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Ask Pastor John

Would God Have Been More Loving Not to Create Anyone?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.83.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2020

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If God knew before he created the world that millions of people would suffer eternally in hell, would he have been more loving not to create at all?

Transcript

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0:00.0

Well, the Bible says a lot of bold things, and it raises all sorts of heavy topics and

0:08.7

perplexing questions for us to consider.

0:10.9

And one of the heaviest questions is this.

0:12.9

In comparison to eternal judgment on many, wouldn't it have been more loving for no one

0:19.1

to have been created in the first place?

0:22.2

It's a question from a podcast listener named Jonathan, and certainly a question others

0:25.7

have wondered about too.

0:27.0

Hello, Pastor John, so grateful for your ministry and for this podcast.

0:30.2

I know there are some questions we will not get answered on this side of eternity, and

0:33.8

I believe my question may be one of them, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

0:38.3

If God knew that the majority of humanity would reject him and end up in eternal torment,

0:45.5

wouldn't it have been kinder or more merciful to not create them in the first place?

0:51.4

I suppose the Apostle Paul's response would be Romans 920, but indeed, oh man, who are

0:55.6

you to reply against God?

0:57.6

Will the thing forum say to him who formed it?

1:00.1

Why have you made me like this?

1:02.1

So I guess Paul is saying, in other words, God is not taking a vote on what he should

1:05.9

or shouldn't do.

1:06.9

And I guess that leaves us to simply trust and believe that his foreknowledge of most

1:10.2

of humanity's future, eternal damnation, doesn't compromise his character in creating

1:15.5

them anyway.

1:17.2

Is there anything more to say here?

...

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