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.
Most people want to be able to have money to pay for their kids college, enough to pay bills and go on vacation once a year. They want to be happy and not have problems. They want to have good health. I'm no different than everyone else. Doesn't it make sense that God would want the same for us? I don't think He necessarily does, because He wants more than that for us!
Larry Crabb has written many highly-acclaimed books including "Finding God", "Inside Out", and "The Marriage Builder". In addition to being a best-selling author, Dr. Crabb is a psychologist and counselor. I've read several of his books. They are all very good, but some of
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This book was called "Shattered Dreams - God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy", and I think it was different because it was something that Dr. Crabb had personally experienced and very intimately touched him. The book was much easier to follow, in my opinion, than the others I had read by him.
In "Shattered Dreams", Dr. Crabb explains that happiness and joy are not the same thing, and although most of us want happiness, God actually knows that this isn't the best for us. We believe that it's important to have plenty of money, good health, a nice car or house, a happy family, and so forth.
What God really wants for us is to have joy. While that may include happiness, it doesn't mean it has to. In fact, the Bible does say that as we like to give good things to our children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him! So why doesn't he always give us those things? It's because sometimes they hinder us from experiencing the true joy of knowing
Perhaps it is safe to say that most everyone in the deranged world that we live in today aims for happiness. Some would even say we are simply slaves to our primal passions, shackled in our endless pursuit of fulfillments and shaping our existence around them. Gravitating towards the things in life that bring us pleasure, and recoiling away from those that could cause us pain. A lot of individuals think of happiness as an overall end goal, while others consider happiness the starting point of being great. Nevertheless, happiness is drawn from different things based off the individual.
The everlasting question of "What is Happiness?" has been inquired since the creation of men. Unfortunately, the only agreed answer that humanity came up with is that all the creatures seek happiness, but no one has the concrete directions for achieving it. Our libraries are overwhelmed with books about happiness, but no dictionary definition explains which path men must take to be happy. No mathematician gave us the axiom which we could use to solve the problem of living in bliss. No scientist brought up the formula of fusing certain ingredients to produce the "drink of happiness". Still almost all the people consider that their ultimate purport in
It is natural for a person to focus their goals on what will provide happiness. People do not focus on being poor for instance but it does not mean that being rich provides complete happiness.
As Kupperman states, although “happiness” and pleasure are used interchangeably, there is a distinct difference between the two. While pleasure has a direct source of its joy to an object and is typically short lasted at a time, happiness is a general feeling one has over a time period whether it is a season or lifetime. Someone could be happy with only few pleasures or even have experience great pleasure and still lack a positive feeling for life. People would like to experience more “pleasure” if it had the same enjoyed circumstances as before. Kupperman says to determine the most valuable life; it can either be viewed as one with the most pleasure or with the most utility (pleasure minus pain).
As Philosophy presents, happiness is the “highest good of a rational nature” and the “state of perfection achieved by the concentration of all goods within it” (page 27, 41). This definition, along with the notion that the supreme cannot be taken away from people, noticeably exhibits that happiness cannot be awarded by earthly gifts from Fortune and is the intrinsic good that lacks nothing outside itself and could achieve everything on its own. True and perfect happiness can only be achieved by the possession of the supreme good in which all goods are possessed. Meanwhile, God is happiness itself because God is the supreme goods as happiness and there cannot be two highest goods which differ from each
Many of the choices we make, using our free will, lead to suffering. We participate in risky behavior, without thinking of the consequences. For example, people that smoke have greater chances of developing health problem (e.g., cancer), which results in pain and suffering. This type of suffering is caused by our errors and mistakes. Many of the choice we make have consequences, but is it is impossible to live in a way in which we do not take risks. Furthermore, God's existence comes from intellect and not the sense, but suffering is felt through through our senses, whether it be external or internal pain. Suffering is adventitious and not
While the true form of happiness can never truly be known by people, religion claims to explain the true idea of happiness as described by a supreme being. The higher idea of happiness may only exist in heaven, because it cannot be represented in its original, exact form on earth. Because heaven is represented as the holiest, most ideal place, it is where this idea of perfect happiness exists, and it is the only place where it can exist. All happiness on earth that is experienced by humans is only a representation of this perfect happiness, and this is what people strive for.
When first asked, I believed that happiness was simply fulfilling a desire, but through topics discussed in class, I now realize that there is so much more to happiness. The road to happiness includes using virtues to receive gifts from God and from others. From the Beatitudes, we can learn to use what Jesus has taught us, to gain happiness in our everyday lives. We are taught that when we believe in God, mourn, be gentle, seek righteousness, show mercy,
“Happiness is in the enjoyment of man’s chief good. Two conditions of the chief good: 1st, Nothing is better than it; 2nd, it cannot be lost against the will” (Augustine 264-267). As human
People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through
People tend to feel the most happiness in their daily lives rather than happiness over all. For instance, if someone opens the door for you, does something outrageous, tells a funny story or simply reacts kindly to you, you can experience happiness. Laughing at someones joke can cause you to feel happy even for just a moment. Another definition of happiness in our daily lives is self appreciation such as, getting that new raise, getting an A on a test or even getting into the college you want. These examples all cause happiness in different but still rather large ways. We seem to think that happiness is so difficult to come by, we focus so hard on what happiness is that we don't even realize the simple things in life that are truly making a difference. We can become significantly happy without even noticing. Although happiness seems like it’s hard to find it’s not all that difficult. What’s hard to come by is the feeling of genuine happiness ; genuine happiness is what people truly look for.
Happiness is a key to everybodys life. Even the most depressed man on earth has a little happiness deep down inside. Its what keeps us striving to fulfil our needs and wants on an everyday basis. There is not one kid who does not get excited over a dollar to spend at the candy shop. What about the feeling of getting a promotion at your job, or even finding the cure for cancer. Being happy is not just healthy, but it is also rewarding for each and every individual. We strive to find anything that will turn a bad day to a good one. Individuals will compromise to attain their happiness. You can not get what you want without giving something first.
Happiness is a result that we deserved, furthermore, it becomes a motivation for us to keep trying and getting success in life.
Why Does God allow suffering? This question is probably as old as religion itself. It is a stumbling block for some of us, and for many more at given moments of tragedy. There are as many answers to this question as there are people who care to engage in theological dialogue. One understanding is that yes, God allows "bad" things to happen; God does not cause them to happen.
Without happiness, people might not be living their lives the way they yearn to. This is a prominent part of the