Over the centuries, people from around the world have shared a desire to know and understand Truth. This search for the fundamental reality of things has taken many forms and has yielded a staggering array of religions, philosophies, and theories of life. In spite of the variety of beliefs, there are a number of common elements among many of today's religions.
One common teaching is the existence of a single, self-existent, perfect Supreme Being. But a problem facing religious thinkers from time immemorial is how to reconcile the concept of an all-good and all-powerful Deity with the apparent distresses and disasters observable in daily life. Some contend that because God is All, He must be responsible for everything evil as well as good, and that this explains the existence of hatred, suffering, and death. Unfortunately, this belief does not preserve the concept of God as entirely good. Others believe that there is a power separate from God, called Satan, devil, or evil, which actively opposes good. In this case, however, one must sacrifice the idea that God is all-powerful. Another view is that God, while all good and all-powerful, nevertheless refrains from involvement in His creation to such an extent that it is allowed to deteriorate and ultimately to destroy itself.
A common element in all of this is an assumption that the painful experiences of human existence are real and substantial. If they are real, they must somehow be reconciled with God's nature, even if doing so compromises the grandeur, wholeness, and perfection of God.
