Why would God allow people (especially children) to be raped and murdered or suffer terrible diseases?
This is a concept that many people struggle with and the subject of a 3-hour seminar, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People, recorded by the Tucson Community Church, available on DVD and VHS video (NTSC format). If you are interested in purchasing a copy, you can get one directly from the church that produces them at the Tucson Community Church website. They also handle international orders. What follows is a brief answer. We need to understand that the entity who holds the power of death is Satan. We learn this in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 (Heb 2:14). How did he get this power? It was handed over to him when Adam and Eve decided to cooperate with him (by disobeying God) in the Garden of Eden. Later, Satan implied that the Earth was his, and Jesus did not contest that fact in Matthew 4:8,9. We also know from 1 John 5:19 that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. We also know that Satan is constantly looking for someone to hurt or destroy (1 Peter 5:8). From the text,
