Why Did God Allow This Cancerous Tumor In My Brain?

by Mike Edwards Long story short On April 15, 2025 my tennis partner, who is a Doctor, sensed I was off. (More than usual). I typically walk home after the match, but he insisted in driving me home and that I see my regular Doctor. I am so thankful for his urging. I saw my Doctor a day or two later and an MRI was scheduled. Within hours I got a call that I had a tumor in my brain. I had very few symptoms before except minor headaches that I thought nothing of. I was ready to play a third set of tennis that day but my buddies said no. Guess I was acting off/weird. Within days of the MRI, I was scheduled for brain surgery to remove the tumor (April 21). I spent those few days preparing my family, not knowing if I would make it out of the surgery alive or have motor skills severely damaged. Things went very well in terms of the tumor being removed (cancer still remains), The tumor was a severe cancer type. So, I began chemo/radiation treatment shortly after for 6 weeks. I’m in my last week of 6 weeks of treatment. No, God didn’t CAUSE my tumor! I hope no one thinks God caused this tumor to teach me a lesson for my sins. I ain’t no saint but I’m kinder than most folks. I have friends who will verify. I know some selfish/evil people that are cancer free. I refuse to believe a loving God using tragedies to punish or teach one a lesson and we remain clueless reasons for such actions. Besides, that assumes God is simply pulling strings to control events in the world. Did God cause this for a greater good. I doubt it. God can’t control how I will react to a tragedy in my life. I could be pissed at God and no good comes of it. Some claim all evil eventually leads to good as if some grand plan by God. Not my God! Ask sexual abuse victims or family members of murdered loved ones if good always comes out of evil. Or it is claimed we sinners have no right to question a Holy God. I have a God I can doubt, question, get angry with, whatever. That is what a loving parent/God is like. How do I know this? I have been a child of a parent and a parent of children. Why would a Creator create us to have intuitions of what true love is (allowing a child to question) but not be loving themself? See Does God Really Punish Or We Just Reap What We Sow? Assuming God is in control of punishment makes a mockery of freedom. It is an oxymoron to claim God is in complete control and we humans have freedom. If God does actively punish and carry out wrath, God is letting a whole lot of evil in the world slide. God doesn’t love more those spared than those supposedly punished. Does God Really Allow Cancer? It is claimed a mystery how God can allow evil but not be evil. Humans don’t get a free pass if they can stop evil but don’t. Ask sexual abuse victims when their parent knew and did nothing. One might ask why God allows such harm if supposedly all-powerful. Thinking God is all-powerful (thus all-controlling) assumes God can pull strings to make certain things happen (allow). So much for genuine freedom? See God Can’t Stop Your Suffering And Evil! Thankfully, I don’t entertain such a view of God which has helped having a positive view during all this, though I have many miles to travel in my journey. My silent friend (God), along with family and friends have been a life-saver. You have a lot of internal conversations when waiting for brain surgery or going through cancer. When one believes “God allows” your mind can wander. Why me and not others (is God’s love arbitrary – if God can supposedly control everything), what lesson is God trying to teach me. I never had to go there. I am convinced God isn’t all-powerful. If we maintain that God limits their Power, this suggests God can do something but doesn’t. We must come up with a better explanation that God simply allows – thus controls – evils but isn’t responsible for such evils. A God who can prevent evil but doesn’t is counter-intuitive to love. No loving parent or God sits idly by when they could prevent tragedies such as rape or murder. Are we to believe God doesn’t care, God is punishing us, or God has abandoned us and left us clueless about the grand plan? God doesn’t just allow your suffering! God may not be all powerful It is only natural to believe a Supreme Being, if they exist, is all powerful. Most Christians believe this because of their understanding of the Bible taught in churches they attend but questions arise if God is all-powerful. If God can control everything, why doesn’t God intervene more in medical emergencies, rape, physical abuse, etc. A miracle supposedly saved Trump but not the gentlemen in the front row. I doubt it. God doesn’t pick and choose when to cause or allow suffering. God can’t be all-powerful if all-loving. Perfect love isn’t controlling. Ask any adult child with a controlling parent. Thomas Oord in his new book defends ably that the Bible doesn’t necessarily claim God is all-powerful and can do anything. See here. God can’t tempt others (Jas. 1:13). It makes no sense to say God can exert all power and creatures can exert some power. I have never understood why God doesn’t stop evil if God can do anything. If “everything happens for a reason” because of God, this would make God responsible for all goodness and all evil. It is claimed a mystery how God can cause or allow evil but not be evil. This isn’t true for humans. Some claim all evil eventually leads to good as if some grand plan by God. Hardly! What about prayer and miracles? Many prayers asking for healing are obviously not answered. Are miracles arbitrary – God picking and choosing to bless some and not others? Conditions in our body may not always be right. Various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells, organs, etc. If God wouldn’t take away your human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Miracles can happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God surely intervenes when circumstances will allow. Pray if you like, but God is already working to do all God can to prevent suffering. That’s what perfect Love does! See Why God Doesn’t Answer My Prayers? I am convinced God is always seeking to intervene when possible. Pray for miracles, but don’t assume God can answer our prayers but doesn’t for some unknown reason. God suffers with us, but the unfortunate truth in a free world is suffering happens, though God is dying to help. We can pray but be more understanding when God can’t answer our prayers. Pray to God for emotional support and encouragement in difficult times. My silent Friend has gotten me through some difficult times when my brain begins to wander. Did God really choose the Holocast by not responding, including senseless suffering to children in the world? Do you read the Bible Edwards? I believe we should assume the Bible isn’t inspired by God. We can’t prove the Bible is or isn’t inspired by God. Besides, the Bible is literature that requires interpretation and we don’t all agree on the correct interpretation even concerning moral issues such as if God condemns gays or not. Many assume inspiration means God approved or controlled all recorded by the writers, especially characterizations of God. Many don’t think of inspiration as meaning that God encouraged or motivated writers/editors to record their understanding of God, thus possible being right or wrong. See here all my rants on the Bible and why we need to rethink our understanding of the Bible. So, what good is God? The only God worth believing in or having a relationship with must be a perfect Lover. God can’t be all-powerful or controlling and be true to God’s nature. Thomas Jay Oord in his books says that so many positive elements can come from affirming a universal, divine Lover. Such a Spirit empowers, inspires, and accompanies us in our relationships with others. God knows and empathizes with us in our suffering. This is what I have experienced. God obviously grieves due to all the evil in the world. God suffered when Jesus was crucified. God suggested through Jesus’ example and words what kind of life lived here on earth can make for a much grander world. My relationship with God, though a silent friend, has carried me so far. My future I thought initially that surgery and removing the tumor out of my brain was my greatest danger, when discovered I had a tumor. Thus, why I tried to prepare the family and get financial house in order, as I thought I might not be back. Turns out most don’t die on the surgery table. Motor and physical skills can be damaged, which I didn’t realize as much, but I had a great surgeon. I was only in hospital two days after brain surgery, had brain fog for a week (you had to have 5 PHDs to understand my texts), but I felt pretty good after a week. It does help to be retired. I began radiation and chemo therapy for 6 weeks. So far, no nausea, I can handle the tiredness because I was very active before tumor. I get tired – I get moving. Sitting makes me more tired. My stamina affected but I can change some of my habits to hopefully see my grandchildren become teenagers. I am a cool POPS. I didn’t have a relationship with my grandparents, so I want to get it right as I did as a parent when I had children. I am walking on the average 2-3 miles a day. Playing tennis two days a week. But, 5 weeks of great fortune with treatment doesn’t guarantee the next week of treatment and thereafter. And it takes some weeks after treatment to recover from tiredness, etc. So the journey ain’t over! I will have an MRI August 6th, a month after treatment to see how much treatment was successful with the cancer. Even if very successful I may be prone to seizers and other medical matters down the road. I could live a year but some with my type of cancer live 10 years or more. We will see. Thank God for God, family, and my friends. Peace! ******* Mike Edwards was added as a writer and has been a great addition to the site. Mike provides many interesting views and various ways of looking at things. He is not afraid to ask questions and he keeps an open mind as to teachings of the institutional church. Mike also has his own site where he writes at What God May Really Be Like

What About Miracles, Prophesies? – Book Review “Impossible Love”

by Mike Edwards

(I had a tumor removed from my brain 4/21/25. Please excuse mispellings/mistypes. Not sure brain all there)

I dare you to read Impossible Love  and not be awed – a true story of a couple concerning an African Civil War, Miracles, and Hope Against All Odds. It is the first book in a while I couldn’t put down. I do not wish to be critical of scholar Craig Keener and his wife Medine, who is a scholar in her own right. They are an amazing spiritual couple.  I can’t carry their water. Google Craig to see all the scholarly books he has written, which are often the main Seminary text on the topic covered. Many of his books have influenced my views. After I read, I wondered if many may question their level of faith if not believing in prophecies and miracles as this couple does.  Now, the Keener’s don’t claim when mentally hearing God’s voice that they are always right. But does God know the future to advise us ahead of time, and can we expect miracles if we pray enough?

 Is the Bible really inspired? 

I sense the Keeners’ believe God inspired the entire Bible, meaning God controlled and approved all written down. We can’t prove the writers always understood God perfectly. I have written here it is difficult to prove God controlled what written down. It matters because few acknowledge their interpretation may be wrong, so gays are often condemned, women’s leadership roles are limited despite their gifts, and it is suggested a fiery torturous afterlife awaits infidels – all in God’s name. I interpret differently. I believe best to assume God didn’t inspired the Bible, so we feel free to question interpretations that contradict common moral sense. Why would God create us to have moral intuitions contrary to God’s?

Did God really ordered Israel to commit hundreds of atrocities in the OT – “… put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (I Sam. 15:3).  Such genocidal behavior makes no human moral sense. God’s possible justification of violence can lead to imitation of violent solutions such as capital punishment, blowing up abortion clinics, or unnecessary wars in the name of God. It matters your view of the Bible and if inspired by God! 

Is prophesy in the Bible God knowing the future? 

I have written here why God can’t know the future, thus prophecies in the Bible or now can’t possibly know the future. It is natural to think an all-knowing, powerful God knows future outcomes. But to assume God knows the future suggests a predetermined future which makes freedom nonsensical. Another view is that God joins us relationally in a free, unknown future concerning our decisions. God isn’t hiding the future from us. When one assumes prophesy is God knowing the future, one may wonder why God doesn’t warn us all of upcoming tradegy? See Does Prophecy In The Bible Really Predict The Future?

 The Keeners’ don’t seem to suggest their dreams or prophecies they share are definitive. I think their beliefs in an inspired Bible and their interpretations is influential. I am not convinced prophecies from God about the future can be distinguished from mental impressions we may have.

Why does it matter! 

In reading the Keener’s experience, one may think they should expect to hear from God who they should marry. Such a belief can led to inaction or choosing the wrong partner. I don’t believe God has one partner in mind for anyone, or that you should wait to hear from God before making a decision. God gave you a brain and God can’t tell you if your future partner will be faithful or may betray you. Make decisions based on the wisest path at the time based on current partner’s actions and conjoint future aspirations. God will be there with you in such decisions and future challenges. These concerns are relational important with God Read the book for more discussion on the topic.

Why is it important whether God knows the future or not? 

A known or set future suggests one isn’t truly free to choose otherwise. God may know all possibilities, but the future must be open if we are truly free. To the contrary, God’s will isn’t some hidden plan to discover that God keeps from us. God can’t tell you if the person you want to marry won’t end up betraying you or the job you take won’t end up being phased out. We surely have God’s blessing choosing the wisest path known at the time based on past experiences, current circumstances, and future aspirations. God joins us in considering risks to change the world for better. God’s moral ways are not mysterious or hidden. God seeks only to influence us to do all the good, rather than evil, that we can in all the places we can, at all the times we can, to all the people we can, as long as we can. Jesus prayed God’s will be done on earth as in heaven (Mt. 6:10). God’s plan is not a detailed blueprint but a general one to set us free to love.

What Is God’s Plan For Your Life?

How Do We Discover God’s Will For Our Life?

 Do miracles happen

I am not one to believe in miracles mostly because I haven’t experienced or seen such events. But I also don’t think the Bible is totally made up reporting miracles. Also, one cannot deny Craig Keener’s scholarship on miracles as reliable reports exists all over the world. I am not going to try to convince you either way. I don’t know! But I think it is important to consider personally if miracles are possible or not. Most of us have asked God for a miracle in our life, even unbelievers. Most would admit the answer usually has been “no.” Did we not pray enough? Are we not faithful enough as the Keener’s or other individuals who reports miracles?

One has ever right to ask why doesn’t God intervene more than God does. I prefer to assume God always desires to intervene miraculously. One possible better explanation for miracles is that various biological factors are involved such as cells and organs. If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well when it comes to miracles in nature. Perhaps miracles can happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but a loving God is dying to intervene miraculously by all means whenever circumstances will allow. I am not sure the Keener’s would agree. It is important to understand why God may not be able to answer.

This post is about your relationship with God!

Don’t assume that all of the Bible is inspired by God. Don’t condemn your child, who says they are gay, because of your interpretation of a supposed inspired Bible. Don’t assume God knows the future? Maybe God didn’t know your spouse would betray you. Maybe God grieves with you because God can’t control freedom, etc? Your understanding of God and God’s power in a world of freedom matters in your relationship! My understanding of God empowers my relationships with God and others I seek to treat like I want to be treated.

*******

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. Mike also writes on his own site that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

Did A Miracle Save Trump?

By Mike Edwards

It has been claimed that God protected Trump by a miracle from being killed on July 13^th. Franklin Graham, perhaps the most well-known Christian leader, claimed that God saved President Trump from being killed. Proclamations such as these raises many questions about God’s character in the minds of many.

Why doesn’t God intervene more often?

Why did God supposedly intervene in saving Trump but not Corey Comperatore. Mr. Comperatore was the gentleman who shielded his family from being shot and was killed at the July 13 rally. Miracle proclamations only lead to implying God didn’t care to save his life for some unknown/mysterious reason. It implies God only cares to spare certain people from being murdered or raped but not others.

What possibly leads to thinking God’s love is arbitrary?

Many Bible-folks assume God is all-powerful, which demands an answer to why God displays Their power or not. Why God acts arbitrarily isn’t easy to answer if God is truly loving, unless you always blame unanswered prayer due to one’s sins. Often, it is proclaimed God’s ways are higher than ours and God is working it all out for good. Tell that to a woman raped! It may also be suggested that we sinners have no right to question a Holy God, or that any good is more than we deserve since God’s standard is perfection and we all fall short as sinners. Some relationship!

God can’t be all-powerful

It is natural to think that an all-powerful God can control suffering if able to create, be in all places at one time, resurrect Jesus from the dead, etc. But, logically how can God be all-powerful and humans have some freedom/power? Suffering (prayer unanswered) may be because God cannot intervene single-handedly. Controlling love is an oxymoron. God can’t physically interfere in evil or suffering without human help. See here.

Miracles

Lots of prayers asking for healing are obviously not answered. Is God’s love infrequent or arbitrary? Do miracles not happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God? I believe a better explanation for healings is that various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells and organs.  If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Perhaps miracles can happen when God’s love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but a loving God is dying to intervene whenever circumstances will allow. 

How does God intervene? 

God intervenes through people. Securities measures could have been better at Trump’s rally to lessen the chance of a horrible crime. God could have intervened if the assassin didn’t choose to believe that he was somehow doing the world a favor by supposedly taking an evil man out who has been compared to Hitler. All politicians should stick to attacking their opponent’s policies. It was by chance that Trump turned his head to look at a chart that allowed the bullet to pierce his ear than skull. God is in the influence business with people doing the right thing.

Did A Miracle Save Trump?

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com 

Can And Does God Control Your Suffering?

By Mike Edwards

I wasn’t sure what to title this Post. “Does” is more personal but “can” speaks to whether God is able to control our suffering in the first place. We must decide if God can or can’t control suffering to consider why God does or doesn’t control our suffering. It seems only intuitive that an all-powerful God can control suffering if able to create, be in all places at one time, resurrect Jesus from the dead, etc. It is also obvious God doesn’t answer many prayers to relieve suffering.  One may claim God is all-powerful or Omnipotent to show respect toward God, but can a God who is supposedly perfect be controlling?

God can’t control your suffering logically 

How can God be all-powerful, yet humans have some power or control? Even the Bible insist love does not insist on its own way. (I Cor 13:5) In God’s defense it just is not logically possible for God to create freedom unless there is the possibility of love and hate. If God could stop a bullet, that doesn’t change the gun holder. God can’t solve human selfishness. It is worth considering that God can’t be all-powerful or controlling and be true to God’s nature. Evil and suffering in the world may be because God cannot intervene single-handedly without being controlling. God can’t interfere in suffering without human help.

God can’t “allow” your suffering morally 

We must come up with a better explanation that God simply allows – thus controls – evils but doesn’t cause evils. A God who can prevent evil but doesn’t is counter-intuitive to love. No loving parent or God sits idly by when they could prevent tragedies such as rape or murder. Please stop with “all evil eventually leads to good” as if some grand plan by God! Ask sexual abuse victims or family members of murdered victims. We are left to believe God doesn’t care, God is punishing us, or God has abandoned us and left us clueless what the grand plan is.   

Don’t miracles prove God is all-powerful despite freedom? 

Lots of prayers asking for healing aren’t answered. Is God’s love infrequent or arbitrary? Do miracles not happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God? I believe a better explanation for healings is that various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells and organs.  If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Perhaps miracles can happen when God’s love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but God surely intervenes whenever circumstances will allow.

A less powerful, controlling God may be good news! 

In our suffering we don’t have to feel God doesn’t care or that God could do something and doesn’t. God knows and empathizes with us in our suffering. God obviously grieves due to all the evil in the world. God suffered when Jesus was crucified. God suggested through Jesus’ example and words what kind of life lived by all here on earth can make for a much grander world. God doesn’t derive pleasure by seeing us in pain but the unfortunate truth in a free world is suffering enables me to better help and influence others that our prosperous times don’t. Martin Luther King’s suffering moved the scales from the eyes of many how they tolerated bigotry. Jesus’ miracles turn heads but Jesus’ suffering changed the hearts of billions of followers.

Can And Does God Control Your Suffering?

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

Does Godly Leadership Require Certainty About God?

by Mike Edwards

This Post is longer than usual. It is an essay I wrote that was recently published in a book Open And Relational Leadership. Such a view of God, as opposed to a closed, standoffish God can be a game changer. Leaders proclaiming certainty have not allowed God’s open and relational ways to guide individuals in their own time.

I am grateful for pastors of churches I attended in the past who encouraged getting to know God. In retrospect, it seems pastors felt compelled to proclaim certainty of what God thought, according to their understanding of Scriptures. Perhaps they felt an internal pressure due to leadership expectations from parishioners. Didn’t pastors, though, read books where biblical scholars, who respect the authority of Scriptures, do not always agree? Total certainty is an illusion because even if God is Truth, we still have to discern what is Truth. For example, can preachers or priests be women or gay? Many are leaving the institutional church because of the lack of honest, open dialogue. God’s example seems more open and relational because of the freedom given to understand God in our own time.

It’s hard to be relational when you are so damn certain.  

One would think Christians would be the least judgmental people in the world. After all, they believe in loving others like they want to be loved. Catholics and Protestants, or whatever other representation of the church may apply, seem compelled to establish creeds, as if uncertainties about God are a sign of weakness. It isn’t always voiced that you are required to accept their doctrines to participate, but try challenging them and see where that gets you! If God was so concerned about beliefs such as the Trinity, angels, the Bible, the Virgin Mary, or hell, it seems there would be more agreement. Maybe Christians would be more united and less judgmental if religions only encouraged the Creed of Love as the Spirit guided individuals. 

No, uncertainty doesn’t have to lead to lawlessness!  

I am not suggesting anything goes in the declaration that we can’t be certain. No one questions laws against murder. Criminals don’t deny their actions are wrong; they deny they committed such a crime. Unless you are a terrorist, it is almost universally accepted that it is morally wrong to kill or behead someone because of his or her beliefs. We don’t have to fear uncertainty. Different opinions, expressed without physical or verbal aggression, can stand side by side, as we continually evaluate the most loving approach or understanding of God. 

The idea of an infallible or inspired Bible may be a reason Christians claim certainty. 

The Bible certainly is a resource to discover what God is like, though the majority of people born into this world didn’t have a Bible or knowledge of Jesus. There must be other ways to know God! Infallibility is a non-starter because we don’t have the original manuscripts. The many translations or versions of the Bible we have today suggest copying is not an exact process. Even if we had the original autographs, interpretation is still required. Scholars who believe in the authority of Scriptures disagree regarding what the Bible says about critical issues such as homosexuality, gender roles, divorce, and hell, among many other things.

Interpretations are fallible, but most people do not begin a discussion with “I may be wrong…” Keep in mind that we can’t prove that God inspired every word of the Bible, unless you argue a biblical writer making such a claim is definitive evidence. The possibility of a fallible book encourages questioning rather than demonizing views to the contrary. We have every right to question interpretations that suggest a Creator does not love in the way we were created to love. God-followers seem unaware of how often they appear to be unopen and morally superior based on their assumptions about the Bible. 

How can we know God?

Some declare God is mysterious when their interpretation of the Bible makes God appear immoral, but how can we have a relationship with a God we can’t understand with the brain God gave us? Is evil sometimes mysteriously good? The Bible assumes we can understand God by challenging us to be perfect like God (Mt. 5:48). We can only understand God’s perfect love by the way we humans were created to love perfectly. It is intuitive to think that the perfect love of God and human are the same. That is why the mystery card is used when God seems unloving from a human perspective. A Creator surely loves others and us in the same way that we were seemingly created to love others. 

Where has certainty in God’s name gotten us? 

It is logical to suggest we can’t be certain of what an invisible, inaudible God thinks. But supposed certainty has led to justifying slavery. It has led to revered theologians such as St. Augustine and John Calvin not firmly opposing the execution of those who didn’t agree with their theology. The Bible can’t be the definitive guide to what God would do because scholars who respect Scriptures disagree on so many issues. And it clearly is wrong to behead people because they don’t share your personal beliefs about God. 

Jesus didn’t judge uncertainty.  

Jesus performed many miracles, but his disciples/followers still didn’t believe. Jesus didn’t cast away Peter when warning him he would deny Jesus three times; I believe Peter now is called the “Rock.” Jesus hung out with all kinds of people that didn’t share his certainty. Jesus didn’t unload on others when their beliefs weren’t his, unless you were a religious authority who was misrepresenting God. My hunch is that God, like parents, would rather be doubted than ignored. 

Is God unloving by not being more visible, thus more certain?

We may wonder why God isn’t more obvious in our lives. God’s awe-filled or overpowering presence may only lead to fearful obligations to obey. When parents push their agendas, even if in their children’s best interests, a child may resent or rebel against coercion and never turn back from that rebellion. If God communicates in less demonstrative ways, this may allow for heartfelt choices. God may know what a controlling parent never learns: the road of learning, reflecting, and non-coerced choices may best lead to lasting convictions.

God’s love is not controlling. Controlling love is an oxymoron. Authenticity, the highest good in relationships, is impossible without freedom. Not even an almighty God can force true love. It isn’t that God has the power to do something and doesn’t. God can’t control or violate freedom and love perfectly. God, like parents, had a choice—not to create or to create knowing suffering was a possibility in the pursuit of intimacy. Divine love limits divine power. God is open to changing the world at relational speed. 

Uncertainty can lead to acting more lovingly.  

Being unable to declare the certainty or morality of our opinions forces us to listen and express ideas openly. God understands, as much as humans do, that forcing beliefs does not lead to long-lasting changes. Starting a conversation with “I may be wrong…” will more likely lead to new understandings and creative solutions. Conversations change when humility is part of the tone. Certainty, when it comes to political matters such as taxes or health plans, has led to justifying verbal or physical violence in the name of God or morality. Differences don’t have to lead to chaos but can be resolved by remaining open-minded to the most loving ways.

The Bible tells us the Word of God is not the Bible; it is flesh in the body of Jesus (Jn. 1:1-14). Jesus, when leaving this earth, didn’t promise to leave us with a Bible, but with God’s Spirit to aid in discerning good from evil (Jn. 14:16). Doesn’t the Spirit speak to us somehow when we have thoughts to be the perfect partner, parent, or friend we desire to be deep down, despite our constant failures? It may be good that that the Spirit doesn’t communicate audibly. The Bible may be more direct communication, but it has been used to force beliefs on others despite being subject to interpretation. Leaders who admit uncertainty, rather than certainty, about God, keep from imposing beliefs on others, which is just not in God’s open or relational nature.

Why I Doubt God Controls Evil and Suffering!

by Mike Edwards

The problem of evil is a main reason people indicate they don’t believe in God. How we think God and suffering co-exist in the midst of personal suffering can cause us to wonder if God truly exist. I suggest HERE how we can decide what God is really like. Why would a Creator not love us and others how we were seemingly created to love others? 

Why is freedom so important?  

The majority of evil results from the freedom to be kind or cruel toward others. It seems God creating freedom necessitates one being able to do as much harm as they can do good. There is not some divine or “greater purpose” in the suffering of innocent people. But authenticity, the highest good in relationships, is impossible without freedom. Not even an almighty God can force true love. God, like parents, had a choice – to not create or to create knowing suffering was a possibility in the pursuit of intimacy. Divine love limits divine power.

God can’t!!!

Saying God can’t may seem sacrilegious, but a God who can prevent evil but doesn’t is no different than a parent who stands by and watches their child being physically or sexually abused. Are you dissatisfied with conventional answers such as: “It’s all part of God’s plan;” “God wants to make you stronger;” “God’s ways are not our ways;” “You didn’t have enough faith;” “Everything happens for a reason” (Thomas Oord, God Can’t: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils, p.11). If evil is some grand scheme God can control, why does the Bible say God hates evil so much? 

God doesn’t cause or allow evil!  

Most agree God doesn’t cause evil but some say God allows evil to bring about a greater good. Oord reminds us greater good doesn’t always come about. A surgeon may have to break open your chest to save your life, but what purpose is served from rape, torture, betrayal, murder, deception, corruption, incest, and genocide as if part of some good plan? From this twisted perspective, evil is good! When we say God allows, it gives the impression God stands by when God could stop evil. No one respects those who stand by in the name of freedom while individual rights are being violated. God can’t control or violate freedom and love perfectly. God can only stop evil with the help of others so to not violate freedom. Or not create freedom! 

What about miracles if God can’t supposedly control?  

It may be easier to explain God’s uncontrolling nature if miracles could be refuted. Miracles happen as many attest, but miracles don’t happen because people grovel at the feet of an arbitrary God who has to be begged to love more. A good God surely is always working to heal, but so many biological and environmental factors are involved. Maybe it is not a stretch to say God can’t control human freedom as well as non-human factors. I am convinced God will intervene by all means when circumstances allow. Miracles can happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known.

It matters if God supposedly knows the future.

A young woman may ask God for wisdom in marrying their partner. All think it is a match made in heaven, but the husband becomes abusive and the children suffer. What kind of God doesn’t warn if God knew this was going to happen? Evil is the result of current and unknown future human free decisions. Not even an all-powerful God can create and guarantee life without death, violence, suffering, and struggle and yet there be free will necessary for genuine relationships. 

God is not a magic prayer genie! 

A good God surely doesn’t cause or want us to suffer. Praying doesn’t make God more caring. God is already doing all they can in a free world. Jesus’ prayer to avoid the Cross may be the best model in times of suffering. Jesus asked God to intervene but God if you are unable please stay close to me. Pretending God can simply heal without accounting for freedom can makes one’s suffering worse. Did I not pray enough? Did I not beg enough? Did I not behave enough or have the right attitude? It isn’t that we didn’t pray enough with the right words so God will answer. 

Is God a mystery and we can’t understand evil and suffering?

Some appeal to mystery by declaring God ways are not our ways to rationalize their interpretation of the Bible, but how can we have a relationship with a God we can’t understand with the brain God gave us? How we are supposed to know and love like God if God is mysterious? The Bible says to be perfect like God, but we can’t know what this means if we can’t know what perfect love is. God’s love surely is like perfect human love. If God calls favoritism evil but plays favorites, this plainly makes a supposedly loving God evil.

Why did God even create?

God knew the risks of freedom as do human parents. Are we wrong to bring children into a world hoping they will want to reciprocate our love but knowing our children could cause suffering or suffer at the hands of others? Suffering is avoidable only if God had not created or allowed freedom. Few argue that no freedom is better than freedom. God and parents risk creating which can lead to great joy or great pain. One is not possible without the other.

What is God doing?

God is tireless in working through individual lives to change the world. Hitler may have been stopped if others had gotten involved in his life as a child or when plotting his evils early on. Perhaps the only way to defeat evil in us, other than destroying at the first hint, is for us to persevere and overcome evil. Also, suffering can enable us to be of use to others in a world where suffering is inevitable if any freedom is present. Martin Luther King’s suffering moved the scales from the eyes of many how they tolerated bigotry.

MORE POSTS IN SERIES: I DOUBT GOD IS ……

Why I Doubt God Is An Excluder Of Religions

Why I Doubt Heaven Is Closed To Anyone After Death

Why I Doubt Hell Is Real

Why I Doubt God Is A Homophobe

Why I Doubt God Is A Sexist

Why I Doubt God Is A Mysterious, Moral Hypocrite

Why I Doubt God Is A Blood-Thirsty Child (Jesus) Killer

Why I Doubt God Expects Every Word Of The Bible To Be Viewed As Inspired

Why I Doubt God Is An End-Of-The-World Doomsayer

Why I Doubt God Is An Angry Egomaniac

Why I Doubt God Is A “Hidden Agenda” Proselytizer

Why I Doubt the god of Extremists Or Terrorists

Why I Doubt God Is A Prayer Genie

Why I Doubt God Is A Prayer Genie!

by Mike Edwards

Beliefs about God can lead to many tuning out God. Our relationship with God cannot exceed our understanding of God. I suggest HERE how we can decide what God is really like. One’s interpretation of a Book may be the only reason to think human and godly perfection are different. Why would a Creator not love us and others how we were seemingly created to love others?

God can’t be a controlling lover.  

Controlling love is an oxymoron. Besides, not even an all-powerful God can give us free will and not give us free will at the same time. Genuine freedom must involve the right to do as much harm in proportion to how much good one can do. It isn’t that God has the power to do something and doesn’t. It’s that God can’t. God can’t control evil here on earth if God respects freedom. 

Is God to blame for suffering?  

A good God surely doesn’t cause or want us to suffer. Praying doesn’t make God more caring. God is already doing all they can in a free world. Jesus’ prayer to avoid the Cross may be the best model in times of suffering. Jesus asked God to intervene but God if you are unable please stay close to me. Pretending God can simply heal without accounting for freedom can makes one’s suffering worse. Why did God heal them and not me? Did I not pray enough? Did I not beg enough? Did I not behave enough or have the right attitude? It isn’t that we didn’t pray enough with the right words and behaviors so God will answer. God is already doing all God can.

Why bother to even pray then?  

Maybe prayer is more talking and sharing with God then asking for things and for God to override freedom. Maybe prayer is meant to help us not feel alone in a chaotic world. Prayer is more talking to gain support than manipulating for gain. God is always available to talk about anything on our heart, but we best leave running the universe to a loving God who has the interest of all in mind. 

Don’t miracles prove God can control what God wants?

One must admit miracles aren’t that frequent. The Old Testament reveals amazing miracles don’t always lead to inspired living. Jesus’ miracles turned heads but Jesus’ suffering turned hearts of billions of followers. We can pray for others but God is already doing all they can. Are we? Miracles can happen as many can attest to, but miracles don’t happen because people grovel at the feet of an arbitrary God who has to be begged to love more. Miracles happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known.

Prayer is not a substitute for action.

It is easier sometimes to pray for someone than take supportive actions which is the most common way that God answers prayers. Rather than praying your friend’s spouse stop drinking, which is harming their family, see if your friend would rather you say something to their spouse. When you know two friends are in conflict, speak to the one wrongly denying any wrongdoing. God always desire our permission to use our lives to help others.

The Bible says you can ask for anything you want in God’s name! 

Our interpretations much account for what a loving, uncontrolling God can do. Passages such as Mathew 7:7 are lifted out of context to support the false prosperity gospel: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Isn’t this passage in context simply saying that if we parents give good gifts despite our imperfections, will not God as our perfect Parent always give good gifts. First-century readers didn’t assume this was a blank check for any request. The Apostle Paul expects followers would face persecution for their beliefs (2 Tim. 3:12), thus God obviously is not a blank check.

How can we pray?

We might replace the word “praying” in the Bible with “talking.” We can talk to God for many reasons including pursuing a closer relationship with our Creator to be more like God, for self-examination, for sharing our concerns, and not feeling alone in a chaotic world. We tell our children associating with the right people leads to making wiser choices. Maybe prayer is to motivate us to be more loving like God toward others. God is not a Genie in a bottle who can singlehandedly all by themselves make things instantly happen. God is surely doing all they can to influence for good and seeks our help to change the world for good.

See Mark Karris, Divine Echoes: Reconciling Prayer With the Uncontrolling Love Of God

 MORE POSTS IN SERIES: I DOUBT GOD REALLY ……

Why I Doubt God Is An Excluder Of Religions

Why I Doubt Heaven Is Closed To Anyone After Death

Why I Doubt Hell Is Real

Why I Doubt God Is A Homophobe

Why I Doubt God Is A Sexist

Why I Doubt God Is A Mysterious, Moral Hypocrite

Why I Doubt God Is A Blood-Thirsty Child (Jesus) Killer

Why I Doubt God Expects Every Word Of The Bible To Be Viewed As Inspired

Why I Doubt God Is An End-Of-The-World Doomsayer

Why I Doubt God Is An Angry Egomaniac

Why I Doubt God Is A “Hidden Agenda” Proselytizer

Why I Doubt the god of Extremists Or Terrorists