Pope John Paul II: The Cause Of Suffering

Human suffering is a major topic in both “All Quiet on the Western Front” and in “Civilization and its Discontents”. Sigmund Freud discuses and presents his theory’s on how people and society work and think while Maria Remarque describes the Life of a German solider in World War One. Freud underlines the reasons why humans suffer and Remarque describes a story where these aspect of suffering are present. Suffering is part of everyone’s lives and is present in society for several of reasons. People, their own body’s and the world around them causes suffering. World War One was an event that caused the suffering of millions and Freud’s explanation of suffering can be used to describe the suffering in Maria Remarque’s novel.

One of the major themes of Dante’s Inferno is “Separation from God”. Separation from God Leads to Sorrow. Dante himself said that the main points of his Divine Comedy as a whole was to liberate living human beings from unhappiness and to take them to the state of happiness (Cantos 1-5). The Inferno gives to that purpose in many ways, but possibly most importantly by the way it exemplifies the theme that separation from and denial of the divine "love that moves the sun and the other stars" leads certainly to unhappiness, and the more intentionally one selects to harm oneself in other words suicide, and also harm others in an attempt to get happiness by focusing on the ego instead of on divine love, the more one actually moves away from life

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. The theme of The Mexican Flyboy is also structured around the idea of suffering. In the story, Simon Vegas is obsessed with people who have suffered throughout history and “saves” those victims out of their misery. Even though Simon liberates the victims out of suffering, the historical events like burning of Jesse Washington continue to take place. The idea of saving the individuals is abstract, as it seems like the bodies suffer, while the souls are saved.

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. 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. Regardless of the problem of theodicy, however, religion has worked really well to create and maintain the reality. Berger explains that it is because religion legitimates effectively. “Religion has been the historically most widespread and effective instrumentality of legitimation…. it relates the precarious reality constructions of empirical societies with ultimate reality.”

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. Lastly, we must choose whether to let the pain get the best of us or turn to God for peace and

Leaving Gilead, can be a difficult book to understand at first. But Carr really gets it to flow. The first person you will meet will be Saranell. She is going through life during war, And her sidekick Renney will help her go Along this journey. He father is serving in the civil War, and her mother Geneva couldn 't really care less about Saranell. War has really brought out the worst in Geneva with being a mother. Mother, daughter, and slave must all leave Gilead to find "better" things. While Saranell’s father is serving in the war, she has that feeling down inside that he 's gone and she 'll never see him again. They hit a few bumps in the road as they travel, to meeting Yankee soldiers to losing someone. War brings out the worst in people.

The Cross and the Lynching tree is a recent work from James H. Cone. Currently a Systematic Theology professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, he is renowned as a founder of black liberation theology. In this book, he reflects on the most brutal chapter of white racism in the 20th century America where 5,000 innocent blacks were lynched to death by white mobs. And he tells us how blacks were able to survive the unspeakable reality of violence and torture with faith and hope in Christ. As a witness for blacks who were voiceless and ignored, he speaks out against the white church for saying little about slavery and racial justice. His passion for social justice comes from growing up in Arkansas in the Jim Crow era. The memories of his father and lynch mobs never left him. Black church comforted him, but made him wonder. “If the white churches are Christian, how come they segregate us? And if God is God, why is He letting us suffer?” (1) The lifelong quest for answers to these questions shaped his theology

In the book “On the Order of Things,” Lucretius explains that human beings leave in fear because they chose to. Lucretius further claims that people fail to perceive things the way they should be; as a result, they worry about the things that do not even affect; people look for pleasure and luxury in the wrong places. He further explains that people worry about the things that are not even dangerous and they neglect what is important; for example, people worry about dreadful diseases, but they fail to consider the role the parts of body play in making things real or imaginary. The author also suggests that the mind plays a significant role in the lives

The Thomist philosophy holds the great evil can separate man from God, while the great good is a loving union with God . Stumps, then, underlines suffering as a way to temper the human soul. The account of God’s love and the human desire for unity between God and man are morally sufficient reason for understanding God’s allowing of suffering. So, every act of suffering directly benefits the sufferer, and it is entirely willed by God .

For those perplexed by the overabundance of evil in the world, religion has always provided an avenue for hope, and people throughout history have sought God for understanding, and reconciliation. If God, by definition, is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient, how do we account for the immense suffering, evil, and injustice that exists in the world? Moreover, a world with an astronomical amount of pain and unnecessary suffering? Could such evil exist and the existence of the aforementioned God still be plausible? To address the problem of evil, philosophers and theologians have put forth theodicies,

Having a purpose to live with is one of the important things in life. It is significant because according to Viktor Frankl’s theory of logotherapy, he states that humans should be driven by the search of meanings. If one has a life purpose, it will motivate him or her to take actions, pursue dreams, and ultimately achieve success. Yet, there are circumstances wherein the search of meanings will disappear if an individual encounters feelings of pain, guilt, and death. These feelings will further add on to one’s suffering and impedes him or her to move on in life. Although suffering is what everyone will undergo in lives, one can cope with it if the search for a meaning becomes successful again. For instance, in Bharati Mukherjee’s “The Management

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.

Throughout the story Go Tell it on the Mountain, we see the struggles of a young boy named John. Through seeing his struggle and seeing the struggles of the other characters, the readers see John’s transformation into a religious life. The book shows how large of a rule suffering plays in a religious transformation. For religion to be successful, it seems like suffering is necessary. Although the book never addresses this issue directly, the way the characters responded to their independent hardships help reinforce that, to have religion be important to someone suffering is a common factor. Suffering is the most common route that leads people to salvation. Go Tell it on The Mountain gives good examples of characters using suffering to motivate a religious change. The information about suffering can help the readers draw the conclusion that suffering is necessary for a religion to be successful.

Suffering is inevitable. Everyday people experience all sorts of suffering. Whether it be through human cruelty, emotional stress, physical pain, spiritual, illness, or death, in one way or another, humans suffer. In the end, it boils down to one question: why is there suffering in the world? If God is omnipresent (everywhere present), omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing), and wholly good, why does he not do anything about it? To further understand how to deal with suffering, one must explore suffering’s origin and what it means to suffer.

“Fides ET ratio” which was written in 1998 by Pope St. John Paul the II to all the bishops to demonstrate the relationship between faith and reason. Pope St. John Paul the II wrote the encyclical to support and at the same time help the old Christian philosophy. "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart the desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that by knowing and loving God, men and women can come to the fullness of the truth about themselves" (n. 1) With that sentence Pope St. John Paul the II begins the encyclical, Fides et Ratio. Pope St. John Paul II believed that faith and reason has a lot of interconnection to help