the Qusetion of God and Suffering
As a liberal (or progressive, take your pick, same dif) Christian, how do I answer the question of faith and suffering? The common dilemma is asked usually as: "Why is there suffering in a world created by and watched over by a good God?" I have never had an difficult time with this question, even when I held more conservative theological convictions, except for today. I never had a difficult time with it because I never had to explain my beliefs around it. I just mentally summed up what I believed and tucked it away. Today, however, I was engaged in conversation with my senior pastor over this topic, and I found myself struggling for an adequate response. So, I now force myself to present a coherent statement belief on the nature of God and suffering. What is typed next will not be a stream-of-conscious ramble, but a typed and retyped, mulled over, deep thought, soul, scripture, history, and experience delving treatise. Let's see how I do.
So This is What it is to Be Alive?
To the best of my knowledge and experience, God exists. After that, all else is grey. Scripture tells us that God is love, and my experience echos that sentement. My experience in this world leads me to two thoughts:
1. Life happens and we experience the results
2. We exert some form of control over our lives or the lives of others, and we each experience one form or another of the results.
Under (1) I would place events such as death by natural causes, earthquakes, gravity, etc. Essentially, these are things that are (almost always) out of our control. I don't believe in a god who pulls the environmental strings to cause earthquakes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, and famine. These are events based on locale, climate, and tectonics. Nor do I believe in a God with scissors at the threads of our loom...meaning, our death has been predetermined or dependent upon God's mercy. Under (2) would be anything we do to ourselves and each other, regardless of intent.
So suffering is an integral part of our life. Why has no one asked someone who disdains God "Why would an evil God allow people to experience joy?" My point is that there are varying levels of our emotional response to situations that occur in our lives. You are never "the happiest you have ever been" all of the time...you are sometimes less happy at times than you are right now, sometimes more. Likewise, it is the same with suffering, sorrow, pain, joy, envy, and a whole host of the human response to being alive. Though the question is "Why does God ALLOW suffering...", the question itself becomes lost as suffering is as valid of an experience of life as joy is. God no more "allows" suffering than happiness. God allows us to LIVE, fully, with all of its tumultuous ups and downs. If God were to erase suffering from our lives, where would it end as everything less than "the happiest you have ever been" is erased from our lives? Would we truly want to be "the happiest we have ever been" when a pet, friend, or family member passes away? Or when we are passed over for an employment opportunity? Or when a natural disaster destroys an entire village causing numerable deaths of innocent people?
I don't know what else to write...
So This is What it is to Be Alive?
To the best of my knowledge and experience, God exists. After that, all else is grey. Scripture tells us that God is love, and my experience echos that sentement. My experience in this world leads me to two thoughts:
1. Life happens and we experience the results
2. We exert some form of control over our lives or the lives of others, and we each experience one form or another of the results.
Under (1) I would place events such as death by natural causes, earthquakes, gravity, etc. Essentially, these are things that are (almost always) out of our control. I don't believe in a god who pulls the environmental strings to cause earthquakes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, and famine. These are events based on locale, climate, and tectonics. Nor do I believe in a God with scissors at the threads of our loom...meaning, our death has been predetermined or dependent upon God's mercy. Under (2) would be anything we do to ourselves and each other, regardless of intent.
So suffering is an integral part of our life. Why has no one asked someone who disdains God "Why would an evil God allow people to experience joy?" My point is that there are varying levels of our emotional response to situations that occur in our lives. You are never "the happiest you have ever been" all of the time...you are sometimes less happy at times than you are right now, sometimes more. Likewise, it is the same with suffering, sorrow, pain, joy, envy, and a whole host of the human response to being alive. Though the question is "Why does God ALLOW suffering...", the question itself becomes lost as suffering is as valid of an experience of life as joy is. God no more "allows" suffering than happiness. God allows us to LIVE, fully, with all of its tumultuous ups and downs. If God were to erase suffering from our lives, where would it end as everything less than "the happiest you have ever been" is erased from our lives? Would we truly want to be "the happiest we have ever been" when a pet, friend, or family member passes away? Or when we are passed over for an employment opportunity? Or when a natural disaster destroys an entire village causing numerable deaths of innocent people?
I don't know what else to write...