Looks like you're summarized what many people view as "spirituality", the literal belief that God created man... ...and man created everything else (free will).

Disagree - God does not create suffering - man did

False, suffering comes from human's free will.

God didn't create it. Yes, He does let it happen but He uses everything for the good whether its a good thing or bad thing. Everything happens for a reason, to carry out HIS Will. For instance, Christ's death. Even though there was alot of evil that happened that day and Christ was falsely accused of crimes he didn't commit and was put to death for no reason. But it was part of His will for it to happen. To give us the eternal sacrifice to wash our sins away which the Animal sacrifices couldnt do. He used Evil to accomplish Good.

These guys are leading you astray on here with there comments and answers. I will take you under my wing and FULLY explain to you how god is simply not true. All these suspicions you have about this idea are your logical left brain waking up and understanding the truth. The REAL truth. Man made god. You are starting to understand that what I say is not only possible, but extremely likely to be correct. You understand that the greek god were notreal dont you? You know that the sun or moon is not a god right? Yes, you do. You know what? so far, it has been documented that over 2500 gods like this are actually not true. Is it getting easier to understand that jesus is not true now? There is no shame in waking from the dreram of religion. I have made that change and I understand myself and the world much clearer now. Being able to see through the lie has made me realise how delicate this existance really is. That there is no design here, no plan. It took billions of years and many events for all this to take place. For every placelike our earth there are THOUSANDS that just have a sun with a few rocks floating around. Please follow your intuition here. I will help you see the truth and find a beauty in the world that you could NEVER know as a theist. Science is mans only hope to get of this planet. See the truth and together we shall travel the stars.....

Man & Woman were seduced into sin by the great deceiver, Satan. Although God gave Earth to humans, they passed it to Satan when they ate the forbidden fruit. Now Satan has controls on Earth, not omnipowerful ones, but control. For now.

God doesn't need an excuse for he does. There is no promise that there will not be suffering. What is your proof that God created suffering?

I agree, which is why I don't believe god exists - and even if he did, I wouldn't want to worship him. He may not create suffering (as Christians are so quick to point out) but he either has the power to stop it and refuses, or he has no power to stop it. Either way, that's not the sort of god I want to believe in.

I think that what you wrote is one of the most powerful proofs against the existence of a loving god. +5 Chef

In the beginning God did create this world free of suffering. God made covenants with Adam and God will never break a covenant once made, wouldn't it be great if man never did! Eve with the help of the serpent pursuaded Adam to break the covenant he had made with God; eating of the forbidden fruit. There is so much more most people fail to understand about this story. To understand it more fully think of where this "serpent" came from but to do that you must understand such things as the "Gap Theory" of the Bible and the reasons behind it; as well as many other occurances. God gets the blame here but really it was not God but the breaking of the covenant between God and Adam that Adam broke releasing from the tree of evil those things that may have been before the "gap" in the Bible. Don't go on hear-say about the Bible but investigate for yourself and know what the Bible is saying and not what some preacher tells you it is saying;this is what leads so many people down the false road of religions. The Bible itself will never lead you astray IF you know what it says and not what someone says it says!

humankind is given absolute free will so its up to us, not god, to create the world we wish to see. i used to blame god, too, for suffering. now, i see that its our responsibility, our own creation, and each of us must act to restore peace. now that would be exercising our free will in a way that god or any parent would be proud!

No, I don't agree. You may not believe that there is no purpose for suffering, but there is. Did your God not make this world comfortable for you, no need to worry, it's temporary and your suffering will be temporary. If you raise a child and never let him feel hunger or cold or anger or sadness, how will he ever learn to grow to become a strong individual who can handle his life without you?

DON'T YOU THINK it's a little arrogant to presume what a "truly almighty God" would and wouldn't do since you're nothing more than one schmuck among many sitting by a keyboard wondering "WTF"? The problem with society is that we presume that we know God when we don't know jack shit about most of what's going on around us in the physical world.

What is the point of suffering in which humans die for no reason? What is the point of suffering in Hell? How is one supposed to learn from suffering for eternity? That is but one reason why I cannot believe in such a sadistic God. http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2006/06/is-god-sadistic-monster.html

Interesting answers so far. More are welcome!

such nievete. some suffering is as a testiment against the wicked who have caused said suffering. god will not deny us our agency, good or bad. some suffering is for our benefit. genesis 3:17-19. some is as a result of our own actions, so we can learn from our mistakes. and some is as a trial... note the entire story of job. which of these would a just god prevent?

I definitely don't understand the need for all of the suffering that occurs in this world. I've never read it, but I hear James Dobson has a book with Christian explanations for these kinds of questions called, "When God Doesn't Make Sense." For me, that's unfortunately too often.

Free will does not exist.

God didn't create suffering, people did. All suffering comes from sin. Some say that sin actually changed the fabric of the natural world, which is supported by Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. However, there is evidence that much of what we call "natural disasters" are the result of the very renewing processes that make life on earth possible. Without plate movement and tectonic processes, Earth would be a water world on which no air breathing creatures could live. The sin that causes them to cause so much suffering lies in the covetousness that makes some people grab more than their share and push others off into marginal and dangerous places to live, like shorelines, floodplains, and mountainsides. Other times it might be caused by sloth, as in spending your time and money on fun things before you take care of basic needs, like a storm shelter. Don't buy the big screen and the satellite dish until you've properly sheltered your family. God did create a world free of suffering and we spoiled it and continue to spoil it daily. He has created another world free of suffering, and in the fullness of time He will move His people there, that is, those who have submitted their will to His.

they say,, that in nature , cold is not created by it's own, but it's a reult of the absence of heat,, also the existing evil and suffering is a result of the absence of peace , which is gone because of the human being in the universe . the world was already free from suffering, but humans didnt keep it as it should be.

Mankind creates its own sufferings. God is perfect. To suggest otherwise is to impugn God and is in itself sinful,sorry.

well..............if u want a bible .....god believer answer .....satan created pain....the truth is pain is ur body telling u not to do sumtin .......

If you keep looking for more answers you'll only find more questions.

Your querstion is probably the #1 reason why rational people doubt the Christian version of God. Most (but not all) Christians make the following assertions about God: 1.) God is loving and kind and just. 2.) God created the unverse. God created all living things, including us. God created EVERYTHING, including Hell. 3.) God, alone, decided the rules by which we must live. Nobody is in authority over God. 4.) Hell is a place where people are tortured for all eternity with no chance for forgiveness once there, regardless of their faults. This has nothing whasoever to do with being unable to undestand the mind of God, as Christians often accuse people of who raise such questions--these 4 statements contradict each other. It's simple reasoning. They can't all be true. One or more must be false.

Some people argue that God doesn't cause it, but rather allows it. But, isn't allowing part of causing? If I see something bad happening to a person and have the power to stop it, but instead stand there letting it happen, aren't I just as guilty?

When Adam and Eve were created, they lived in a perfect world, Eden. After they were tempted by Satan and disobeyed God, they were chased out of Eden and thereafter they and their descendants lived in an imperfect world where there was suffering...Blame it on Adam and Eve! +5

wheres the logic? If he gives us free will, then what is to stop us from CHOSING to harm others? PEOPLE CHOSE to harm others, that is not Gods fault. It is the fault of those who do wrong against other people.

Either the christian version of god does not exist, or it is just as falliable and prone to unstable emotions as the mankind it created.

I question things also.If you always believed in Jesus and ask why is there suffering in the world.Well Jesus,suffered greatly on the cross.Jesus suffered for our sins.I guess what I'm trying to say is I suppose we have to believe the same way Jesus did on the cross.