Why Does God Not Stop War, Bishop Fulton J Sheen

This is an excerpt from a homily given by Bishop Fulton Sheen on March 3, 1942 (Note 1). The war in question was WW II. The war started on September 1, 1939. The US entered the war on December 8, 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Here Sheen gives what he believes is the reason that God does not stop war.

The Divine Cost Of Stopping War (Note 2)
“In this chapter, we enter into the very heart of the question: “Why does God not stop the war?” The answer is to be found in another question, namely: “What would be the divine cost of stopping this war?” The answer is, God would have to destroy human freedom.

“This needs some explanation. Let us begin with this fact: this is not the only kind of world God could have made. He could have made a world without freedom. He could have so fashioned us that we would have been good with the same necessity with which the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We might all have been saintly with the same necessity with which the lily is white, or fire is hot, or ice is cold.

“But God willed not to make a mechanical universe, peopled by programmed automata. Rather He chose to communicate to us something of Himself, namely His Freedom — not in the same degree of perfection, of course, but enough of it so that saying no would give charm and meaning to a yes when we freely chose to say it.

“In other words, God chose to make a moral universe, where characters would emerge by the right use of freedom — a universe where there would be patriots because men might be traitors. A universe like a nation, like a battlefield, where there would be heroes because men might be cowards. A universe like the Church, where there would be saints because men might also be devils.

“There is no epic story for the certainties of life and no lyric (of the heart) without the suspense of sorrow and the sigh of fear. No watchful love hovers over the invulnerable, nor is a crown of merit suspended over those who do not fight. Take this quality of freedom away from man and there would be no more reason to honor the bravery and fortitude of martyrs and soldiers, than to honor the flames or the bullets which sent them to their death. God willed to make a moral universe of praise and blame, but this could be done only by making men captains and masters of their own fate and destiny.

“There is one word which sums up God’s plan in making the universe, and that is love. God made each heart capable of love. But love implies a choice. A heart that loves must be a heart to give or to keep. Because, therefore, God willed to make us so we could love Him in this world, He had to make us free. But if He made us free to love, He had to make it possible for us to be free to hate.

“The universe thus became populated with free wills, little gods, each armed with a reflection of God’s freedom. That some of these little gods would steer wrongly was inevitable, for they had not God’s Wisdom. That some of them would be rebellious was inevitable, for, being free, they could make a false declaration of independence and become like little foolish rays of the sun attempting to make themselves independent of the sun.

“The fact that we come from God would not necessarily release us from the evil effects of such rebellion any more than because a child is the son of a king he is immune from drowning if he disobeys and goes into the whirlpool. God gave us the power to rebel that there might be meaning and honor in our allegiance when we freely choose to give it.

“After giving us that freedom, God pledged Himself never to destroy it, regardless of how many petulant souls would shriek against Him: “Why does God not stop the war?” God could challenge us, overrule us, permit us to be visited by the consequences of our misdeeds. But He would never destroy that great gift of freedom.”

Note 1: The homily was included in a collection of Sheen’s messages entitled War and Peace: A Fulton Sheen Anthology.
Note 2: War and Peace: A Fulton Sheen Anthology, Chapter 9, Adapted.