© 1986 Dick Bain
© 1986 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
| The religious challenge of this age | September 1986 Issue — Index | Why do bad things happen to good people? |
We are sometimes faced with the ultimate paradox. Just when we’re explaining the loving nature of God to an agnostic, he ruins our day by asking, “How can this loving God stand by while innocent children suffer?” Mankind has struggled with this question since the beginning of recorded history. The early Jews believed that we suffer because we have sinned; God punishes us for our transgressions, In the Old Testament we read about Job’s struggle with this question. For the Hindu, the answer to the question is Karma; we reap reward of suffering in this life to a degree determined by our previous life here. If we are suffering, we must have bad karma. Every religion seems to have devised some answer to the question, but not everyone sees the suffering as some sort of punishment. St Francis of Assisi is reported to have said that the truly afflicted are those who have never been afflicted. How does The URANTIA Book see this problem?
In simple terms, it seems to say that we suffer because we live in an evolving, imperfect, time-space universe and it exists because God so willed it. So, it’s all God’s fault, right? But could it be that we have some responsibility for what happens to us? And what about what St. Francis said? Does it have any merit? is affliction always bad? Does it have any value? Does the value more than offset the sum of the suffering?
Another question that we can ask is why the imperfect level of the finite must exist in the first place. The book tells us that any non-personal reality which now exists was once a part of the reservoir of all potential reality of the Unqualified Absolute. Are all potentials within the Unqualified Absolute destined to be actualized, or only those that God so chooses to actualize? If all potentials are destined to become actuals, then the finite (time-space) level of reality was an inevitability. The URANTIA Book does not seem to tell us specifically the answer to this. However, we are informed, “… so must the promulgation of finite reality be ascribed to the volitional acts of Paradise Deity and to the repercussional adjustments of the functional triunities.” (UB 105:5.1) This says that the appearance of finite reality definitely involved an act of will by God. As to whether God could have obtained the same results in a different way, the book informs us that God always does things in the most perfect manner. If there were a better way to do such things, then God would do it that way. In this sense then, the finite may still be said to be inevitable. But is its imperfection necessary?
Further on we read, “But to attain perfection as an evolutionary (time-creative) experience implies something other-than-perfection as a point of departure. Thus arises imperfection in the evolutionary creations. And this is the origin of potential evil.” (UB 105:6.4) As the finite creation may be said to be inevitable, and its imperfection necessary, so then also must there be potential evil in such a finite creation.
If we grant the inevitability of the finite and potential evil, why must the potential evil become an actuality?
One answer is the free will that the creatures must be endowed with to allow them to choose between evil and good. If mortals are imperfect, then it is almost certain that they will err either consciously or unconsciously. If we include natural catastrophes as evil, then the imperfect nature of the finite also harbors potential evil which is likely to become actual.
Given the inevitability of the foregoing, our minds still circle back to the question of why the innocent suffer. If God is not to blame, then who is? On UB 147:3.3, Jesus gave three reasons for affliction:
We should recall that evil only exists as a potential until we actuate it: our free will actions all too often give reality to evil that was only potential. Human beings are responsible for a large part of human misery. We must also bear in mind that we are suffering the effects of a double default on this planet; we are thousands of years behind where we should be in our progress because of this. This may seem unfair, but on UB 54:6.3 we are informed that we are part of a cosmic family and sometimes the whole family must suffer because of the misconduct of a single member. This is one of the inevitable consequences of family life; we share the good as well as the bad. The other source of suffering, the accidents of time, is simply an inevitability of the imperfect nature of our finite existence. Nevertheless, as Jesus pointed out, we could go a long way toward eliminating many of these accidents. If we build a city on a geologic fault line and it is destroyed by an earthquake, whom shall we blame? If a person abuses a child but the mother doesn’t speak up about it and the neighbors don’t want to get involved, whom shall we blame? Consider the case of someone who dies from a painful and dreaded disease for which we have no cure. Perhaps we would have a cure if mankind had put the money and effort into medical research that has gone into waging war and preparing for war, All of this suggests that we ask ourselves two questions. First, how much of our suffering are we ourselves responsible for? Second, can we expect God to continuously interfere with the natural laws to protect us from suffering?
Another area that deserves examination in the question of good and bad is our perceptions. Our perceptions strongly affect our idea of what is good or bad. Two people might undergo the same experience and have nearly the same physical sensations, yet one calls the experience bad, and the other calls it good, Consider a camping trip. For one person the trip is a succession of discomforts and a terrible experience, but for another person the trip is a return to nature, an escape from the pressures of city life and a time of total relaxation. How we perceive an experience depends on hereditary predispositions, expectations, our self-image, and other factors. We can change our perceptions. If we resolve to look for the positive meanings in life experiences we will perceive fewer bad experiences in our lives. If we can see all experiences as learning opportunities, this insight will go a long way toward giving us a more positive view of life.
There are those who may ask why God could not have obtained the desired results in a different way. We are told that God can and does create perfect beings with free will (such as the Havona natives) but that something unique and otherwise unobtainable comes about as the one-time mortals ascend through the finite creation. As we pass through the ascension experience in liaison with our Thought Adjusters, a new creature of great value appears who embodies the perfection of the Thought Adjuster and the character forged by the mortal partner while grappling with the difficulties of the ascension experience. This valuable new being could not have originated in any other way. The same can be said about the whole evolving time-space creation and the Supreme. Only by evolving from imperfection to relative perfection could the resulting unique, perfected, finite level of existence somewhen come to be. In The URANTIA Book we read, “Is courage — strength of character — desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.” (UB 3:5.6) It is evident that we need some hardships and disappointments.
Finally, we would benefit by looking beyond the immediate situation and even beyond the present life to see the results of meeting the trials of life with a positive attitude. When we are finaliters and look back over our ascension careers, perhaps we will be thankful for all of the opportunities for growth that we have had, We are told, “And there is compensation for these trials, delays, and disappointments … I will only call attention to the enhanced careers of those mortal ascenders, the Jerusem citizens, who, by withstanding the sophistries of sin. placed themselves in line for becoming future Mighty Messengers …” (UB 54:6.5) We should remember that we will be agondonters. Because we live on a sphere that is in spiritual isolation, we have learned to believe without seeing. As agondonters, we will be able to function in situations of isolation. Though we seem to suffer greater problems in our mortal lives than those on planets with a more normal history, it is because of this very situation that we can develop unique talents. With these unique talents we can better serve the Father and our fellows in our future careers. Perhaps we should join St. Francis in recognizing the value of our afflictions. Perhaps the wise person would call them opportunities rather than afflictions.
—Dick Bain
St. Petersburg, Florida
| The religious challenge of this age | September 1986 Issue — Index | Why do bad things happen to good people? |