Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

   This perennial question is particularly relevant in light of the current Ebola situation. Looking at this from a Biblical perspective will offend many but that is to be expected.
    Apart from the goodness of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God's perspective is that we are not good people. The belief that people are inherently good and that their problems arise from their environment or some other outside source is a central tenet of secular humanism. The Bible does not agree.
     In the time of Noah, God "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) Romans 1:18 begins a long passage that reads as an indictment as a prosecuting attorney would bring charges in a court of law. "For the wrath of God is revealed  from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." Verse 29 relates specific charges. "They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless." Similar lists are found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:1-4.
   Titus 3:3 says "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. In a similar passage in Romans 3: 10-18, the Bible says "None is righteous, no, not one... no one does good, not even one. The Scriptural view of reality is that we are not good people apart from the righteousness of Christ received through repentance and faith.
    What about bad things? If a person who has steadfastly rejected Christ becomes infected with Ebola, for example, and as a result, repents of their sin, disobedience and independence from God, then even if they succumb and die, this represents God's mercy as that person will enjoy "pleasures at His right hand forevermore." (Psalm 16:11) Should a Christian contract this disease, their inner peace, steadfastness with Christ, and hope of the future with Jesus could influence some who do not believe to receive Christ.
    From a Biblical perspective the question in the title above is invalid.