Hi friends,
It’s been a few months since I last spoke with you. I’m at that point in the year where I’m reconnecting with people who I haven’t chatted with as frequently because of the busyness of my summer. And that, of course, includes all my blog readers!
Today, I want to share with you about something that’s been on my mind, suffering.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve had at least a taste of suffering, especially in the 2020/2021 era.
In the past year alone, I’ve witnessed suffering globally, locally, and in the lives of friends and family.
In my own life, one year ago I went through the worst time of suffering I’ve experienced. You can read a little about that here (I’m also in the process of writing a book which will share about this experience in more detail).
And while I have been thinking about people who experience suffering, recently I’ve also been interested in developing a theology of suffering, if you will. This theology will serve as the framework for tough questions that people may ask me or I may think of myself. And I’d like to take you along with me on this journey. This journey will involve apologetics, books, and most importantly, Scripture.
I’d like to kick us off by recommending this video where theologian William Lane Craig responses to this question, “If God is omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent [and] if He knows about kids in Africa that are born with Aids, what do you think about Him not intervening?”‘
Craig goes on to explain that it’s necessary to differentiate between “the intellectual problem of suffering and the emotional problem of suffering.” (9:15)
Intellectual Problem of Suffering
When responding to an atheist’s intellectual problem of suffering, Craig says that it’s important to understand if “the atheistic is claiming, like Epicurus did, that the existence of God is logically incompatible with the evil and suffering in the world.”
If the answer is yes, Craig explains how to address this conclusion.
- Christian Response: Realize that this conclusion relies on an implicit assumption. In other words, it’s not immediately evident that God and evil/suffering cannot coexist.
- Atheist Response: In order for the atheist to maintain their argument, they would have to make this connection explicit. And no one has been able to accomplish this feat.
- Christian Response: A Christian can prove that God and evil/suffering can coexist by bringing another suggestion to the table, “God has morally sufficient reasons for permitting the evil in the world.” (10:10) This is effective because, “as long as that statement is even possibly true, it proves that there is no logical incompatibility between God and the suffering in the world.” (10:16)
- Atheist Response: As a response to the Christian’s argument “the atheist would have to show that it is logically impossible for God to have good reasons for evil and suffering.” (10:24) And this has never been possible.
- LOGIC FAILURE ALERT. At this point, the atheist’s argument has failed from a logical standpoint.
- Atheist’s Refuses to Give Up: If they’re still not willing to give up, they may “press it as a probabilistic argument” (10:45). I.E “Given the evil in the world, it’s improbable that God exists.” (10:48). Unfortunately for the atheist, they’ve already backed themselves into a corner. To prove this argument, they “would have to prove that if God did exist then it would be improbable that He would permit the evil and suffering in the world.”
- Christian Response: Craig responds to this dilemma by explaining Christian theism’s view. “God’s purpose for human history is to bring the maximum number of people freely into His kingdom to find salvation and eternal life. How do we know that that wouldn’t require a world… [filled] with natural and moral suffering? It might be that only in a world like that the maximum number of people would freely come find salvation.” (10:21)
- Atheist Grasps at Straws: At this point, the atheist’s last shot is to conclude, “there is a possible world that’s feasible for God that God could have created that would have just as much salvation and eternal life and knowledge of God as the actual world but with less suffering.” (11:50). It’s now game over as this argument is “sheer speculation.”
Emotional Problem of Suffering
Finally, Craig concludes with the emotional side of suffering.
“I think for most people, [the problem of evil and suffering] isn’t really a philosophical problem, it’s an emotional problem. They just don’t like a God who would permit suffering…so they turn their backs on Him. What does Christianity have to say to this problem? Well, I think it has a lot to say.
It tells us that God is not some sort of impersonal being or an indifferent tyrant who folds His arms and watches the world suffer. Rather, He is a God who enters into human history in the person of Jesus Christ. And what does He do? He suffers. On the cross, Christ experienced a suffering which we can form no conception. Even though He was innocent, He bore the sins of the world. None of us can comprehend what He suffered. When we contemplate the cross of Christ and His love for us and what He was willing to undergo for us, it puts the problem of suffering in a different perspective. It means that we can bear the suffering God calls us to endure in this life with courage and with optimism for an eternal life of unending joy beyond the grave because of what Christ has done for us. He will give us the courage and strength to get through the suffering which He calls upon us to bear in this life.”(12:31)
I hope this has given you some tools for your toolbox. Until next time!
~Rae
RaeJoyce 