Christian Response To Suffering By Victor Frankl

According to the texts and eyewitness accounts, the Holocaust had horrendous effects on the people who lived through it. During this time Jews were being rounded up and put into concentration camps by order of the German government. Writings and testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust are around even to this day. According to these sources, Holocaust survivors suffered tremendously since they were treated as less than human , they lost loved ones, and were constantly abused.

John Hick argues in this writing that the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Christian god is compatible with an abundance of suffering. He offers solutions to the problem of suffering which relies heavily upon a tripartite foundation. Hick divides evil into two: Moral Evil = the evil that human being cause - either to themselves or to each other. And Non-Moral Evil = the evil that is not caused by human activity - natural disasters, etc. He tries to explain that a world without pain and suffering, moral traits such as courage, patience and sympathy would not be developed.

Another view is that the God allow people and animals to suffer because he wants to give the chance to accomplish certain goals during the suffering processes (Macmillan, 2003). That is to say, people are suffering for

The quote “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn” is very relevant in the Holocaust texts Night by Elie Wiesel and The Last Days directed by James Moll because it really sums up the Holocaust. Both these texts give insight to what happened inside the camps and how the survivors were changed forever. These texts both show that in times of extreme inhumanity, one can lose his faith, which leads to a loss of innocence.

Since the start of the Nazi occupation in Europe, Jewish communities and individuals were struggling with survival, and fought for their existence. Many Jews tried to evade or overcome the degrading Nazi decrees, that stripped them of civil and human rights, triggered isolation and denied them a livelihood. The Nazis simply wanted to create a condition in which no human being, particularly Jewish, can live or even exist. For a long time, the Jews’ view on the sanctity of life, a duty to protect one’s life, encouraged them to endure the period of intense pain and suffering. From past experience, the Jews thought that the terrible events of the Nazis would pass, the same as the pogroms. Over a period of centuries, from the Crusades to the

Many people would like to believe that God has a good reason for making them suffer, but Kushner argues that such a theology doesn't reconcile the goodness of God with the existence of evil. Lastly, some people try to explain suffering by believing that it comes to liberate humans from a world of pain and lead them to a better place. "Sometimes in our reluctance to admit that there is unfairness in the world, we try to persuade ourselves that what has happened is not really bad. We only think it is" (p. 27). In the end, this explanation attempts to work by denying the existence of evil altogether. Kushner finds these responses to suffering unsatisfying, because they assume that God is the cause of human suffering and they attempt to comprehend why God would want humans to suffer. The reasoning behind these justifications of suffering is that it is punishment deserved, it is for one's own good, or God does not care about what happens to people. Kushner recognizes that these rationales can cause people to blame themselves, can lead to a denial of reality, or cause the repression of one's feelings. Because of this, Kushner attempts to create his own reasoning for why bad things happen to good people.

As Christians, we claim that God is all powerful and compassionate, and that he is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere all the time. The biggest argument against the presence of God here on earth is that, even with these characteristics, God seems to be incapable or reluctant to put an end to the infinite amount of hardships, darkness, and suffering in the world. While I understand this stance, I believe that God’s intentions are always pure and good, and come with perfect intent. Without pain and suffering in our lives, God would be nothing more than a genie in a bottle that we go to only when we need something. This idea is described perfectly in an article called, “How God Uses Suffering for His Glory” written by, “Randy Alcorn”, it states, “God uses suffering to purge sin from our lives, strengthen our commitment to him, force us to depend on his grace, foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, and impart wisdom. And once he accomplishes such great things, often we can see that our suffering has been worth it” (4). This explains that God has a purpose for everything, even suffering. His purpose is to make your spiritual life obvious to everybody you came into contact with, and make it apparent that he is in fact present, here on earth, all of the time! God wants to be sought out, so if you are waiting for God to come to

During a time of agony and survival, the Jewish population suffered a catastrophe that would define the contrast between life and death - The Holocaust. During such a catastrophe, many nations failed at their attempts to save the Jewish people who were left with the dilemma between surviving through horrid conditions in concentration camps or parish within the confines of brutality. Forever ingrained in the episodic and semantic memories of survivors and the educated respectively, the events of the Holocaust stand still, to this day, as some of the most unique in its devastation. Cataclysmic in the very nature of its delineation and recognized as one of history’s most infamous events, The Holocaust was the tortuous effort of a totalitarian

In situations of crises, people can have different reactions; some people might be destroyed by the hardships associated with being forcefully imprisoned in concentration camps, others may transcend above these crises through their strengths. In fact, many people in the Holocaust reacted differently; some by rising above with strength and determination while others exiled their faith to the shadows forever. Throughout history, several different reactions have been accounted for but some do not take the time to think of why survivors reacted in the manner that they did. By doing this, many people will gain greater insight on just how devastating the Holocaust was, even though some chose to make light out of darkness. Therefore, though the Holocaust is a despicable time in history, many chose to write memoirs about it in order to share their tales of both devastation and conquer to all who were unaware of the Holocaust’s significant affect on people (since many chose to turn their heads the other way while this was happening.) Overall, there were mixed reactions regarding the Holocaust, some using it to make themselves stronger, while others were severely affected; suffering from blows that would never heal.

The Church explains how humans have grown hateful and abusive to each other. Humans have also became more selfish and arrogant, hence establishing sins, and forgetting about God. This is seen in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thus, the Catholic Church believes God is creating suffering, in order for humans to turn back to him and become renewed from sins. God has unconditional love, towards humans, as a result he is waiting for sinners to ask for forgiveness. Therefore the Church response to why humans experience suffering is, in order for humans to turn back to

Why does God allow suffering? This is the age-old question of Christians and non-Christians alike, and it's unlikely to be answered to anyone's satisfaction this side of heaven. Even though I'm just an ordinary guy, I'd like to take a stab at it.

On the other hand, Weil's interpretation of Christianity, suffering and evil aligned with that of Bonhoeffer although there are core differences. For instance, Weil argued that suffering and Christianity were directly linked with Christianity defined by the magnitude of suffering which directly related to the spiritual (Simone, 1991). However, Weil approaches linked to the socio-ethical and the cosmic life differed based on the detailed emphasis of suffering. Compared to Bonhoeffer, Weil can be viewed as a maximalist embracing and highly regarding the idea of the unearned suffering especially when the results of the suffering resulted to the personal growth and cleansing. Thus, Weil only approach to address evil emphasized on cleaning through suffering differing with Bonhoeffers.

Describe your understanding of the Jewish theology of suffering, making specific reference to Schindler’s list, the writings of Elie Weisel and other Jewish Holocaust survivors/theologians, class notes, and other relevant documentaries selected for you to view.

So when Christians suffer, it doesn’t matter whether the suffering is the consequence of their personal sins or not. All that matters is that all suffering be accepted and carried as one’s cross—as one’s personal sacrifice in the service of love. Let it be a testament to God’s glory and a penance for all the sins that nailed Christ to the cross. Christ endured all suffering for our redemption, so, as we bear our suffering gracefully, we share the burden of the cross with Christ. Let all suffering cause us to be attentive to the presence of God. Let all suffering lead us to deep sorrow for sin. Let all suffering end in

God created the world, a place free from suffering and pain where humankind could live in peace and harmony,however when man chose the way of Satan by eating the forbidden fruit, this was the beginning of sin in the world. God makes it clear to Adam and Eve the consequences of sinning, and from this moment on suffering was declared. Since dying on the cross, through the letter of St Paul to the Colossians, Christ expects us to bind our sufferings with his. As a result of sin, God allows us to suffer because he loves us and wants us to have free will and the choice whether to love/not love. With this freedom, mankind has broken laws which result in pain and suffering which act as an early warning system when we exercise wrong decisions. Catholics believe that suffering is a test of faith and this is exampled in the book of Job where God lets good people suffer: Job loosing everything he owned, the death of his childer etc. Job examples the reaction to our own suffering. Instead of asking why, the Church teaches us to endure through our suffering and remember that God loves us and no matter the situation will lead us back home. In Pope John Paul’s apostolic