We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Why did God create me to be a pedophile?
Question: Since the first time I experienced a sex drive it’s been directed towards little children. I’ve never acted on this, for I know it’s wrong. But it torments me. Why would God created me with pedophile cravings?
Answer: I’m so sorry for your condition and greatly respect the fact that you have committed yourself to never acting on your pedophiliac cravings.
I don’t doubt that you were born with these tendencies. You certainly didn’t choose them. Yet, I also don’t believe God created you this way.
We are born into a fallen, oppressed world. A great deal about our basic natures is corrupted from the start. Some are born with physical disorders, others with mental or psychological disorders, and all of us to some degree with spiritual disorders. These disorders then interact with our environment (social upbringing) which itself is fallen and oppressed. This isn’t by Gods’ design. It’s due to the fact that humanity is in a state of rebellion and is oppressed by Satan and the fallen Powers. The whole creation is polluted with this diabolic influence. Nothing works exactly the way it’s supposed to.
Fortunately, our genes and environment don’t determine us, though they do strongly influence us. With God’s grace, we are able to choose to pursue a thought life and behavioral life that honors God. This may require tremendous sacrifice. But everything about the Kingdom requires sacrifice, for the Kingdom always looks like Jesus, manifesting the beauty of God’s character by dying on a cross.
I encourage you to seek out counseling if you haven’t done so already. I hope you get completely healed, but I can’t promise that you will. This may simply be a cross you have to carry. But I can promise you that, if you surrender your cravings completely to Christ and pledge to living in his way with passion, his grace will be sufficient to see you through and he’ll make your sacrifice more than worth it.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Christian Life, Problem of Evil, Providence, Q&A, Sexuality, Sin
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, Sin, The Problem of Evil
Related Reading

Process Theology & Open Theism: What’s the Difference?
Question: When ReKnew talks about Open Theism is it a mistake for people to equate it with Process theology, and if so what are the defining differences? I guess I am starting to lean toward Dr. Boyd’s thoughts for all things theologically egg-heady, so I thought I would ask the question. Your ministry has been freeing…

Shouldn’t preachers rally Christians to fight political injustice?
Question: My pastor has publicly supported your book The Myth of a Christian Nation. But he’s recently called on the church to take a stand against the injustice of our local government cutting funding for inner city recreational facilities. This seems right to me, since we’re suppose to defend the cause of the poor and…

Non-Violence and Police Protection
Scott Davidson via Compfight Question: I am a President of a State University. As a frequent podcaster of your sermons and reader of your books, I’m seeking your advice on a matter. Because our campus is some distance from the police headquarters in our city, many within the State University are arguing that we should…

Is Suffering Part of God’s Secret Plan?
In the Christian tradition since Augustine, the most common explanation for the apparent arbitrariness of life and God’s interaction with humanity has been God’s mysterious will—his “secret plan,” as Calvin says. Whether or not a child is born healthy or a wife is killed by an intruder is ultimately decided by God. If we ask…

Is There Room for Doubt in Faith?
Many Christians today assume that faith is the antithesis of doubt. In this view, a person’s faith is thought to be strong to the extent that they don’t question their beliefs or struggle with God in whom they believe. As widespread as this view is, I believe it is unbiblical and profoundly unhelpful. My experience…

How do you respond to Romans 11:36?
“For from him [God] and through him and to him are all things.” Calvinists sometimes cite this doxology as evidence that Paul believed that every single event in world history was from, through and for God. In light of the fact that the verses leading up to this doxology address God’s genuine frustration with Israel’s…