Quote Originally Posted by EX4life:
The problem with both of these answers is that the skeptic can ask in reply, "Why didnt God create a world in which there was no suffering or evil, instead of the present world?" Or in other words, why didnt God simply create heaven and populate it with beings who had free will buit would always choose to love God and do good? There is no suffering in heaven; no one does wrong; there are no physical limitations that would cause us pain. There would be no reason for us to have physical bodies with pain receptors, for there would be nothing that could cause us injury. There would be no reason for us to experience discipline, for we would have all the moral knowledge we needed and would have no desire to do wrong. There would be no reason for testing or other forms of suffering that would result in spiritual growth, for we would be directly in God's presence all of the time. There would be no need for God to punish evil at a later date if there were no evil to begin with. Finally, an omniscient God knows ahead of time who will follow him, and so he could create only those people who would choose him. Alternatively, God could have created only the angels who wouldnt rebel against him, and there would still be beings who freely chose to worship him.
Why, then, did God create Satan, humans who would choose to sin, and everything else in the present world? I believe the answer is that there is good that exists in this world that could not exist if heaven were the only world.
One premise on which this thesis depends is the idea that action is more important than words. Its one thing to imagine something, and another to do the work to make it a reality. Its one thing to tell someone you love them and would do anything for them; its quite another to actually donate your kidney to them or spend decades caring for them after theyve been paralyzed from the neck down.
This idea of action bringing things to completion and therefore being particularly important is also found in the Bible. Abraham had faith in God, but it was not fully expressed or completed until he acted on it by trusting God in a difficult situation. Jesus' incarnation and identification will us was complete because he lived as a human and experienced everything we do, including suffering. Jesus, James and John taught that actions speak louder than words.
Therefore, a universe in which moral acts are performed has more good in it than a universe in which morality is only an abstraction. A universe that contains two beings who love each other has more love, and therefore more good, than a universe which contains a single being who can only hypothesize that it would love another being. This leads us to the reason why the present world exists: some moral acts cannot be performed in a world that has no suffering or evil. Some examples of these acts include: courage, generosity, justice, repentance, forgiveness, mercy, etc.
If there were no suffering or evil throughout the history of the world, there would be no instances of any of the above. Some might reply that theyd be willing to make the trade-off and live in a universe that consisted solely of heaven. However, that universe would lack good which this universe contains, and therefore it wouldnt necessarily be a better universe.
Furthermore, a universe that never contained beings who did evil would mean that God would have no opportunity to act justly or mercifully, or to display his love for his creation as powerfully as he did by paying the penalty for their wrongs. If action completes things such as faith, it also completes God's virtues. This completion glorifies God, for not only are his virtues fully realized and put into practice, they are openly displayed.
Why is the glorification of God so important? Its the highest good, and the reason why humanity and the world were created. Skeptics and even some Christians find this objectionable because they misunderstand what it means. It doesnt mean praising someone who doesnt deserve it in order to gratify their ego. Instead, glorifying God is similar to glorifying virtue itself. God is perfectly virtuous and the embodiment of virtue. Therefore, glorifying God means praising someone who is perfectly moral and making his qualities known. This is not only a good in and of itself (because someone who does what is good deserves praise), it furthers morality by publicly calling it desirable, making others aware of God's example and showing them that God will instruct them in morality and enable them to be moral. In shirt, glorifying God results in the glorification and spread of all that is good.
Atheists do not realise that evil is the BI PRODUCT of free will.
Let me ask an atheist.
Is having sex before or outside marriage evil? The atheist will say no. In Gods eyes, it is a sin.
Now, is murdering someone evil? I am sure the atheist will say yes. In Gods eyes, murder is also evil.
So, the atheist wants a world, where they can do what they want even if it is against Gods law, "sex before marriage", but when something bad happens to them, ie, murder or rape, theft etc etc, they want God to intervene. So in a way, they want God as their personal genie? 
It doesnt work like that.
Atheists dont realise that we are put on this earth to either choose to accept God , obey his commands and want to spend eternity with him OR choose to reject God and live away from him for eternity. If we live in a world where the ONLY moral choices we can make are good ones, then we cant make a choice if we want to accept or reject God. We will be puppets. Therefore, unfortuntaley, a bi product of free will is evil.
If God werent to allow evil in the world, then this website wouldnt exist, porn sites wouldnt exist, brothels wouldnt exist, sex outside marriage wouldnt exist, etc etc etc - ALL actions against God wouldnt be allowed, not just the ones that doesnt suit the atheist...
Atheists, you cant have it both ways.
this is just your belief...
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