Why Does God Allow Suffering Essay

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

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

Why do we suffer? Humans have spent years searching for meaning in the grievous events that happen in life. Some find comfort through religions that give reason to tragedy and teach that suffering is not always eternal. Others just accept that this is the way the world is and then do their best to adapt to that reality. Religions and philosophies, like Buddhism and stoicism, may try to teach its followers how to end their pain, because no one likes hurting. However, suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. It is painful, but suffering can bring new levels of meaning and appreciation to happiness. Pain is inevitable for anyone who cares about the people or things in his/her life. But if we were to eliminate suffering then life would become meaningless, because real joy is not possible without the risk of pain, and those who find contentment after enduring some tribulations appreciate their joy much more.

If god was all good, all powerful and all knowing, he would not allow the existence of evil.

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).

Philippians 1:21 reminds us that we are not our own because if we are to live on earth even in suffering we do so to the glory of Christ and being with his spirit and if we die it is only to the glory of being with him in heaven.

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

William Rowe defines gratuitous evil as an instance of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse.(Rowe 335) In a world with so much evil it raises the questions If God is all powerful, all knowing and all good, how can he allow bad things to happen to good people? Can God even exist in a world with so such gratuitous evil? These are questions that has afflicted humanity for a very long time and has been the question to engross theologians for centuries. The existence of evil has been the most influential and powerful reason to disprove the existence of God. It is believed among many theist that God is the creator and caretaker

Catholicism teaches that when the world was originally created by God there was no suffering, “Suffering is not part of God’s original created order,” (Genesis 1-2). Instead, suffering was introduced to the world when humans resisted against God; when Adam and Eve sinned suffering entered the world. “It is a result of Adam and Eve’s sin that ‘thorn and thistles’ entered the world,” (Genesis 3:18). At this point, God did not just remove this sin as he would then have to remove all sin after this. The reason God permitted sin to enter the world was so that each human was able to have freewill and choose God on our accord; in doing this he shows his love for us. However, because of this freewill, people choosing to go against God creates suffering.

Although there's good in the world there is also evil to accompany it. The dilemma of evil argues if God exists and God is good, and there is evil in the world then He doesn't want to stop it. If God sees others struggling and dying every day we should do something about it. He sees the people in Africa struggling to find food, He sees the disagreements that turn into wars, and He sees crimes occur infront of his eyes. Yet there's nothing visually done concluding that He doesn't want to fix the problems occurring. In the holocaust incident involving Hitler there's was no justice in the end. He shot himself to escape the consequences which isn't fair which shows that God didn't want to stop the evil from happening. With evil there is barley

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

There are many different perspectives on suffering with regard to its meaning, significance and purposes. Pope John Paul II (1984) wrote "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering", that it centres on the notion of redemptive suffering - to remit one’s sins in order to save the soul from eternal suffering (damnation). Personally, I believe suffering can have a purpose. It can enrich life by giving us knowledge of both the good and the bad, arguably making us more appreciative of what we have . Indeed, James Stewart (2005) purports, "If there were no suffering, would there be compassion? If there were no discipline and hardship, would we ever learn patience and endurance? Construct a universe with no trouble in it and immediately you banish some of the finest qualities in the world."

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

We see this in The Book of Job too. To Job, suffering happens as a result of God testing us. A Satan questioned the followings of God's people. This led to God testing his best subject, Job. God made Job suffer in the worst way any human being could. This would be physical suffering and mental suffering. When God took away Job's family and possessions, he suffered mentally. All of his possessions and loved ones were gone without a reason known to him. It was physical suffering when he was struck with sores about his body. This also gives reason to suffering that happens when you can't explain it. Even a person who thinks that they are perfect can suffer. You could be just like Job, almost a perfect worshiper. That would be even more the reason for you to be tested. The Book of Job is one of the teachings of the Bible, a spiritual and religious guide. A person reading this would believe that suffering is a test. It is a test of your faith, your faith in God. Therefore, if we were suffering, as long as we keep faith, the suffering will end. As long as we keep faith the suffering will stop, and better things will happen and develop.