My friend Julian Haydon questions this:
ANSWERS BY AN HONEST CHRISTIAN
Did anything exist before the Creation?
…Only God, who has always existed and always will.
There was no evil, no sorrow, no disease, no pain, no suffering before the Creation?
…Right, only God existed.
Did God know what would happen after the Creation?
…Of course, he knew! He knows all that has happened or could happen, in infinite detail.
Then God caused all the evil, sorrow, pain and suffering in the world?
…Well, put that way, yes. But remember, he created man with free will.
Even if there is such a thing, since God knew how man would use it before he created him, that means God could have prevented all the misery if he simply had not created man the way he did?
…Yes, that has to be so. But God had a plan.
Did the plan mean that all the suffering would be made up for in a better world for everyone?
…No, not everyone. Just those saved.
What of those not saved?
…They go to hell to be punished forever.
Is God a loving, just, merciful and forgiving Father?
…Yes, infinitely so.
