Reply #15: When Bad Things Happen To Good People by Harold Kushner -etc

[papau]

The problem of evil is explained by Augustine as evil being nothing - all things come from God, God is good, so all things that come from Him are good, so the absence of good means evil is ultimately a form of nothing. Maimonidies argues that evil must be because it is part of human nature if we are to have senses one can not live a life free from pain if there is no pain(or evil). And for those that believe God acts in our life moment by moment, the logic is that God gives us free will, will not interfere with it, and if we as humans chose to do evil, then we will be justly punished, and if we chose to do what our nature intended us to, which is good, then we will be rewarded, and indeed that is how one earns heaven.

And Plagiarized from Kushner:

But why do bad things happen to good people? With free will God is not all-powerful, but is good, and does not cause the suffering. With free will the ordering of the universe is not complete: Some things are just circumstantial, and there is no point in looking for a reason for them. Some suffering is caused by the workings of natural law without moral judgment involved--natural law is blind, and God does not interfere with it. Suffering that is caused by the actions of evil people results again from free will allowing us to be human - and if we could not do evil, we would be less human. After our initial suffering we can make it worse by blaming ourselves, blaming those around us trying to help, or by blaming God. Free will also means God didn't cause our problems and can't fix them, and only give us the strength of character that we need to handle our misfortunes, if we are willing to accept it. We like Job must forgive God for not making a better world, reach out to the people around us, and go on living despite it all."