God is responsible for everything that happens in the universe

The idea of God being responsible for everything within the universe is disputed both within religion itself and outside of religion. The Bible assures that God has onmiqualities, which suggest that nothing happens outside of Gods control. But it also states that some things happen which are not part of God’s will. If God is responsible, then why do we pray if God is in control of future events or have free will? In order to disagree with this statement, it could then God must be responsible for evil.

However for many Christians, this is not the case, as God is not capable of evil.

In the Bible, God is considered to be eternally or perfectly good and the source of all goodness. Because of this, God is neither capable of bad or tempted by evil. Due to God being omnibenevolent and perfectly good, God cannot be responsible for any bad which happens. Many would argue that if God is omnibenevolent, he wouldn’t cause pain or suffering, because an all loving God, to cause such evil contradicts the benevolent quality of God.

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However, it is often said that God causes suffering, such as the death of a loved one, in order to teach humanity a lesson.

In this case it might be to make the deceased’s family and friend value life and encourages us to live life to its full and not take living a happy and healthy life for granted. By causing evils such as natural disasters, God could be seen to be teaching humans to care for the vulnerable.

Pain and suffering makes for better people, which could be seen as God’s intention. Suggesting that God is responsible for everything which happens, even evil, as the negatives only highlight the positives.

Another argument against this statement is free will, given to man by God. It’s impossible for God to be responsible for everything that humans do, if they employ free will. Free will implies that people make their own decisions, as to how to act. Therefore making themselves responsible for their own actions, instead of God. This however only makes God not responsible for humanity’s actions and not animals, as they have not been given the freedom of choice, as they don’t have the ability to reason.

The creation stories in Genesis could be used in order to suggest that God is responsible for all that happens. This is because God is the ultimate creator. He is described as having created every aspect of the universe, including the land and sea. With regard to humans, in Genesis 2, God bring Adam into existence by breathing into his nostrils “breathed the breath of life into his nostrils”. By depicting God as the creator of the universe and everything in it, he is therefore responsible for everything in it.

Just a tailor would be responsible for anything which might happen to the suit he made, with regards to its design, God is responsible for what happens to humanity and the universe as the creator. Against the idea of God been the creator of everything is that there are several things in the Bible, which have seemingly not been created. For example the darkness, which was chaos before the beginning of time. So to presume that God created everything, could be viewed as somewhat contradictory.

The Devil is another example of something in the Bible which was not created. Therefore, if God did not create everything, God cannot be responsible for everything that happens. In conclusion, for many Christians, it is reassuring to know that everything which has happened, has happened in God’s will. And that therefore there’s a reason for both good and bad to occur. But for others in disagreement, the argument of pain and suffering is one of the strongest in suggesting that God is not responsible for all that happens.