“The problem of evil is the skeptic’s most frequently raised objection. He points to suffering in the world as ‘obvious proof’ that a loving all-powerful God cannot exist. How does the woolly bear caterpillar provide illustrative insight about the problem of pain? Of course pain has value. It serves as a warning system to protect the body from injury for one thing. But what about seemingly purposeless pain or horrible evil? Is that evidence that God cannot exist? A moth’s torturous struggle to exit a woolly bear cocoon looks painful and completely unnecessary. So much so that some cut cocoons open to ‘help’ the moth. But this removal of ‘suffering’ dooms the moth. It needs to struggle through the tiny aperture to develop strength and force fluid from its abdomen throughout its body. Without the struggle, it dies. Is it possible that likewise there is a beneficial purpose to human suffering and evil? Could removal of an ‘evil’ cancel a much greater good as illustrated by the moth? Just because we don’t understand God’s purpose for suffering does not mean that a good purpose does not exist. ‘My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts, declares the Lord’ (Isaiah 55:8-9). Demonstrating the purpose for some cases disproves the skeptic’s claim that there is no purpose to suffering and evil." William Pelletier, Ph.D., is from Bible Science Guy, BibleScienceGuy.WordPress.com, March 8, 2010 Comments are closed.
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