The orginal question, Why does God permit evil, has come up often in this world and is an interesting question. On the surface it seems logical that if God is really an all powerful God of Love then he opposes himself by allowing evil, but the answers we know do not lie on the surface of man's wisdom, or even in the depths of man's wisdom for that matter.

I doubt that any of us really have a depth of understanding about Evil, but here's my thought....

Considering Perfect Love & Truth, anything at all that resisted perfect love & truth (thus God), would be like a negative charge encountering a positive charge, meaning it would be moving away from God, and what can the ultimate result of denying God be but Evil? If it doesn't lead to Perfect "Life" then there must be some manner of opposition or resistance to Perfect Life (God) and what could it be that resists or denys Perfect Good but Evil, ultimately?

Also, if God is a God who Is Love itself, then comes the question of whether free will is actually an essence of Love. Let's think about this...Is it Love or a lack of Love or Evil that allows freedom and free choice? If we determine that free choice is an element of Love or is Love itself then how can Love and no free will exist as one? God either allows us a free choice or we are programmed or designed to serve him without a choice or free will. If we have no free will choice, then are we not more of a servant than a friend? God calls us friends, and we know by the common language that "friend" denotes Love while "servant" speaks only of owned or captured service.

If free will exists, then the choice exists to deny Perfect Love & Truth (God). And any choice against God is toward what opposes God which is Evil. Evil then may be seen simply as anything that denies and opposes Perfect Love & Truth.

Thank God that He has made a way for us to come so near him, when we consider not just the great evils that exist in the natural fallen man's Nature, but the molecular evils that are beyond reasoning man's consciousness, which are like the negative charge encountering Perfection.

Why does God permit evil? It would be a much better world without it.

Two words: FREE WILL

[Beauty1]

Originally Posted by CatholicCrusader

Two words: FREE WILL

Very well said; however, In my opinion it goes much deeper than that. I believe that God has an agenda. He wants man to come into agreement with Him so he can have communion with man that is in harmony. God wants us to love Him of our own free will. It like having somebody love you because they choose to. I believe God is looking for that kind of love and the test of that love is in our obedience.Even Jesus said it Himself... "If you love me then obey me." such powerful words. It would be interesting to consider this as to the reason why God strategically place the "tree" in the garden; to test the love through obedience.

I like your new pic

[Beauty1]

Originally Posted by CatholicCrusader

I like your new pic

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Beauty1

Very well said; however, In my opinion it goes much deeper than that. I believe that God has an agenda. He wants man to come into agreement with Him so he can have communion with man that is in harmony.......

Wow. How very interesting. Read this:

1. God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

2 So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it."

source:
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Prologue

[Beauty1]

Originally Posted by CatholicCrusader

Wow. How very interesting. Read this:

1. God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

2 So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it."

source:
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Prologue

Wow, that is interesting. Its almost exactly what I said. Just a more thorough explanation and more eloquently stated.

Originally Posted by Linsinbigler

The following is a question I received in an online Q&A. The question was:



The answer that I gave was as follows:

Would the world really be better if there was not evil and yet no free will? In order to have good, one needs to will it. In order to have love, one needs to will it. We as human beings tend to appreciate having when we first have experience what it means to not have. When we adhere to our creator and cooperate with his divine grace as coworkers in his vineyard, we grow from being innocent infants to being spiritually mature. With us, to whom much is forgiven, they love much, and "to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little" (Luke 7.47). The book of Hebrews tells us quite clearly that "Now no chastening [discipline] seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12.11). Discipline is not just "punishment" done for something in the past, but rather training the child (even if he is an adult, he is a child of God) to walk in the right path and not stray into the way of his or her own destruction.
Would the world really be better if God took away free will, and in so doing, along with taking away all evil he also took away all love and all good? The one who suffers redemptively, is he not closer to God and to life eternal than the one who never suffers--the one who it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for such a person to enter the Kingdom of God? We know that physiologically those who are in a traumatic state near death are relieved of feeling their suffering through chemicals that we are designed to release when we are in trauma, so we cannot accuse God of wanting us to suffer--He has built it in physically so that we do not suffer beyond what we can bear. This of itself is a miraculous thing. Yet, as every parent knows, it is better for the child to suffer the rejection of punishment than to run out in the street without punishment and be killed. It is part of maturing. Likewise, God's naturally built in chastening is part of our opportunity to grow spiritually. Either we can rebel, or grow spiritually. He does not punish us to "satisfy His wrath," but rather, as Scripture tells us, chastens us as a parent does a child so that they are able to grow without being self-destructive. I thank the Lord every day for His chastening as a loving parent to keep me from being self-destructive, for delivering me from my own reasonings, and I hope that you come to as well.

Thanks for this thread Fr. Harry. I believe sometimes it is difficult to see God's hand in some circumstances of our lives; especially if ever the victim of moral evil. A person could say to one who is deeply wounded that these are trials and tribulations to strengthen us however this doesn't help a person who is traumatized; a hurting person needs to be embraced by God's love. To even begin to compare one persons circumstances to anothers is not helpful but can create more wounding.

What I do believe is when one has suffered as the victim of moral evil that God can take what is evil and turn it around for His good. God can use those painful times as we heal to make us stronger and use the individual for His Glory.

I too understand the chastening of the Lord which is to mature us is not always pleasant yet God saves us from ourselves through these various trials as we choose to walk in obedience to him.

[Linsinbigler]

Originally Posted by MMari

Thanks for this thread Fr. Harry. I believe sometimes it is difficult to see God's hand in some circumstances of our lives; especially if ever the victim of moral evil. A person could say to one who is deeply wounded that these are trials and tribulations to strengthen us however this doesn't help a person who is traumatized; a hurting person needs to be embraced by God's love. To even begin to compare one persons circumstances to anothers is not helpful but can create more wounding.

What I do believe is when one has suffered as the victim of moral evil that God can take what is evil and turn it around for His good. God can use those painful times as we heal to make us stronger and use the individual for His Glory.

I too understand the chastening of the Lord which is to mature us is not always pleasant yet God saves us from ourselves through these various trials as we choose to walk in obedience to him.

Hi Marilyn. The topic is rather broad as posted above, and does not deal with certain types of trauma. It could be subdivided 1000 different ways. You are correct, no amount of explanation helps one who is in a state of trauma--only love. Hence an even more practical application of 1 Corinthians 13: "these things abide: faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love." Even when "you've gotta have faith" or "faith will get you through this,"; or the old "there is hope," and "things will get better in the future" fails--yet "love never fails." The person in a traumatic state does not want to hear about a potentially brighter future, nor about how they "need to be strong in faith," for indeed, it is simply not there. They need to get through the black abyss of the here and now, and the only thing that works is love--to know that someone is there to walk through the darkness with them. They don't need to hear a prophet's excuses for why this happens, they need to know that they are loved, and, more importantly, they need to be loved, even before they know it.
In counselling training, the counselor is taught never to say "I know what you are feeling" or even "I went through something similar." Some see this as sympathy, however, what it does is minimizes what they are going through to make it a more "common" occurance. There may be a place for expressing empathic disposition later in the process but certainly not in the traumatic or even immediate post-traumatic stage.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Linsinbigler

Hi Marilyn. The topic is rather broad as posted above, and does not deal with certain types of trauma. It could be subdivided 1000 different ways. You are correct, no amount of explanation helps one who is in a state of trauma--only love. Hence an even more practical application of 1 Corinthians 13: "these things abide: faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love." Even when "you've gotta have faith" or "faith will get you through this,"; or the old "there is hope," and "things will get better in the future" fails--yet "love never fails." The person in a traumatic state does not want to hear about a potentially brighter future, nor about how they "need to be strong in faith," for indeed, it is simply not there. They need to get through the black abyss of the here and now, and the only thing that works is love--to know that someone is there to walk through the darkness with them. They don't need to hear a prophet's excuses for why this happens, they need to know that they are loved, and, more importantly, they need to be loved, even before they know it.
In counselling training, the counselor is taught never to say "I know what you are feeling" or even "I went through something similar." Some see this as sympathy, however, what it does is minimizes what they are going through to make it a more "common" occurance. There may be a place for expressing empathic disposition later in the process but certainly not in the traumatic or even immediate post-traumatic stage.

Very well said... I think most would agree that you're in the right profession