DEAR ALL I AM THE MOST PATHETIC OF CHRISTIANS YOU WILL EVER MEET AND HAVE FAILED MY GOD TERRIBLY.
THERE IS NOTHING AMAZING ABOUT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY,JUST THAT I WOKE THE OTHER DAY AND HEARD SOME TERRIBLE NEWS, AS WE DO MOST DAYS, BUT INSTEAD OF
SINKING INTO GLOOM, I EXPERIENCED A DEFINATE FEELING OF COMFORT AND HOPE DERIVED IM SURE FROM MY LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF CHRISTIANITY,I ALSO FEEL I HAVE THE STRENGTH AND ENERGY TO SOLDIER ON AND IN MY OWN PATHETIC WAY TRY TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.ITS GREAT TO FIND SITES LIKE JOHN LENNOX AND ANOTHER ONE I FOUND IS GARY HABERMAS,I JUST LOVE SO MUCH TO FEED ON THIER WISDOM AND LEARNING,SO A MASSIVE THANKS TO JOHN,GARY,AND ALL THE REST WHO WORK SO HARD TO PROMOTE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
CHEERS,FROM BERT

Evil and suffering both point to the fact that our relationship with God is temporarily broken. (If you believe yourself to be without sin, please submit three references including a close relative.) By creating time, he has put a limit on it. But because of his patience and long-suffering He has not put an end to it - YET.

When Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with their Creator, they were protected from all natural harm and evil. After the fall, they were escorted out of the garden, their relationship with God broken, though not eternally (in light of the Bible’s first prophecy regarding the Messiah and the Serpent).

God could have ended all evil and suffering when it first appeared. But think about it. We ought to be thankful that he didn’t. We would never have had a chance to taste life, nor have the promise of eternal life without death, evil, and suffering (Revelation 21). As it is, our current suffering is not worthy to be compared with what is to be revealed.

If one really wants to understand the question of evil and suffering, one should begin at the foot of the cross where our perfectly innocent Saviour and Redeemer suffered once for all that we might receive the gift of eternal life (rather than what we really deserve - see the 3 references above).

Why was Jesus’ passion and death necessary? Surely if there had been another way, God would have taken a different path.

Love met justice on the cross in order that our suffering would be temporary our life eternal and we would be restored to a perfect and loving relationship with God.