Pain and suffering in the face of the idea of an all powerful and good God has presented difficulties for philosophers and theologians alike for centuries. The 20th century Jewish French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas attempts to explain pain in his essay, Useless Suffering. Levinas suggest through an abbreviated phenomenology and subsequent thrashing of theodicy that suffering is best understood as “meaningful in me, useless in the Other.”1 While Levinas 's phenomenology is logically consistent, his assessment of usefulness of theodicy in light of the suffering of the 20th century is suspect, however this does not impact the validity of his understanding of suffering in the inter-human order. Levians 's attempt to address the phenomenon of suffering from his observations led to a flawed mindset that excused the work of theodicy rather choosing to explain “useless suffering” from an inter-human perspective apart from God. Levinas approaches the topic of suffering from the discipline of phenomenology. Attempting to explain suffering in the world, Levinas approaches the problem from conscious perception of suffering. From observation of pain and suffering Levinas states the following conclusion:
This elevated thought2 is the honor of a still uncertain and blinking modernity coming at the end of a century of nameless sufferings, but in which the suffering of suffering, the suffering for the useless suffering of the other person, the just suffering in me for the unjustifiable
owe to prove his thesis about the problems of evil and atheism, Rowe asks three fundamental questions. The first question, “is there an argument for atheism based on the problem of evil that could rationally justify atheism?” Supporting his question, Rowe by uses the idea of human and animal suffering.is it reasonable for omnipotent, omniscient being(s) to permits its creation to suffer by extinguish each other for their own personal benefits. If there is such a thing as an omnibenevolent, omnipotent holy being how come the ultimate and unescapable suffering is this world has no vanish. How good is a god(s) that permits humanity to suffer greatly? In religious Christian Bible study, Jesus, many times referred to as god, vanish evil from
Suffering is an obstacle that everyone has to confront at all times in their life. Most of time, suffering is painful. However, if people consider it as a chance for learning, they can gain a broader appreciation of life and success. They will grow one step further in the process of overcoming and stepping out from the disincentive. However, confronting suffering is not necessarily drawing the beneficial consequences: sometimes, suffering seems ultimately pointless. It may ruin people devastatingly and even lead them to the dehumanization by drawing out their negative hidden traits. A Long Way Gone--a book of Ishmael’s dreadful memories of being a boy soldier and the atrocious truth of the war--and Othello--a tragedy of jealousy, vengeance, and love--indicate those two
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
The theme of suffering will be talked about throughout this essay. Even though it isn’t the most pleasant topic to talk about, it is part of our lives. The dictionary defines suffering as “The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.” This essay will examine suffering and how it shows up in different printed sources, as well as in my personal life.
I support this idea of achieving absolute pleasure from the removal of all pain due to a series of corresponding reasons. The first factor addressed in support of this claim is the tendency of human nature to focus on the negative. This observation will lead to the second supporting idea that these distresses which culminate towards the feeling of pain often block out the feeling of the pleasure desired. This secondary notion results in a comparison between the subsequent uplifting experiences from the removal of pain as opposed to the effect of a simple everyday pleasure on the mind. I
There is one question that everyone asks but to which no one knows the answer: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The misfortunes of good people raise problems not only for those who suffer, but also for everyone who wants to believe in a just and livable world and in a fair and compassionate God. Rabbi Kushner, author of "Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People", attempts to bring light to this difficult question. In doing so he evaluates past attempts to explain suffering, offers his own approach to the justification of suffering in today's society, and makes suggestions for how one can deal with suffering and continue his or her journey into the future. This essay will examine these
The purpose of this research paper is to compare the public view of suffering in the Old Testament with the public view of suffering in the modern world. In order to properly achieve this comparison, I will explain the relationship between God and His believers in the Old Testament. More specifically, I will elaborate on the opinion that God is the cause of everything, including suffering and relate it to the first poetic book in the Old Testament, the Book of Job. However, influenced by the changes in science, upbringing, and multiculturalism this commonly held view changes. Therefore, I will explain the meaning of each of these three factors as well as their negative impact on religion. Finally, I will use three television shows as examples
Ancient Greek religion and contemporary Islam share two opposing views concerning evil’s origin and the “fall,” but agree when it comes to the problem of pain and suffering. Their stances depend upon how they perceive evil and what that belief says about their god(s). This problem of pain naturally leads to discussion whether a god is all or half of what he claims to be. Either a god is all good and all powerful, allowing pain to happen in order to achieve a greater purpose or prevent a worse scenario of pain. Or a god is only all good or only all powerful, making him incapable and/or unwilling to match our demands.
S. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain. Including a handsome resumé, Lewis and all of his works create a great case for considering him as one of the greatest theologians ever. Thus, if one would like to begin the journey of creating his or her own theodicy then studying a theodicy from the most renowned theologians would be the best way to go. In The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis dives into nearly every question that a person would have when thinking about why God allows pain. For instance, he talks about the fall of man and states that God gave man free will and man abused it. Towards the beginning of his theodicy, Lewis establishes what religion explains that the natural world cannot. He does this for the purpose that one must introduce that God exists before he or she can prove why he allows suffering. It would then be most productive to study His word after establishing that He exists and Lewis does this of course but he also provides a substantial amount of his own reasoning to get to his final conclusion. one can consequently come to the verdict that flawed human reasoning must be used in a theodicy and therefore, humans can never perfectly find out why God allows
Many arguments were made in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning about the term “suffering” and how us as individuals respond to others suffering. Frankl says that if suffering has no meaning, then there is no reason to live at all. Simone Weil incorporates this in her book An Anthology by arguing that it is our obligation as human beings to aid to ones suffering. Frankl and Weil both have the same idea in that they both look at people who are suffering. Seeing what each side argues will help determine which argument is more reasonable than the other.
The problem of evil has been around since the beginning. How could God allow such suffering of his “chosen people”? God is supposedly all loving (omni-benevolent) and all powerful (omnipotent) and yet He allows His creations to live in a world of danger and pain. Two philosophers this class has discussed pertaining to this problem is B.C. Johnson and John Hick. Johnson provides the theists’ defense of God and he argues them. These include free will, moral urgency, the laws of nature, and God’s “higher morality”. Hick examines two types of theodicies – the Augustinian position and the Irenaeus position. These positions also deal with free will, virtue (or moral urgency), and the laws of nature. Johnson
If God loves us, why does He allow us to suffer? The central question in Shadowlands challenges traditional religious and moral conventions. It is a question asked by many, with few satisfactory answers. Before attempting to answer the question, and explore its relationship to Shadowlands, let us first define the question, so its implications may be more clearly understood. At the heart of the question is a doubt in the goodness of God, "If God loves us". From the beginning it is clear that God is being judged and criticized by the question. Then the second phrase follows"Why does He allow us to suffer?". The assumption made in the second phrase is that God has enough control over the world to prevent suffering. If He can prevent
“Suffering” is a word which carries negative connotations, used to incite pity, empathy or fear. Why would it not? Is suffering not simply agony, defined justly by the Oxford Dictionary as “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship” (“Suffering)? Yet, we accept suffering as part of life, a fundamental aspect that defines living. Nietzsche tells us that the very act of living is suffering itself, but to survive is to find value in that suffering. Yet, what sort of value can be attached to an idea so negative? Pico Iyer’s editorial in the New York Times explores the value of suffering, likening suffering to passion and “[p]assion with the plight of other’s makes for ‘compassion’” (________________).I began to think upon the cohesive
But if we turn our glance from our own needy and embarrassed condition to those who have overcome the world, then, instead of the restless striving and effort, instead of the constant transition from wish to fruition, and from joy to sorrow, instead of the never-satisfied and never-dying hope which constitutes the life of the man who wills, we shall see that peace which is above all reason, that perfect calm of the spirit, that deep rest, that inviolable confidence and serenity, only knowledge remains, the will has vanished. We look with deep and painful longing upon this state, beside which the misery and wretchedness of our own is brought out clearly by the contrast. Yet this is the only consideration which can afford us lasting consolation, when, on the one hand, we have recognised incurable suffering and endless misery as essential to the manifestation of will, the world; and, on the other hand, see the world pass away with the abolition of will, and retain before us only empty nothingness.