“Don't Blame The Doctor”

Friday, January 17, 2020

     I am having such difficulty understanding many things.  I am of Baptist faith and was raised in church; however, I have not been attending for a long time.  I seem to be the only one with questions.  I don't want to be like this, but every time I ask my questions, it seems I always get an answer of, “You just have to have faith and not question things.  They are too big to understand.”  That doesn't seem to help me at all.  ‘Why did God make the devil?’ is one of my questions.  I know that he was a fallen angel, but why did God make him knowing that he would be evil, and being He knows everything, it seems He would know the outcome of him turning against Him.  If God wanted a perfect world without sin, He could have had it.  He is God; He could have done whatever He wanted.  He already knew that Adam and Eve would eat the apple, so how did they have a chance not to?  He made them and already knew the outcome.  I don't see how that is free will or choice when He already knew they were going to mess up.

Sincerely,
So Many Contradictions

Dear So Many Contradictions,

The Bible does give answers, and many people have turned away from God because the denominational world has failed to give them those answers.  There are some things that we don’t have answers for, but the questions you are asking are fundamental questions that the Bible clearly gives answers to.

All of your questions come down to the same issue – if God knew that people (and the devil) were going to do bad things, how come we are still to blame?  God knows our days upon this earth, but He also gives us the freewill to shape various aspects of the world that we live in.  Just because God has knowledge of how you and I will behave does not mean that He causes our behavior to happen in a certain way.  Foreknowledge is not the same as causation.  A doctor may know that a patient is going to die of cancer, but that doesn’t mean the doctor gave them cancer.  God gives mankind the freedom to make decisions, but He also has the wisdom to know how those choices will affect the future (Job 12:13).  God, having the wisdom to see that freewill also meant that people would have the freedom to choose bad things, doesn’t mean that He is to blame for our choices.  Furthermore, God didn’t just sit idly with His foreknowledge.  God planned before the foundation of the world to save us by sending His own Son to die (Eph. 1:3-4).  Even though He isn’t responsible for our choices, God sent the perfect cure.

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