[top.htm]

[left.htm]

 

 
Watchman.jpg (26400 bytes)


 

Other Articles on 
God's Tears

God's Tears

And God Cried
Introduction

Ch. 1 - And God Cried
Ch. 2 - Many Feel God Is Unjust
Ch. 3 - Why Does God Permit Evil?
Ch. 4 - Another Look At Sin
Ch. 5 - A Suffering Savior and Suffering Christians
Ch. 6 - God Is Not Trying to Convert the World Now
Ch. 7 - God's Kingdom
Ch. 8 - Supposed Objections

And God Cried

If He Shares Our Suffering . . .

Why Does God Permit Evil

That Causes Suffering?

 

Introduction

 

 

The question of why God permits evil first requires a definition. Webster defines evil as "that which produces unhappiness; anything which either directly or remotely causes suffering of any kind." Evil can be divided into two categories. There are moral wrongs or evils of individuals that inflict suffering upon others. Also the disasters of nature have wrought much suffering.

This treatise adds another dimension to the question. Evil not only results in human suffering but also in God's suffering. Isaiah 63:9 states, "In all their afflictions, He [God] was afflicted." Yes, when man suffers God suffers. God's suffering is basic to any discussion of—Why God permits evil.

Aspects of early church theology concerning God's character had been Hellenized by Grecian philosophy. Some Christians accepted the Greek idea of Divine impassibility, the notion that God cannot suffer since God stands outside the realm of human pain and sorrow. Catholic theology early declared1 as "vain babblings" the idea that the Divine nature could suffer. Some broke with Luther and fostered this Hellenistic concept on their wing of the Protestant Reformation. Their theology taught Divine impassibility. The Westminster Confession of Faith wrongly teaches that God is "without body, parts or passions, immutable."

We strongly take exception to "without passions." No wonder some Christians have neither a reasonable nor compassionate answer to why God permits evil. They assert that no one dare question the sovereignty of God. If God has ordained a plan for the human race that makes man sin—so be it. Who is man to question God's sovereignty? No wonder such a doctrinal concept of God teaches that the vast majority of mankind was predestinated to sin and go to eternal torment—before they were even born. Such an answer to the question of evil is totally unacceptable.

Many have responded—Can an unfeeling God love? A concept that embraces the idea that God cannot suffer has to answer the question—Can God love? The prophet Jeremiah's reference to the "tears" of God confirms the beautiful insight into God's love penned by a compassionate Pastor.2

The principle taught in the divine Word, that true love weeps with those that weep and rejoices with those that rejoice, is one which is also exemplified in the Divine character.

But God is not man. He is not bound by man's limitations. God's ability to suffer does not disturb His peace of mind. His fatherly love that shares the sorrows of His human family contains no anxiety over their eternal welfare. With Divine serenity His wisdom has planned for the eternal welfare of all, and in His serenity He knows His Divine love and power will attain that end.

The title of this booklet—And God Cried—is based on Jeremiah 14:17 where God speaks of shedding "tears day and night" for the "daughter of my people" (KJV). Calvinists insist that it is Jeremiah, not God, who is crying. However, it was God who told Jeremiah to tell Judah that He, God, was crying for their plight.

Only God could say the "daughter of my people." The generation of Jews living in Jeremiah's day were the "daughter" or descendants of God's people, Israel who came out of Egypt. In verses 17 and 18 God, as a loving father, deeply feels the chastisement inflicted on His wayward people.

In verse 19, Jeremiah is speaking. He asks God, "Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?"…Why has thou smitten us?" Notice the us. Jeremiah includes himself as a part of Judah, God's people, or the "My people" of verse 17. Yes, God says He was crying over the plight of His people. Jeremiah includes himself in the "My people" for whom God was crying.

First, this treatise will consider the Scriptures that reveal the tenderness of God's fatherly love as He shares the sufferings of His children. Then the question—Why does god permit evil?—is Scripturally answered against the backdrop of both man's suffering and God's suffering.