gives to the agent power of choice between alternate actions, and how he will exercise that power is something which God cannot control while the agent is free. It is a good thing that there exist free agents, but a logically necessary consequence of their existence is that their power to choose to do evil actions may sometimes be realized. [1] Although God may allow for the suffering of his children, he uses evil to bring us both to moral perfection and to himself.The bible states that Jesus Christ endured great suffering to learn obedience to the father. (Hebrews 5:8) Christians considered Jesus as a perfect being who had to overcome the horrendous evils that others bestowed upon him. Like Jesus Christ, though we are far from perfect, we too must suffer the evils of this world to develop more character and build a personal relationship with God.An atheist view, such as J.L. Mackies Evil and Omnipotence, will argue that an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God would never allow evil and suffering among his children. People like Mackie claim that God cannot be an omnibenevolent God because he could have made good without evil and chose not to do so or either God just simply does not exist. Although I disagree with this view, I understand why horrendous evil and needless suffering may be incomprehensible to someone who may not have a personal relationship with God. For example, one might ask why there are such circumstances where children are kidnapped, tortured and killed. If there were an all knowing, all powerful and wholly good God, he would not allow for such circumstances. If God were allowed to permit such horrific suffering of children, one would like to know what morally sufficient reason he has for allowing them to suffer. I will admit that there is no single, simple answer to this question. Although I dont have a specific answer for any specific case, I can only attempt generalized answers. I believe any sufficient theod...
