Preface
This paper does not assume a universal approach. I am conscious of writing from within a Western culture of denial that seeks to anaesthetise pain at all costs e.g. in euthanasia debates. The Western church is largely a part of this hedonistic culture; having in many places abandoned the biblical vocabulary of holiness, sin, wrath, judgment, hell etc. it lacks a framework in which to deal with this question in a meaningful way.
1. This is the Question
- Everyone asks this question in some way.
- It is the oldest and most frequently raised question against the existence of “God”.
- It is a biblical question. The psalmists raise it (Pss 6:3; 10:1; 13:1- 2; 22:1; 39; 42:9; 43; 88), the book of Job is devoted to it, the prophets echo it (Jer 14:19;15:18), Jesus (Mark 15:34) and the apostles (2 Cor 1:8) seem familiar with it.
But to You I have cried out, O Lord, And in the morning my prayer comes before You. Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? (Ps 88:13- 14)
Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? (Jer 14:19)
- It is perhaps the deepest question that can be raised because it asks who God in the midst of an experience that appears to deny him.
2. It is a Question asked with a Variety of Motives
a. It can be a genuine question of perplexity, as in the examples above.
b. This form of the question is generated by an experienced contradiction between the goodness of God and pain. (Protest of faith.)
c. It can also be asked in the form of an accusation denying God’s interest in
and care for the world.
The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.” (Ps 14:1)
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? CurseGod, and die.” (Job 2:9)
‘Ah, love! could Thou and I with Fate conspire/ To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,/ Would not we shatter it to bits – and then/ Re-mould it nearer to the Heart’s desire.’ (Omar Khayyam)
d. This is not a genuine question of faith in its struggles but an attempt to hold God to account as neglectful, vengeful, punishing, distant, biased etc.
e. In this case God is a moral failure who deserves to be judged for doing less than we would. The question assumes that we have an accurate insight into the nature of good and evil and as such it is an exercise in self-justification.
f. When the question is asked in this way, it is clear that the questioner is manifesting the wrath of God. (Cf. Rom 1:24, 26, 28; 11:25; Heb 3:13)
g. The motivation for the question will decide what answer our conscience will receive.
2. What is Meant by “God”?
a. There is only a real question if God is both good/loving and powerful.
b. If God is not all loving by nature “he” is not interested in human suffering and so does not will to remove it.
c. If God is not all powerful he may will to remove suffering but cannot.
d. This means that the question is only relevant to a certain view of God.
e. It is not relevant to those who do not believe, for example, that God is the creator and preserver of the universe (deism). They can have no assurance that God is almighty and able to remove evil.
f. It is not relevant to those who believe that evil powers exist that are equal to God (dualism e.g. Zoroastrianism). They expect that it is inevitable for there to be suffering in the world and it may prove to be unconquerable. .
g. It is not relevant to those who do not believe in God at all (atheism) Suffering is a painful physical or emotional problem but it is not an ultimate moral, metaphysical or spiritual problem.
h. It is not a real question for those who do not believe in a personal God distinct from the universe itself (pantheism). Hindus and Buddhists, for example, look upon suffering as an illusion produced by distorted thinking that is to be removed by enlightenment.
3. A Problem for Christians
a. Christians believe that God is completely good (Pss 34:8; 100:5; Nah 1:7;Matt 19:17) and fully loving (2 Cor 13:11; 1 John 4:7 – 8).
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Ps 100:5)
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7- 8)
- We believe that God is all powerful (Gen 17:1; 1 Chron 29:11; Mark 14:36; 2 Cor 6:18; Rev 1:8). the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty” (Gen 17:1). He said, “Abba,Father, for you all things are possible” (Mark 14:36)
- We believe that God will one day remove all suffering from this world (Isa 66:17 ff; Rev 21:1 -5) so he must have the disposition and power to do it .
“See, the homeof God is among mortals. He will dwellwith them as their God;they will be his peoples,and God himself will be with them;he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”(Rev 21:3- 5)
- The problem therefore remains as to why he allows suffering now?
4. Some Christian Approaches to the Question
a. Growth towards personal maturity depends upon living in a world where there are painful consequences for our actions. (“Vale of soul making” (Keats))This is how we learn humility, patience, faithfulness and so on.BUT: what about useless suffering e.g. of children and infants? Lisbon Earthquake, Hiroshima, Asian tsunami.
b. The presence of evil in the world is the cost of preserving human freedom.
BUT: what of those who suffer because of the decisions of others?
c. Christians believe in a future good (heaven) great enough to justify the necessary evil on the way to it. BUT: this seems to legitimise the place of evil by making it essential to God’s plan.
d. All of these “solutions” are inadequate because they treat evil and suffering as something that can be understood, as if it had some sort of legitimate place in the universe. This can lead to resignation, passivity or acceptance of the status quo (“quietism”).
5. A Christian Approach to Suffering Begins with Jesus
a. In Jesus God has come down from heaven (John 3:13) and taken on our nature (John 1:14).
b. This means that God himself has entered into the sphere of suffering where this question is raised.
c. Jesus did not pretend to be human but suffered as we do, in sorrow (John 11:35), hunger (John 4:31), thirst (John 19:28), temptation (Heb 4:15), betrayal (Matt 26:46), torture (Matt 27:27 -31) and death (Matt 26:50).
d. The Bible promises us both “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16) and the Holy Spirit (John 16:13) to reveal to us the things of Jesus.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13- 14)
e. Since the Spirit of Jesus actually lives in our hearts (Rom 5:5; 8:16; Gal 4:6) he is able to communicate to us how Jesus felt when he was on earth and now feels in heaven about human suffering, and what he wills to do about it.
6. Jesus’ Fought Suffering Caused by Evil
a. His life- programme spelled out at the beginning of his ministry involved the alleviation of all forms of suffering.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18 – 19).
b. His ministry involved healing the sick (Mark 1:29 -34; 2:1- 12; 3:1 – 5 etc.), feeding the hungry (Mark 6:30 – 44; 8:1 -10), casting out demons (Mark 1:34; 5:1 -13 etc.).
c. All of which was in the context of the message of the good news of the kingdom of God (Matt 5:3; 12:28; Mark 1:15; 4:11 etc.).
d. Jesus offered no explanation for the presence of suffering in the world but constantly opposed it. God’s kingdom is in a state of constant warfare against all the powers that cause suffering on the earth.
e. Jesus is the King (Matt 2:2; 21:5; 25:34; 27:11,37) but his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).
f. Therefore, he and his followers do not fight in a worldly manner, it is therefore necessary for him to go to the cross.
“My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36)
7. Jesus Overcomes the Root Causes of Suffering at the Cross
The death of Jesus is paradigmatic (model) for the problem of evil:
1. It is the result of human rebellion against God.
2. It is not outside of God’s control.
3. At the cross God opposes and punishes all evil.
this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:23)
he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb 9:26)
Eli Weisel, Night, 1969, 75- 76. “Where is God now?”….“Where is he? He is here. He is hanging there on the gallows….” (Execution at Auschwitz.)
Does this mean that “God is dead”, or that God is with us?
a. The cross is the climax of the battle of good and evil in the universe.
b. The way divine power is exercised in the death of Jesus is in contradiction to human strength.
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor 1:24 – 25)
c. This reveals that suffering will ultimately be overcome not by might or power but by the Spirit (Zech 4:6); for it is in the Spirit that Jesus offered himself up on the cross (Heb 9:14).
d. On the cross Jesus freely wills to take upon himself the impact of the sin or wickedness of the world (John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21).
e. This must primarily be understood as receiving into himself, that is, into his heart and conscience, the moral and spiritual impact of evil. This includes bearing the human impact of the “problem” of why God allows suffering.
f. Since Jesus has never sinned, he has never shared the “knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 3:5) that entered into the heart of humanity through disobedience. (Jesus mind is holy (Mark 1:24; Luke 1:35; John 6:69).)
g. His entire knowledge of moral and spiritual reality has been mediated to him by the Holy Spirit so that he always shared in the mind of the Father who lived his life in the Son (John 5:19- 20, 26; 6:57; 8:16; 10:15,38; 14:20; 15:23; 16:15).
“Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Fatherdoes, the Son does likewise.The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing (John 5:19- 20)
h. This means, that to see Jesus was to see the Father and to hear Jesus was to hear the Father (John 8:19,28; 10:30,32; 12:50; 14:7,10 -11, 24,31; 16:3). “What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.” (John 12:50)
i. Therefore, when Jesus cries out from the cross the prayer of the faithful afflicted servant of God: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 citing Ps 22:1) he is speaking from the heart of the Father.
j. His perplexity and confusion, with noapparent answer, reveals that the suffering that Jesus bears does not originate in the heart of God.
For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon to do his deed—strange is his deed!— and to work his work—alien is his work! (Isa 28:21) for he does not willingly (Heb: “from his heart”) afflict or grieve anyone. (Lam 3:33)
k. This response of the mind of Christ reveals that evil is an opaque and illegitimate reality that in itself does not serve the purposes of God but opposes them. l. What is exposed is not that Jesus suffering is useless, but that outside of Jesus suffering is useless (at least in an ultimate sense).
Note, again, that the deepest element of his (humanity’s) suffering lies in the ‘Why?’ of his cry. Ultimate judgement will surely be rational, but the deepest present suffering man knows lies in his inability to understand its purpose, its rationality. (Bingham)
m. Jesus overcomes the terror of this anguish by his failure to both accuse or defend God. In the pain of isolation from the Father’s heart he neither charges God with error nor rationalises what he is experiencing (“It’s not so bad.” “Others have experienced worse.”)
Cf. we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself (2 Cor 1:8)
n. He moves completely outside of the circle of human wisdom by appealing solely to God for an answer.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (1 Cor 3:19 – 20). Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.(James 3:15)
o. Jesus’ personal emptiness in relation to the problem of evil reveals thefullness of a wisdom that comes only from God (1 Cor 1:21 -25, 30).
He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1:30)
p. God the Father completes this wisdom with power to overcome the world’s evil.
8. Jesus Completes the Fight Against Suffering through the Resurrection
a. Jesus was crucified in weakness but lives by the power of God. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. (2 Cor 13:4).
- The power released in the Father’s raising of Jesus from the dead (Rom 1:4; 1 Cor 6:14; Eph 1:19; Phil 3:10) is more than the power of God that fashioned the first, now spoiled, creation.
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.Godput this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Eph 1:19- 20)
c. It is the power of the new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15) that cannot be destroyed by the present power of evil. It is the power of immortality, incorruptibility and eternal life (Rom 2:7; 1 Cor 15:52 -54; 1 Pet 1:23). JY dream about the parasitic nature of evil –not an enduring reality, awoke at transition between 5:16 – 5:17 a.m.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view…
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Cor 5:16 -17) (Cf. “See, I am making all things new.” Rev 21:5)
You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Pet 1:23)
d. One day this power will fill all things in heaven and earth (Rev 21:1) with the life of Jesus (Eph 1:22 -23; 4:10).
And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:22 -23)
e. It is the power of a whole new age (Gal 1:4; Eph 1:21; Heb 6:5), the complete power of the kingdom of God so that God is all in all (1 Cor 15: 28).
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come (Heb 6:5)
f. In the End all evil and suffering will be entirely banished from the new world (Rev 21:4 -5).
9. The Power of the Kingdom of God Reigns in Christians to Overcome Evil and Suffering
a. Followers of Jesus no longer belong to the futility of a world that is passing away (John 15:19; 17:6,14,16; Rom 8:19 -25; 1 Cor 7: 31; 1 John 2:8). and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Cor 7:31)
b. As those in the kingdom of God/heaven (John 3:3 -5; Rom 14:17; Col 1:13) the power of the new world lives in believers. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.(Col 1:13- 14)
c. This power is present in the person of the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:6,8) the Holy Spirit.
d. It is a power given to do the same deeds that Jesus did (John 14:12) in God’s struggle against the suffering evil brings into the world.
e. It is a power to declare forgiveness, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, care for the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God (Matt 25:31- 46; Luke 24:47; John 20:23; Acts 8:4 -8; 16: 18; 28:31; James 1:27).repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations (Luke 24:47). Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27).
f. Jesus sends us into the world (Matt 28:19; John 17:18; 20:21) with this command. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21)
g. As this command is obeyed, Christians receive peace concerning the question “Why does God allow suffering”? This is not the solution to an intellectual puzzle, but the peace of a justified conscience in the midst of a battle. Not “an answer to a riddle but victory in a battle” (P.T.Forsyth).
h. Since in this sphere we know that “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47), and in Christ he has won the victory (John 16:33; 19:30; Rev 3:21; 5:5), we may have assurance that however small our efforts appear and however much the world seems dominated by blind evil and useless suffering, with Jesus out labour is not in vain (1 Cor 15:57- 58). Luther and the apple tree.
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root ofDavid, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Rev 5:5)
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved,be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.(1 Cor 15:57- 58)
h. We overcome by promise and by faith ( Luke 10:19;1 John 5:4) just as Jesus did (Heb 12:1- 2). In this way the healing power of God is released through us into the world.
“See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
i. The cost of this is great: “the fellowship of sufferings” (Phil 3: 10), “many trials” (Acts 14:22), faithfulness “to death” (Rev 12: 11).
j. The fruit of this labour however is an inner knowledge and presence of glory (Col 1:27), the radiance of Christ and the sure knowledge of things to come (Rom 5:2- 5; 8:18; 2 Cor 4: 16- 18 etc.).
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. (Rom 8:17- 18)
k. As such, the believer has the peace of a justified conscience (Rom 5:1; 8:10), sharing in nothing less than the mind of Jesus (1 Cor 2:16). For he, and we in him, are blameless in relation to the suffering of this world (1 Cor 1:8; Eph 1:4; 5:27; Phil 1:10; 2:15; 1 Thess 3:13; 5:23; Rev 14:5).
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1) just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. (Eph 1:4)
Concluding Remarks
A personally satisfying resolution to this existential problem is not intellectual (we do not try to give a final “explanation” for evil) or emotional (one “feels good” about the world) but practical. It consists in following Jesus in the way of the cross. This is a matter of union with the Victor through a holy struggle against all that opposes the goodness of the kingdom of God.
After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content. (Isa 53:11)
What is significant is the fact that ‘he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows’ . If this be true, then there is no cause for man to grieve, at least to grieve from the past. He has personally identified with us in our grief and sorrow and has withdrawn the painful and destructive elements from them. We are free now to suffer for others without the impediment of suffering for ourselves (my emphasis). (G.C. Bingham)