...to Seminary Studies by Tami Carroll February 22, 2015 Table of Contents Introduction 2 What Causes Humans to Suffer? 2 Pain is Inevitable 2 Humans Seek Personal Pleasure 3 Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen? 4 Free Will 4 God’s Authentic Love 5 The Purpose for Suffering 6 Draws Man to God 6 Repentance 7 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Pain and Suffering in the Christian Experience There are numerous schools of thought in regards to why humans suffer. Christians question why a loving God allows bad things happen to His people. They wonder how sufferings in the life of a Christian can possibly build faith. These ideas will be explored through the life and works of theologian and scholar, C. S. Lewis. Answers will be sought through the examination of Lewis’s personal experiences, his theological studies and his fictional writings. This paper will prove that human pain and suffering is essential in the Christian experience by examining the reasons human suffer, why God does not intervene to prevent suffering, and how pain and suffering might build faith and draw people closer to God. The reality that Christians, who devote their lives to God suffer, is a source of angst for many. As humans develop, they assimilate every experience and thought they have had into the way they view and interpret...
Words: 2955 - Pages: 12
...The problem of evil; if God is all good how could he allow his people to suffer? This has been a controversial topic many people have questioned over the centuries. The first record of this question is dated back to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. If God is a benevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God, how could he allow such horrible things to happen to good people? "Western religion has always held that there is a deep problem about why there is pain and other suffering—which there would not be if God were not supposed to be morally good" Richard Swinburne, Providence and the Problem of Evil pg.7 1998. It is only natural for people to question why God would seemingly do nothing to prevent the bad things that happen everyday. Some of the...
Words: 1377 - Pages: 6
...the moon, or the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl. All of these moments can be categorized as good moments, an all-time high feeling. On the flip side of that coin, there have been numerous disasters throughout the course of time as well to balance the good such as: the Holocaust, the numerous World Wars, September 11th and countless others. This begs the question that if there is an all-knowing and all-powerful God, then why would he or her allow for this to transpire? Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people?...
Words: 1111 - Pages: 5
...scholarly subjects of religion, tackle the subject of an all-powerful and good God with depth. The way they deal with this controversial question is through the concept of suffering and how they can use suffering to explain this question. Not only do they ask questions that common people don’t ask, but they also answer these question through the lens of many types of religion and explanation. They have their opinion and also arguments to both sides of the points they illustrate. They were concerned more with opening every door available and letting the reader decide which path they would like to take as far as investigation or their opinions with the topic. Besides that, it was clear that Ehrman was not in favor of an all-powerful and good God and that suffering proves that while Stackhouse was. Ehrman, a man who previously served the lord but changed his ways, makes the case through suffering that a good, powerful God does not exist. He starts off by saying that God brought Jesus to our world in a point of darkness or sin. (7) Why doesn’t God come into our world again? There had been many tragedies after Christ and we can sure use guidance to help with the new sufferings. Using the fact that God hasn’t visited us again, Ehrman asks if God wants people to suffer. (41) Is there a reason we do suffer, if so then why? Regardless of the reason we are suffering and God is accused of not being all good and not having the power to prevent it because we do. The idea of suffering...
Words: 1977 - Pages: 8
...Why Does God Allow Suffering? by David C. Pack ------------------------------------------------- The world is filled with suffering of every kind. Countless millions know little else. Yet God allows it. Why has He not stopped the terrible suffering that afflicts so many? Is there a REASON God has not intervened? Does suffering have a great unseen PURPOSEthat can be understood? Take a long look around the world. Enormous numbers of people are suffering everywhere for every kind of reason. Every day, 200,000 people starve to death—and this is after weeks or months of horrible suffering. Such suffering is not limited to physical pain, but includes psychological and mental anguish of parents often having to watch their children die in their arms. Starvation is so awful that death is actually a blessed relief. Why doesn’t God stop this? Even more people die each day from disease. The very word disease means people are not “at ease.” As you read this article, untold trauma, pain and suffering, due to crippling conditions, infections and disease of every sort, are occurring around the world. Just in Africa, children are orphaned by the millions every year, due to AIDS alone. Why isn’t God intervening? The prophet Daniel spoke of “the TIME OF THE END.” The apostle Peter said, “there shall come in the LAST DAYS scoffers.” Paul said, “In the LAST DAYS perilous times shall come.”… Order Now Now consider poverty, which affects one-third of all people on earth. The lack of...
Words: 4035 - Pages: 17
...of Evil (Theodicy) The problem with evil is that it is hard to believe that in a world created by a God that is supposed to be an all loving all power full God then why would he allow evil to be in the world. Why would he allow for killings and cancer and natural disasters? Evil is a byproduct of free will, because we are free to choose between doing the right thing, that equates to good, and doing the wrong thing, equating to evil. If God didn't give us our own free will to choose right and wrong we would be like robots being controlled and told what to do. God then did give a gift that was good we as humans misused it and therefore have to suffer the consciences of the evil in this world. Now there are two types of evil in this world moral and natural. These two evils are distinct but not separate.[1] Natural sin the result of moral sin. For example, we are told to obey our mother and father and not pay in the road, but if we disobey and play in the road we are committing moral sin. Now by playing in the road you get hit by a car and become paralyzed that is natural evil. The reason you are paralyzed is because of your moral sin of disobeying. There are a couple of ways you can look at why there is evil in the world, one being the theodicy of Gottfried Leibniz. Leibniz believes that God is obligated to create the best.[2] I believe this to be a true statement for God did create the best when he created humans in his image which is perfect and created a garden that the...
Words: 690 - Pages: 3
...weighing barely 120 before death. He had 2 cancers in the body, the throat and bone. His body was changing before our very eyes. I took care of him on a daily basis because he has any daughters just sons and they were working hard to help their mother and own individual families. So that was my place to step right in a be a big help for them. He later passed in a course of 3 month period. Then my mother in law began to turn for the worse with her sickness of diabetes and kidney failure. She lasted about 8 months after the passing of her husband. Going through those rough times in my marriage brought about so many questions for God that I needed answers for. I had only been married for 3 years and only 27 years old. I did not know how to comfort or be there for my husband in the best way. But with seeking God, praying to him allowed me to find strength in Him and allow him to guide me through this journey. The more I spend time in letting him minister to me through my passion and gift for singing music I found peace and reassurance that God’s will is to be done and his will is what’s best for us and that he will see my family and myself through those difficult times. And that experience, it allowed me to be able to...
Words: 1025 - Pages: 5
...the existence of God is a confounding problem that has captured the interest of people for many centuries. From the point of view of human suffering, it is possible to argue that the existence of evil and suffering in the world is a basis to challenge the existence of God Johnson explains this problem using the example of a six month old infant who perishes in an inferno. “Can we consider anyone as good who had the power to save this infant from painful death and did not” (Johnson, p.1). According to the arguments put forward by atheists, the existence of God is not compatible with the existence of evil. The existence of God would require that evil would not exist in the world. Therefore, conversely, since evil exists and leads to Human...
Words: 593 - Pages: 3
...Northern Baptist Seminary ! ! ! ! ! ! ! God and Job ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A Research Paper Printed in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course OT 458 Old Testament Theology ! ! ! by James L. Brooks May 27, 2013 ! ! ! !2 ! ! ! Introduction The book of Job is a classic. Many have read this book, especially when seeking answers to suffering. Whenever Christians talk about suffering, more than likely the story of Job will be mentioned and Job’s sayings will be quoted. Although the “Job story” is frequently discussed, there are still many unanswered questions. Where was God? Why did God allow Job to go through all the trials and tribulations? What kind of God is this? Why does God make a deal with Satan? What about Job’s friends and their response to his suffering? These are all questions that will continue to haunt readers after reading the story of Job. This paper will examine the character of God and his parental attributes. No matter what the reader may think, God is ultimately in control. Although God gives Satan the latitude to do what he will with Job, short of killing him, still it is all within the scope of God’s permissive will. The story of Job, although it may be rather simple to read, is complex in theological understanding. The God of Job is inscrutable, but yet he is in control. “The book of Job challenges the principle of retribution: that trouble in life must be a person’s own fault.”1 The prologue is in prose. The epilogue is in poetry. The conclusion...
Words: 5811 - Pages: 24
...Human thought cannot grasp the perfect nature of God because we are not perfect, and we are born into sin. We try to rationalize ideas that do not make sense in our minds, but really make perfect sense if we apply them to scripture. God allowing any human into heaven ultimately shows his love. Humanity on a day-to-day basis goes against what God commands, and what God expects from us. No one deserves to go to heaven. If we choose to live in sin all of our lives why would God allow us in heaven? People who love the Lord and say no to earthly temptations will experience riches in Heaven, and those who choose to live for pleasure now will feel the wrath of God in Hell. God is sovereign and people forget this, and we must not confuse love with justice. There are three popular views on what happens to the soul when you die. Eternal punishment is the opposite of eternal life. It’s that idea for that eternity one will suffer in the absence of Christ instead of living eternally in his presence. In this view sin will ultimately be punished for those who do not repent. Annihilationism claims that when a person dies they will pass, or ultimately perish out of existence. This theory can be broken down further classifying the soul as naturally mortal, God gives immortality, or all are immortal unless destroyed by God. The third view is universalism, which claims that atonement is not limited and extends to all. Universalists believe that God is incompatible with eternal suffering, and saved...
Words: 893 - Pages: 4
...My essay will summarize the problem of evil and analytically assess how it is that evil weakens the traditional characteristics of God. I will attempt to explain how the existence of evil challenges the traditional characteristics of God such as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence and Omni benevolence using Hume’s famous quote, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” (Hume) The theological and metaphysical problem of evil was formulated in 1779 by David Hume in his work “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion” where he asked the question, if God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and omnibenevolent then why does evil exist (Sherry)? The problem of evil causes us to look at the traditional characteristics of God and to analytically assess our suppositions about evil itself. If our God is a good, all powerful and just God as many people believe, then why would such a God allow evil to exist? This problem also brings to light questions about what is considered to be evil, whether it is moral evil committed by man or natural evil such as earthquakes, hurricanes and famine (Sherry). There are several arguments that have developed in reaction to the problem of evil that was suggested by David Hume. One such argument which is known as the free will defense claims that evil is solely caused by human beings, who must have the opportunity...
Words: 2021 - Pages: 9
...Theodicy A theodicy is simply a justification of God’s ways. Theists are generally compelled to express a theodicy in response to the unfortunate, painful, evil events and circumstances found in our world. A theodicy is necessary only if we believe in a God who is inherently good, thus requiring an explanation of the apparent discontinuity between a good God and evil in the world. In order to express my own theodicy, I will discuss the forms of evil in the world and their various manifestations as well as whether or not creation as a whole is a “good” expression of the creator God. I will also discuss how eschatology affects our view of evil and God’s part in allowing or interfering with evil. Finally, I will discuss which theodicy I find most complete and why, as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses of my own theodicy. Evil in the World Expressing a theodicy requires a basic understanding of evil which can be referred to in light of that expression. The problem of evil has been dealt with in three separate classifications during our class time and reading; moral, natural and gratuitous evil. Moral evil is an evil event or circumstance caused by a human. Examples of moral evil would be murder, lying, stealing and greed. Moral evil results as the consequence of the decisions made by human beings exerting their free will. War, oppression and slavery are prime examples of moral evil perpetrated by human beings. Natural evil includes the pain and suffering resulting...
Words: 1951 - Pages: 8
...A Good God Wouldn’t Allow People to Suffer ‘The Bible tells us in Revelation 21:4 that there is coming a time when all sorrow, tears, pain and death will pass away. There's coming a wonderful day when God will wipe away all tears from the eyes of His children, and our sorrow will end forever.’ It’s an accepted fact of life that people will always suffer; it’s inevitable. No matter how much time, effort and money is put into helping out others in need there will always be suffering we cannot prevent such as emotional pain or natural disasters. Many people would argue that the only person who is powerful enough to end a person’s pain or suffering on such a massive scale would be a being with a much bigger power than most humans such as a god or some sort of divine spirit. Theists suggest that suffering is part of a faith test. They argue that god is seeing whether or not they are true believers in him and his powers by testing their faith- he provides them with bad events which they will have to struggle through and overcome, at the end of this suffering god will see if a person has held up and maintained their faith. If a person holds up their faith very well and still maintains a strong trust in god and believes that he has helped them through atheists believe that god has proved that this person is a true believer. Most if not all Christians will find this question to be one of the most difficult ones that they will ever have to answer as the bible tells us that god is powerful...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...Why do some agree with Physician-assisted suicide? PHI 208 Ethics and Moral Reasoning May 23, 2016 Physicians have been assisting people in committing suicide for many years by using methods of lethal injections. Assisted suicide is a step method in assisting someone to end their existence and is legal in Oregon, Vermont, and Washington State. James Rachel; 1941-2003 has argued for euthanasia (from the Greek for “good death” or the right to die and euthanasia is a practice of intentionally ending someone life to help relieve suffering and pain. Euthanasia has rising troubling questions in ethics due to it being out of the norm such as eating and doing ordinary activities. When a person is almost certain to die in any given amount of time and is suffering from a life threating painful disease such as a brain tumor, cancer at stage five should be allowed to use Physician assisted suicide. The cost of the medication and treatments are very costly to someone with limited health insurance and having their family members watching them suffer. This argument would support physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and is a little different from euthanasia. (PAS), physician assisted suicide, a doctor will provide a patient with a lethal amount of medication which will cause death to the patient. Certain countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium have made this process legal. In the United States Oregon legalized (PAS) physician assisted suicide in 1997 and the Supreme Court...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
... To humans, the cause of suffering will always remain a mystery. Calamities, persecutions, hardships, insults; humans live to suffer. Elie Wiesel is an American Romanian-born Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, who tells of his horrific tale in the novel, “Night.” Throughout the novel, Wiesel tells a journalistic story about suffering and death as he endures dreadful experiences in Nazi death camps. At one point in the story, Wiesel compares himself to Job, a character of the Bible who he feels he can relate to. At first, Wiesel fights the urge to reject God in his suffering which is an uncommon action when all hope is gone. Firstly, within the pages of the Bible reads a narrative story called, “The Book of Job.” In Job, there is a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an illustration of devotion as he is stripped of everything yet he remains devoted to God. By allowing Satan to attack Job, God testifies his faithfulness to him. Job was abundantly blessed by God. He had a wonderful family, a huge house, plenty of animals, and food on the table. Through...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
