>I have a LOT of problems
>with Christianity...I was raised in
>the faith and even went
>to a Christian school.
>My problem is:
>
>EVIL- I don't undersand why it
>exists and apparently neither do
>a bunch of pastors my
>mom's had me talk to.
>Was god just bored so
>he decided to make a
>universe and people on a
>planet just to show how
>"great" he is?

First, we've got to understand that God didn't decide to make evil. Evil is a by-product of decisions. People make the mistake of seeing God as some sick sadist that just sits and makes up ill ways to screw over humans only to get them out of jams and puff his proverbial chest. Not so. Evil was a result of a decision, meaning this. All of God's creation with souls (humans and angels, soul is the mind, emotions, and will. see the word psychology, psyche - soul, logy - study, the study of the soul . . .). Surely you've heard the story of Lucipher and his fall due to pride. God's original plan was for the Garden to be the way things were, but again, a decision to disobey restrictions allowed the consequences of sin to enter the world. Now, contrary to popular belief, God doesn't have control over everything that every person does, If that were the case, there would be no such thing as free will. The potential of evil was always here because free will is the basis of relationship, which is all God seeks from all of us. But the problem is, people can choose to go in a different direction from God, and evil tends to be the result. Hope that helped some, if not post again.

And to
>prove how "great" he is,
>to make the decision of
>good or bad on that
>planet so that he would
>show his "love" by sending
>his son to die for
>us? And why couldn't god
>just fast forward this terrible
>time on earth and just
>make his followers in heaven??

if he did that, how would he know who his followers were? Contrary to popular belief, God is very practical. If you can understand that relationship with God is predicated on free will and that God makes NO ONE do ANYTHING, then you will understand that Christ was not a boast of power, but an act of love. it was a way for bad decisions to be paid for and go away. Study in Law and the role of the scapegoat, the sacrifical lamb for passover, and the Sacrifice of Atonement (LEviticus 16:20-28, 16:1-19, and Exodus 12, in that order). Christ was the fulfillment of all of these. The Old testament is an incredible typology of Jesus. He told the Pharisees "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39). Remember that the New testament did not exist when he said this, therefore, he was speaking of the Law, Psalms, Proverbs, the History books and the Prophets, or in short, the Old Testament. I'm saying that God didn't want us to be forced to love or have intimate relationship with him because, if we really think about it, who wants a mate that's only with them because they're scared of what'll happen to them if they're not with them (see, people only saved for fear of hell), or because they were forced into it?

>Which brings us to another
>thing...if he already knows I'm
>going to hell, why did
>he make me and countless
>others? Sure, we have the
>choice to love him or
>leave him, but if he
>already knows the end why
>make us suffer more.

Again, back to free will. Who says that you're going to hell? True, there will be people in hell, but for the most part it will be by there own decisions as to whether or not accept Christ. For arguments, sake IF there is a hell (I do believe in hell), how many there do you think still don't believe Christ isn't who he says he is (food for thought). Anyway, it is my personal belief that God doesn't look at everyone and say "This one's going to Heaven, this one to hell." God gave everyone the choice to either accept Christ or not. Christ died for everyone (see I John 2:2), not just believers. Therefore if EVERYONE didn't have a chance, his death was incomplete. This how I see it, God knows all things, but he hasn't experienced all things. To me this means that he knows every possible choice that you can make, but ahsn't experienced you making a choice on everything. Remember Isaac? Abraham was about to sacrifice him and God told him to stop, saying that he knew that Abraham reverenced God and put nothing before him because he was willing to sacrifice his son for him. The word know in that scripture is the Hebrew Word "yadah", meaning to know intimately and be experience, not just by knowledge (incidently, it's also the word that is used for sex, like when a man knew a woman).

>Just look at the news....I become
>soooo depressed and often even
>cry reading the newspaper. There
>is so much hate in
>this world and I really
>don't see why god needed
>us.
>If you can give me the
>answers to my questions I'll
>gladly accept Christianity again.

I hope I've at least shedded some light on your dilemma. I don't claim to know everything. If you want, you can email me at hortoninc@hotmail.com and we can build more and I can try to get a bit more in-depth with you and answer whatever questions you have. In the meantime, I will pray for you that God lead you and guide you.

Peace

Apocalypse

"When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable . . ."