Suffering

The Problem of Suffering —

That might be a bit of a heavy subject, but I have been talking to several people on this subject lately. It has been on my mind.

It definitely wasn’t a new question when Rabbi Kushner asked “Why do bad things happen to good people?” In fact, the book of Job in the Old Testament addresses this conundrum as its central question. Still, if you are new to the question yourself, then here is the basic set-up for the problem:

Statement #1: If God is completely good and wants the best for his children and…

Statement #2: If God is all powerful and can do anything for his children…

Statement #3: Then, why do his children suffer?

A little logic problem like this is called a syllogism, which essentially is like the 12-piece puzzle or paint-by-numbers version of deductive logic. So, the point is to try and figure out the problem by examining the individual statements.

Many have taken the route of questioning our ability to understand what is good. Persons pulling on this thread tend to follow the line of reasoning of the Calvinists to say humans are “totally depraved” sinners. We don’t know what good is, so we shouldn’t question God. Now, I’m sure that there is some philosophical appeal to this response — if you have the luxury of asking it as a hypothetical question. However, most people begin to question suffering in earnest when it is staring them in the face (or at a friend or family member). Even if that were the only answer, I would likely choose to stop believing in God then and there as a result.

So, let’s see if there is any answer that is a little less…cold.

Ah, a warmer version of this answer is to focus on the “wants the best for his children” part. As any parent knows, we occasionally come across as “horrifically” mean to our children when we discipline them, but it’s for their own good. There’s some analogy here, and many “testimonies” begin with God getting a person’s attention through some type of suffering. Okay, problem solved…but, wait, what about those “children of God” who die in their suffering? If you are heavily invested in trying to solve the problem of suffering here, then you might simply shift the time and place of reward to heaven after this life, or you could shift your frame of reference to what benefits humanity as a whole rather than looking at individual lives. Many people stay here. Curiosity fulfilled. Faith renewed. Hope rewarded.

I am not one of those people. If you aren’t one of those people either, then please keep reading.

Okay, what about questioning one of the other statements?

What if God were not all powerful? While this is a less popular direction to go, people have definitely gone there. This question gets asked again and again, and there is food for thought here. After all, Jesus of Nazareth came as the son of a carpenter and was a wandering itinerant preacher. Shouldn’t that at least make us pause to reconsider what we think we know about power? Still, the ultimate power of God is a very central doctrine of Christian faith, so many believers feel that they cannot overturn this statement without changing their entire approach to understanding the character of God. Fair enough. Maybe, that not a completely convincing reason to let this statement stand, but it might be enough to convince us to look for other solutions first.

What about questioning the final statement? Mary Baker Eddy and her Christian Science followers have gone that route, but, God bless ‘em, they’ve really chosen an uphill battle in denying the reality of suffering.

So, what are we left with?

There are a lot of directions to go by focusing on different statements of that little logic puzzle, but what about looking at it as a whole?

Christopher J. H. Wright takes an interesting approach to the entire problem of suffering and evil in his book, The god I Don’t Understand. He reminds us that if God is good, and he created humanity as good, then suffering and evil should come across as nonsensical and without purpose. The confusion that suffering and evil creates in us is a sign that God made us in his image — that we all still have good at the core of our being. That is an encouraging thought.

However, I don’t think that’s really the answer.

Now, you might not like my answer — because it probably won’t sound like an answer.

I’m not saying the previous perspectives are necessarily wrong, but I’m saying they are incomplete. I believe that there must come a time where you admit that the logic puzzle is really just a puzzle. In those times, I’m reminded that behind the statements we’re all really thinking, “What would I do if I were God?” Yet, for the Christian, there is the belief that in some sense God asked, “What would I do if I were human?” The result was the life of Jesus of Nazareth. So, I’m saying that the answer to suffering is to be with those who are suffering, to help them as one of them, to become one of them — because where there is compassion, where there is love, that’s the place where suffering is not total and despair is not the last word.

Something to think about…