The above original image is sourced to Christian Post.
In February 2017, an interviewer on Irish television asked Stephen Fry, “You walk up to the Pearly Gates and you are confronted by God. What would Stephen Fry say to Him, Her, or It?” Mr. Fry responded, “I think I’d say, ‘Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare You? How dare You create such a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It’s not right. It’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain? Because the God who created the universe, if it was created by God, is quite clearly a maniac, utter maniac, totally selfish.”
Mr. Fry allows that God created the universe.
Does he really believe this? He hints that it may not be so. If there is no God, then for Mr. Fry to severely criticize and blame a non-existent being is a waste of time. We appeared out of nothing, hence there is no one to blame with wrongdoing. That’s the moral conclusion of evolution: There is no moral standard outside of what is to appeal to. What is, is right, simply because it is. Mr. Fry is wrong to waste hostility on nothing.
But Mr. Fry is morally outraged by God and blames Him for disease, suffering and death. Since he allows that God created the world and blames Him for what is wrong, this is why Mr. Fry is wrong.
If you allow that the universe was created by God, then you must admit that He made human beings.
You must admit that the first man and woman disobeyed God and incurred the penalty. God said they would die if they disobeyed Him. Since they did disobey of their own free will, Mr. Fry is wrong to blame God.
Should God have made robots who could not disobey? Then you can’t know the possibility of love, because for love to have meaning, there must be choice. God gives everyone a real choice.
Should God have said, “You chose wrong, therefore I am nullifying your choice.”? That removes freedom. We’re back to being robots. Where Mr. Fry is most wrong is his position that he knows better than God. Does he really know everything? Is he eternal? Is he perfect?
Before Mr. Fry appeals to a universal moral standard, he had better realize that a universal, moral standard applies to him as well. Does Mr. Fry act with complete moral purity? Does he steal? Does he tell lies? Does he love his fellow man in tangible, actual ways? Does he think about anyone other than himself? Has he caused hurt in others merely because he was acting in self-interest? Every person knows that they do immoral things. God says every man sinned and falls short of His glory. For Mr. Fry to know what is right but not apply it to himself is to know the truth but suppress it in unrighteousness. “It’s okay for me to do it, but it is wrong for everybody else.” This is wrong.
Mr. Fry can criticize God for bone cancer in children, but he himself is powerless to do anything productive to heal it.
Unlike Mr. Fry, God has done something about bone cancer in children. He sent His only Son to take the consequences of sin upon Himself, so that anyone who comes to Jesus Christ and asks can receive eternal life, forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. This offer even applies to Mr. Fry. God forgives those who hate Him without a cause if they come to Him through Jesus Christ. Jesus, who is the Son of God, denied Himself to save people who are far below Him. It is worthy to think of the suffering of others and relieve their suffering. Mr. Fry disregards this amazing compassion and self-denial. It is wrong to ignore Jesus Christ.
Mr. Fry does not offer any options for what would have been a better way. He is morally outraged but is content to severely criticize from his high, moral throne. But this is wrong. If a terrorist bombs a building built by an architect, do you say the architect doesn’t exist; and then blame the architect for the ruined building? But that is what he is doing.
If God doesn’t exist, Stephen Fry is wrong. If God exists, Stephen Fry is wrong.
