Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Having taught Sunday school for the better part of 25 years, you’d think I’d know better than to start a class – especially a college class – with “Any questions?”

“This may not be that original,” offered up my lone student recently, “but I’ve been wondering lately why bad things keep happening to good people.”

True. His question wasn’t that original. But how can anyone read about some senseless act of violence or see floodwaters covering entire counties and not wonder what’s behind such awful events?

I should have had a ready answer. After all, it’s not like this was the first time I’d been asked this question. But instead I found myself being unexpectedly candid – both with my student and with myself. “I can’t say for sure,” I admitted, “but I’d be happy to explore the topic together, if that’s OK with you.”

Mind you, this was an exceptionally bright young man, who I knew would likely be as game for this sort of discussion as he would a sail around the bay. I also knew that it wasn’t my job to convince him of anything, simply to encourage him to consider the possibilities.

So we began.

I recalled a radio program I’d heard that included a panel of Christian leaders discussing the significance of the Book of Revelation (aka “The Apocalypse”), which includes the mythical battle between the forces of good and evil. At first there seemed to be a consensus that the purpose of this story was to illustrate that, ultimately, good is more powerful than evil. But one panelist – a minister of some denomination I can’t recall – offered another interpretation.

“My sense is that the Book of Revelation isn’t so much about proving that good is more powerful than evil,” he said, “but that good is the only power.”

While this conversation didn’t provide a complete answer to the question at hand, it did afford us a compelling starting point: What if God, good, really were the only power governing the universe, and everyone in it? Would this fact – even the admission of this fact – make any real difference in our lives?

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Eric Nelson writes each week on the link between consciousness and health from his perspective as a practitioner of Christian Science. He also serves as the media and legislative spokesperson for Christian Science in Northern California. Follow him on Twitter @norcalcs.