Last night after work, I headed over to my friend Dusty’s apartment to watch a movie. It was the new Batman vs. Superman extended cut. Not a bad movie. However, there was something that Lex Luthor said that really annoyed me. I am going to quote him (not sure if I am allowed to, but here it goes). “If God is all good He cannot be all powerful, and if He is all powerful He cannot be all good”. This statement is a very common argument that Atheists use (not the exact wording of course, but the exact concept). If God is all good and all powerful, as most Christians (including myself) believe, then why does God not just get rid of all pain and suffering in the world? I once heard a British comedian and actor named Stephen Fry, amazing work, I do enjoy the films he is in. Though, he compared God to a five-year-old kid holding a magnifying glass over an anthill just for fun. Now this whole God being either all good or all bad is very valid argument if one does not understand the relationship God has with us.

Now, God created us to love Him. He could have done these two ways. The first way is to create a being that loves God perfectly without doubt, questioning, second thoughts or (now this is important) choice. If he created us to be this kind of loving being, there is no real love. In Harry Potter, if Ron gave Hermione a love potion and they got married, us readers would be rather irritated saying things along the lines of, “that isn’t real love.” We would be right I do not believe that is real love; in fact, I would not call that love at all. Love involves one’s choosing. I choose to love my significant other. I choose to love my mother. Though loving both can be difficult at times, I still choose to love them all the same. However, if God made us without another option, there is no real love. We are mindless automatons. For me (who feels blessed that I can choose), this is not a very attractive option.

Option two is what happened. God created us with a choice. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden saying you have all of this wonder, beauty and paradise, the only thing I ask of you is to not eat the Fruit in the center of the garden. He asked us to love Him enough to trust Him in knowing what was best. Now many of us know what happens from Sunday school: the serpent (the devil) tempted Eve, who fell and ate the apple and then gave it to Adam. In that moment, all was lost and the whole of humankind chose to not trust God. To not love Him.

You see, God did not want some mindless automaton. He wanted a being of choice. He wanted us to look and say yes, when we could choose to say no. He wants us to love Him in the only way we can, which is to choose Him.

So, God created us and gave us this choice, and we reject God, causing us all to fall. The mistake that Atheists make is assuming that humanity is not to blame for all of the sin and suffering. In making the argument stated above, they are shifting the blame from man to God. They are not acknowledging the fact that we chose. We chose. Now God could come down here and wipe away all pain and problems here on Earth and force everyone to love Him; he would not do that though. God wants love not automation.

As to who is to blame for all the sin, how could it be God? First off, we chose. It is similar to heat vs. cold. Cold is the absence of heat. Heat does not create cold, it occurs when heat is not present. Same with God. God did not create sin and suffering. Sin and suffering happen when we try to remove God from the situation.