Overview and Objectives

The Bible is painfully honest. It shows Jacob, the father of its “chosen people,” to be a deceiver. It describes Moses, the lawgiver, as an insecure, reluctant leader, who, in his first attempt to come to the aid of his own people, killed a man, and then ran for his life to the desert. It portrays David not only as Israel’s most loved king, general, and spiritual leader, but as one who took another man’s wife and then, to cover his own sin, conspired to have her husband killed. At one point, the Scriptures accuse the people of God, the nation of Israel, as being so bad that they made Sodom and Gomorrah look good by comparison (Ezekiel 16:46-52). The Bible represents human nature as hostile to God. It predicts a future full of trouble. It teaches that the road to heaven is narrow and the way to hell is wide. Scripture was clearly not written for those who want simple answers or an easy, optimistic view of religion and human nature.

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Explain why love can only be given by freedom of will.
• Explain why suffering and evil is rooted in how we exercise the freedom we have.
• Explain our privilege, responsibility, and boundaries related to suffering.

As you proceed through this lesson have the following question in mind.
As a parent, do you help or hurt your children by continually protecting them? How can you protect them from danger without shielding them from the necessary consequences of their wrong choices?