| CHAPTER 1 — THE GREAT CONTROVERSY The Big Picture The Bible says, “God is love.”[1] But many people question the truthfulness of this statement. It is not only infidels and cynics who distrust God; many thoughtful people have asked, “Why was suffering allowed? Why does God allow bad things to happen? If he controls everything, why does he allow evil to exist?” Tragedies they have experienced or witnessed have led them to view God as either cruel, unaware, or even non-existent. If he controls everything, why does he allow evil to exist? These vital questions are often answered with the blanket cop-out, “It’s God’s will. We must have faith,” or even “You can’t understand God’s wisdom. How dare you question God?” After a tragedy or death, the unconsoling “God is testing you,” or “God took him” is all the grieving are left with. If God personally dictates each event on the earth as is commonly believed, deciding who lives and who dies, who will suffer and who will prosper, then there truly is little reason to trust him. Worse than this, most churches is the last two millennia have used the doctrines of the frightening “end of the world” and an “eternally burning Hell” to scare people into submission. They say, “God is very good, and he wants you to love him; but he is also just. If you choose to not love and obey him, he will have to punish you—even painfully destroy you.” Is God a schizophrenic monarch who says, “Love me, or I’ll torture you to death,” or worse, “Love me, or I’ll burn you for eternity”? This does not even make sense. If God is an arbitrary and capricious monarch, then we are right to be afraid of him. Christians have not really been able to fully answer these questions. While many have attempted to offer answers, the typical responses are not satisfactory, especially when asked to explain why God has waited so long to deal with the problem of suffering and death. Is this the way God designed the universe, with death as a normal part of life, suffering to be equally expected with happiness? Is this all part of his original plan? If not, what went wrong, and why hasn’t he dealt with the problem? If Jesus came to set things right, why are we still in this mess 2,000 years after his coming and death? The answers have been in our hands all along, right in the Bible. The Bible has definite answers to these questions; but a superficial and narrow view cannot answer these questions. It is impossible to find the answers unless a larger view—a much larger view—of the problem and its solution is seen. Beyond “In the Beginning” If you were to go to a theatre and start watching in the middle of the movie, you would not really understand the film, and certain scenes would not make sense. Only if you go back to the beginning will you understand what it’s all about. In a very similar manner, most people’s understanding of God and the existence and solution to sin and suffering is based on only certain scenes of a “movie” they’ve started halfway through. The way in which people have read the Bible and sought answers has hindered them from seeing the message God was trying to convey. By following Jesus’ example of seeking answers by going back to the beginning[2], we will find that the rest becomes clear and simple to understand. But we need to go back far enough. God tried to impress on a man named Job the fact that he is dealing with a problem much bigger than that of human suffering—he is dealing with something that has gone terribly wrong, a cosmic conflict that involves the security and very existence of the entire universe[3]. It is only by putting all the events and tragedies of human history in the setting of this larger view that we can gain an understanding of how God has dealt with the sin problem. The Bible is like the TV game show “Jeopardy”—it gives us all the answers, but we need to match the right questions. |
 |
 |
| 1 I John 4:8 2 see Matthew 19:1-6, especially verses 4 and 5 3 see Job chapters 38-42 |
 |
| Page 1 |