Explain two ways in which the problem of evil and suffering influences Christians today. [4 marks]

• One way the problem of evil and suffering influences Christians is by reminding them that they have free will.

• God did not put moral evil into the world.

• He gave humans free will out of love, and some of them choose to use it to do moral evil and create suffering.

• So the presence of moral evil reminds Christians that they always have a choice about how to live.

• Another way the problem of evil and suffering influences Christians is by reminding them that God is beyond their understanding.

• To many people it seems like the world is full of natural evil: disasters that kill people for no purpose.

• But Christians know that God has a plan for the world, and that what seems like ‘natural evil’ to us is actually part of God’s plan.