resources to help.

Because Karma. Humans have destroyed the Earth and now they can only have suffering.

Anonymous wrote:God allows free will.

Is there free will in heaven?

Anonymous wrote:Man allows suffering
World is messed up because people have made it so

What about natural suffering? Illness, natural disasters, etc

Man allows suffering
World is messed up because people have made it so

I really wish people would cite whether this is from their personal interpretation or from their faith tradition.

Some things people believe are evil may be seen as as good thing by others. I’m thinking of biblical stories of the Israelites taking over cities on their way to the Promised Land, Sodom and Gomorrah, Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea, etc.

Anonymous wrote:God NEVER ALLOWS suffering. God is love and caring always.

EVIL allows suffering. Feeds on it. You will soon learn about evil and what it's done.

Why does God allow evil?

God NEVER ALLOWS suffering. God is love and caring always.

EVIL allows suffering. Feeds on it. You will soon learn about evil and what it's done.

The way it was explained to me is that God allows bad things to happen so that we know how to be thankful for good things.

It's a bit like how if you had only good things you don't learn to appreciate them without bad things. It's a lame explanation but the closest I can think of.