Why Does God Allow Suffering

And if God is God, why is He letting us suffer?” (1) The lifelong quest for answers to these questions shaped his theology

This is a huge issue that most Christians need to come to the realization of. Christians in this modern day think that just because they are followers of Jesus Christ and he is their Lord and Savior…that they won’t have any problems in their live. They believe they shouldn’t have to suffer because they belong to the Lord, but if they only knew how false of a statement that truly is. Every single glorious day, a Christian will be met with a new temptation; and this as Bonhoeffer so eloquently puts, “is another kid of suffering and shame which the Christian is not spared ”. The reason for that is simpler than we make it actually; Jesus Christ has suffered and borne the sins of the world.

The Problem and Purpose of Pain Identifying the problem with pain is fairly simple according to Lewis, explaining the purpose of pain not so much. In chapter one Lewis tells us that the problem with pain is the fact that we as Christians have to try to make it fit into our belief system and that fact “creates, rather than solves, the problem of pain.” (C. Lewis) It also means that as Christians, we are left facing the dilemma of trying to explain how we serve an all-loving, all- powerful, benevolent God who despite His benevolence allows us to suffer. How can I do this?

Stump’s two constraints of suffering, argues Draper, could not be taken place automatically in human experience. There is a group of people who cannot be justified by the negative benefit of harm prevention since they are sufficiently far away from the process of sanctification, and from the treatment of permanent separation with God. There are also those who do not consent to suffer for the future benefit of deeper union with God . Moreover, it is quite difficult to know how God knows exactly the human reaction to situations of suffering before allowing

But I-I was a wretch, and none ever conceived of the misery that I then endured (110). —This passage hopes for the existence of a fair comparison between a creator with understanding of the how to the Created works and the Created. He claims to suffer a fate than no one ever suffered, but religious doctrine shows the necessary endurance that God must have had in order to let humanity be after realizes the

Throughout humanity, the idea of suffering played a major role in human lives, in some cases by ending it. Nevertheless, according to popular religious traditions, the first humans, Adam and Eve, were placed on Earth to suffer for their sins in a life of misery. All humans are a part of this “original sin,” thus there is no such thing as innocent humans suffering in the world. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Popular religious themes are centered on the idea of continual suffering in life, like the Israelites who continued to suffer through the Holocaust.

Throughout Harper’s book and Kheiyn’s article, I found five main points that stood out to me in relating to helping me understand why bad things happen to good people. First, God did not create pain and suffering, man has through sin and defiance. Second, although suffering is not good, God uses it to achieve good. The third point tells us that the day will come where your misery will no longer exist and God will judge evil. The fourth states that our suffering does not even compare to what God has in store for his followers.

It is a convenient and comforting respond to unfortunate and even devastating ‘fate’. The pain becomes bearable to those who suffer because the idea of all being a part of a bigger plan, it is more than you. However, this concept is built upon an irrational fundamental attitude, “the surrender of self to the ordering power of society,” (54) a problem that Berger expressed his concerns with. Another problem would be that the use of God as a shield works on believers, but not on nonbelievers. The question “why bad things happening to good people” still cannot be answered for the nonbelievers, a common critique of religion itself.

Everyone suffers. This simple fact of life has plagued humans for centuries, perplexing the wisest thinkers down to the most common among us. It demands an explanation, and history has granted us many - often in the form of religion. Buddhism revolves around the concept of suffering, attempting to explain its origin and how to break free of it. It teaches that no matter how righteous a person acts, they will always suffer until they fully achieve enlightenment.

Suffering what a word, it must be apart of our everyday life, especially in war. “Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere”(Wiesel). Geneva was suffering while she was sick, Saranell was with her arm, it’s all over the place even in our life. War can be brutal to everyone especially family with love with

Free-will is arguably the greater good; we would not be humans without it and we would not be a good creation without choice over our own actions. In protection of that greater good, God does not, and should not, get involved in dealing with moral evil and the suffering caused by it. Doing so would subvert our free-will, and ultimately take away our free-will. Since we have the choice whether to do good or evil, God should not be blamed for the actions that humans make. Following from this, God can still be omniscient (God knows that there is evil in the world), omnipotent (God has the ability to stop evil) and omnibenevolent (God does not want evil to exist, but ultimately allows it for our ability to have free-will).

The ultimate answers to man's questions about pain, suffering of the innocent, and death are found in Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection (n. 12). The truth communicated by Christ is the absolutely valid source of the meaning of human life (n. 12). All human creatures, not just philosophers, have the right to receive the truth about their existence and destiny (n. 38). By the revelation of Jesus, God the Father has made the truth available to every man and woman. Jesus Christ is not only the revelation of God to man, he is also the revelation of man to himself.

It is a convenient and comforting respond to unfortunate and even devastating ‘fate’. The pain becomes bearable to those who suffer because it is all part of a bigger plan, it is more than ‘you’. This concept is also built upon an irrational fundamental attitude, “the surrender of self to the ordering power of society.” (54) The problem of theodicy does not end at that.

I personally think that suffering helps us to notice and appreciate true happiness. If we did not feel pain, we would not realize how great life is. Aristotle implies we are able to control our happiness in this way. Once we have experienced suffering we know it eventually passes and life carries

“The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life, the life of the Beloved Sons and daughters of God, is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity” Henri