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Religious Studies

THE HARD QUESTIONS

HOW CAN A BENEVOLENT GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

I cannot claim to know the answer to the above question, so the best I can do is offer my thoughts on the subject, which I have formed after listening to others much smarter than I.

First of all, in considering the question it seems to me that hidden within it is either an accusation or an assumption—the view that a truly benevolent God would not, could not, or should not allow suffering.

I would respond first by saying that a loving God can reveal His benevolence wholly in the midst of suffering, in the form of grace during times of need, comfort, inner peace, hope, miracles, etc...

Second, and perhaps more importantly, we need suffering as evidentiary proof that something in this world is terribly wrong. For example, if you didn’t feel pain, you could cut yourself and bleed to death without even knowing it, for lack of seeking the medical help required to fix your physical condition.

Similarly, if God didn’t allow suffering, there would be nothing to inform us that something here is not the way it is supposed to be, and as a result, we would go straight to hell, for lack of seeking the divine help we need to fix spiritual broken condition.

Third, suffering was not initiated by God, but was triggered instead by the devil and by us. God will ultimately rid us of Satan, but even if He were to do so today, that would still leave the problem of us. So, to get rid of suffering, God would have to get rid of us as well.

Instead, He is allowing suffering to continue in order to give us the opportunity to choose something better. He says, “This suffering that you hate so much, that you brought upon yourself...I will ultimately destroy it, so if you would like to live in that world—a world without suffering—know that I sacrificed my own Son, who is also God, to make that a reality.”

So, in making the ultimate sacrifice, both God the Father and God the Son demonstrated God’s ultimate benevolence toward all of mankind: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so everyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life."

I ask you, is it more benevolent to allow suffering for what will ultimately prove to be a mere blip somewhere along the continuum of eternity so we might live forever in paradise, or would it be more benevolent to eradicate suffering and annihilate mankind in the process?

And finally, asking, “Why does God allow suffering?” begs a second question, which is: Why do we allow suffering? You see, we who believe in God are charged with demonstrating His benevolence here on the earth. And even if one is not a believer, it doesn't prevent that individual from helping those who are suffering instead of, say...watching television, vacationing in Las Vegas, playing video games, or any of the other countless activities in which we choose to engage when we could be helping someone else.

Some people say the existence of suffering proves there is no God, but actually, just the opposite is true. Whenever someone asks the above question, they are implying that suffering is bad. But, if we are merely the random result of chance plus matter plus time, there is no bad or good. On the contrary, things simply are the way they are, and suffering is neither good nor evil, it simply is.

If you assume there is such a thing as bad, then you are assuming there also exists some sort of moral law with which to differentiate between good and bad But, there cannot be any sort of moral law unless there is a moral law giver. If there is no moral law giver, there is no good or evil, and if there is no good or bad, the question as to how a benevolent God can allow suffering becomes meaningless.