Evil

[ClaireBear]

Hi! I have a question (well, a couple actually) regarding evil/wrongdoing, and it's place in God's plan. I know that we were created with a free will, so that we could (freely) choose to follow/not follow Christ. I don't think that God intended for there to be evil in the world at all. I was thinking about abortion (and how many children have been killed since it was legalized), and about how those children would have fit into our world. What if, for example, the future Pope, or a saint was aborted? Maybe a future president, priest, or even some children who would have been our spouses? Is it all a part of God's plan, or did He have to "rearrange" our futures to accommodate for our country's wrongdoing? Did God know it was going to be like that from the beginning? A friend of mine recently went on his first retreat and had a pretty drastic life change- he stopped drinking, drugs... that kind of stuff. He made a lot of mistakes before the retreat, but I almost feel through sharing his conversion with others, he's going to bring a lot of people (his old friends in particular) closer to Christ- and I think that's really awesome. However, was that all a part of what God [i]really[/i] had planned for his life- mistakes included? Or did God just know he was going to use his free will to make those mistakes from the beginning?

Sorry if this is kind of confusing, and if it's too confusing to answer I completely understand, I just thought I'd give it a try. Thanks !

[BLAZEr]

Hey Claire,

This is Steve Sanchez, I'm gonna try and help you understand this a little:

First, you have to understand that the Will of God is twofold. There is God's Active Will and his Permissive Will.

God's Active Will are things that we would call "graces" or "gifts" for instance, Creation is a gift (God did not HAVE to make us) but he actively chooses to Create. He chooses to love. He Chooses to forgive. He chooses to be born of Mary, etc.

There is also God's Permissive Will. These are things that God does not actively will but allows to happen. Sin fits in this category. God allows sin, he allows us to use our free will to make bad choices, he allows evil, but he does not actively will it. The reason that God has a permissive will is because he actively wills for us to have freedom. This freedom comes with the consequence of its possible abuse.

Now, God also knows that there is nothing he permits which cannot also have good come out of it. So even though he may permit evil, it is also possible that good may come. St. Paul says it this way: "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more." In other words, God doesn't permit that sin should have the last word, or the only word. His active will for our good is still very much present (even more intensely) where there is a rejection of his will.

Your friend's situation is a good example. God did not actively will for your friend to make bad decisions, but he allowed those things to happen, perhaps knowing that when your friend encountered Christ he would be more on fire, more grateful for the Grace of His presence in our lives. God allowed evil so that a great good migh come, but God never chooses evil. In fact, God would be quite pleased, quite happy if there was never any sin. But despite sin, God does great things and makes great things happen.

Peace!