Justification For Suffering

Christianity answers suffering by allowing Christians to understand why evil dominates and how resisting the temptations will end with forgiveness.

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.

The existence of pain and suffering in a world created by a good and almighty God is a fundamental theological dilemma and may be the most serious objection to the Christian religion. In the book, The Problem Of Pain , author C.S. Lewis addresses the issue of pain as a mere problem that demands a solution; he formulates it and goes about solving it. "If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both" (p. 16). According to Lewis, this is the problem of pain in its simplest form. In his attempt to solve the problem of pain Lewis evaluates the past and the origin of religion, he

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

When natural disasters hit an area, the only way to relieve major suffering is with the help of foreign aid. Major suffering from lack of food, shelter, and medical aid in developing countries is an easily avoidable dilemma. I will present you with Peter Singers’ Basic Argument regarding our moral obligation to relieve suffering that he presents in his paper “Famine, Affluence and Mortality”. There are two problems of spatial distance and shared obligations that help to show the universality of Singer’s Prevention-Principle. Then there are three questions Kekes asks Singer in his paper “On the Supposed Obligation to Relieve Famine” regarding the Prevention-Principle. He displays potential problems for the current principle as described by Singer. The revised version of the principle, after considering the problems, does not support Singer’s original conclusion. In Affluent Countries we should drastically change our moral conceptual schemes and give up luxuries to provide aid to those in developing nations.

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.

Suffering joins people closer to Christ and his sufferings, especially in persecution (1 Pet. 4:1-2, 12-16, 19; 5:8-10; Luke 9:23; Phil. 3:10).

Imagine a world where happiness is given to you. Happiness is not worked for nor earned, you just get it. Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, is a novel written in 1932, where Huxley predicts the future of humankind. At the time, Henry Ford was famous for the cheap mass production of the T-model cars using the assembly line. Thus, Huxley predicts a future in which people from the World State(the society he predicts the future will hold) are engineered in test tubes and conditioned to be one of the castes in their society. In this society, the characteristics and emotions that makes humans human are banned. Families, love, passion, literature, natural birth, religion and monogamy are banned because

I believe suffering results from our separation from God. He is holy, all-powerful, all-loving, all that is good. Each day I find myself doing things that move me away from Him. Every time I sin, the world becomes a little bit worse. I can do no good thing apart from God. The more I separate myself from Him, the more likely I am to cause someone else harm or pain.

The problem of evil as suffering is a problem of what to do with the obstacle for the believer but also an obstacle to unbeliever to converge because they do not think it harmonising. In contradiction to compatibility, an atheist often suggested that the present of evil entails the absence of God. Atheist argued, if God exists, then as an omnipotent, he is able to prevent the evil occurrence. For omniscient, it implies under any circumstances evil will occur if he does not act. Then, being perfectly good, he will prevent its occurrence and so evil will not exist. Based on this above proclamation, the existence of God does not compatible with the evil of whatever kind. However, theists response to this logical problem of evil by an atheist is that necessarily perfectly good being, foreseeing the occurrence of evil and able to prevent it, will prevent evil. The essay will first, define what evil is according to Swinburne as one of the philosopher of religion, Second, Swinburne four categories of evil will be discussed (Physical evil, mental evil, state evil, moral evil). Third, Phillip logical and existential problem evil will be discussed through. How will all these above assertions be a problem to those that and does not believe in God.

In the article “Displacing Suffering: The Reconstruction of Death in North American and Japan”, Margaret Lock’s discusses her thesis, which is to bring forward the disputes between “death” and organ transplants as conceptualized by the North American and Japanese cultures (210). The main point that she makes lies within each culture’s definition of “death”, the kinds of implications they carry, and how they impact their societies’ approaches to organ transplants. The subject of organ transplants is much broader of a topic than it initially seems, especially since the conceptualization of death determines how a culture may react to a situation where it is up to a single surgeon to determine one’s life or death. There exist many problems with organ transplants (such as legal issues, philosophical disputes, and emotional distraught), let alone the ethical disagreements concerning life and death between these two cultures of Lock’s focus.

The concept of suffering plays an important role in Christianity, regarding such matters as moral conduct, spiritual advancement and ultimate destiny. Indeed an emphasis on suffering pervades the Gospel of Mark where, it can be argued, we are shown how to "journey through suffering" (Ditzel 2001) in the image of the "Suffering Son of Man" (Mark 8:32), Jesus Christ. Although theologians have suggested that Mark was written to strengthen the resolve of the early Christian community (Halpern 2002, Mayerfeld 2005), the underlying moral is not lost on a modern reader grappling with multifarious challenges regarding faith in the face of suffering. In his article "A Christian Response to Suffering", William Marravee (1987) describes suffering

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

Its impossible to reflect on the origins of evil without bringing up the concept of free will. God created man with this idea of choice; the choice to believe and obey, or the choice to disobey. It was this free will that allowed Adam and Eve to fall from their initial glory and introduce evil and suffering into the world. We can justify a large amount of sustained suffering by acknowledging that it actually benefits us and is not incompatible with God's loving nature. We learn lessons both physically and spiritually that allows us to grow and mature according to God. Some suffering is used to spark revival or for a great advancement in his kingdom, cause after all we're

Two central themes to understanding the human condition are suffering and morality. Humans contrive morality to be a set of values deemed right or wrong in a society, and are often defined by institutions. These guidelines shape the way people live and how they react to life’s circumstances. Suffering is one emotion crucial to the understanding of existence. In a time of pain, an individual often seeks direction from a higher power, like the church. Institutions such as religion are a way of expressing morality and a means to cope with suffering, a crucial understanding of the human condition.