Why does God allow animals to suffer?

Answer 1

What I believe is that suffering is just a result of free will. God grants us free will, and allows us to choose. This freedom that he grants us necessitates that he not interfere in our lives, because that would be contrary to allowing us free will. He knows that some of our choices will be bad, that some people will suffer because of it, and that allowing us to come to Earth and learn is allowing us to suffer pain and anguish... but he does all this so that we will learn happiness and joy along with the grief. We can't know joy without knowing pain if we want to really know the universe... and God wants us to learn and become more than we are.

Answer 2

by no means do i claim to know the answer to this question, but maybe God allows suffering because it is in times of pain that most people can clearly and intensely focus on God and ask for His help.

Maybe Spinoza was right when he said that even if there is a God one can rest assured that he will not interfere in men's affairs or something to that effect.

Answer 3

This question was answered by Lance Morrow, who raised it in Time magazine in 1991. He stated three propositions:

1. God is all-powerful
2. God is all-good
3. Terrible things happen

Morrow said that you could agree with any two of these propositions, but not all three.

Answer 4

Consider the two following quotes, which seem to clash. One is Isaiah 45:7, which clearly states that God "creates evil." The second is Lamentations 3:38, which says "from the mouth of the Most High, evil...did not result."

The answer to the contradiction may be seen in a third verse, Proverbs 19:3, which says "the foolishness of a man corrupts his way, yet his anger is directed against God." Meaning, that while some evil or suffering is undoubtedly created by God (such as the death of an infant), a lot of suffering is the result of humans' choices. God has given us the gift of free-will (Deuteronomy 30:15-20); and without the possibility of bad results, free-will would be vitiated.

Entire books (such as Job) have long ago been written about the existence of suffering. Suffice it to say that Judaism sees the existence of evil as a test, and/or the result of our own (humans') bad choices, and/or a warning (such as pain, which shows you what part of your body needs repair) or a message (Genesis 42:22), and/or mere misinterpretation (such as the bee's sting, which to a child is unmitigated evil but which adults recognize as a protection for that insect which pollinates all fruit-bearing trees).

In any case, this life was never meant to be a walk in the park. People are meant to invest hard effort in this world (see Job 5:7), and suffering is a factor which should assist us in gaining understanding.

Suffering teaches us:

• our mistakes (Genesis 42:22)
  
• to repent
  
• that we are not all-powerful or in control
  
• that this life is not meant to be uninterrupted pleasure
  
• to have sympathy for sufferers (Exodus 23:9)
  
• humility; maturity; acceptance; fortitude.

Also, when viewed in the context of the afterlife, when worthy people who suffered may be recompensed and the prosperous wicked will have the opposite, the apparent injustices of this world become easier to understand.

Answer 5

The answer is found in chapter three of Genesis (the first book of The Bible) . God did not intend for there to be suffering for people, but with sin comes suffering. And the ultimate suffering comes after death -- for those who haven't received new life in Christ. No suffering on earth can compare to what Hell has in store. On the other hand, Romans 8:18 says: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Jesus came to Earth to suffer for us. 1 Peter 4:13 says (to Christians): "..rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Answer 6

There are several possibilities. If god exists:

• He doesn't know people are suffering, so he is not all knowing
  
• He doesn't care that people are suffering, so he is not all caring
  
• He knows and cares but can't do anything, so he isn'y omnipotent
  
• He knows and could fix things but doesn't want to, si he's pretty much a jerk
  

The Greeks and Romans wondered the same thing. They concluded that the gods troubled humanity pretty much for their amusement.