Can I also look at the challenges in my life as the grace of God? of suffering, and looks at many Scriptures on the subject. And when we speak of the problem of evil, we sometimes address it in at least two different ways — natural evil and moral evil. We become weary and we faint in our minds because we fail to consider the bearing of Christ’s suffering on our own experience. I’ll never forget some of the conversations I had with her in the hospital. a. Fourthly, suffering…our own suffering and those whom we love…is a test and challenge to our faith in God’s love, and it tests it to the utmost. Now the problems here are many. My understanding of the universe, or of God, or of theodicy would not be bent out of shape if there were no crocodiles in the world. If you live a profligate lifestyle and contract AIDS as a result of it, you are to blame. Hear us, O Lord, for Jesus’ sake. What is suffering? He was among the earliest of the disciples of Jesus (cf. Eliphaz, for example, in his opening speech [and with friends like this, of course, who needs enemies? I sometimes think when I attend our prayer meetings that they have become, as I sometimes call them, “organ recitals”…[Laughter]…kidneys and liver and heart and lungs and so on, and we rarely pray for anything else unless we are specifically cajoled into doing so. Physical evils of sickness and pain and unproductive suffering. Freedom from suffering is no indication of a right relationship with God. I want to outline five different things that I want to do in the next hour. The Christian way to be ill is always to give glory to God and self-searching. Of the three crosses on Calvary, one was atoning and the other was sanctifying, but quite as certainly the third was hardening. God sanctifies through the experience of suffering. Ken Wytsma is a leader, innovator, and social entrepreneur. And I think my point here is simply to say that unless we are familiar with the Psalms, the language of lament and the language of complaint will be a feature of our lives…that when we find ourselves doing it, we will be somewhat out of joint. It is at this point that we expose ourselves to the charge of Hebrews. God has abandoned them. Why me? We live our lives with the expectation and sometimes a feeling of right that we will live to 80 or 90 or 100 or 110, or 120. And secondly, I want us to look at various responses to evil, and again I want to do that in the generic form. The Bible yields its comfort only to thought. It was Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz’s contention that Job had sinned — either a big sin or a little sin, a sin in his past, a sin in his youth that he can’t even remember and recollect anymore; that all that he needs to do is confess his sin and he would see God coming and restoring him again. Topics include the problem of evil, the problem of pain, the problem of trials, and the proper response to persecution. 5, ed. The Old Testament, intertestamental literature, and the New Testament present two perspectives on human suffering. I doubt that you or I would put it in a hymnbook. Nietzsche and the Problem of Suffering Van Harvey on the metaphysical aspects of an anti-metaphysical philosophy. The book of Job provides a vivid illustration of the theology of suffering. Facebook And then, fifthly, to look at twelve responses to suffering. 5. He conquered evil with good. And yet, He doesn’t shield us from suffering (John 15:20; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. We need to strengthen our trust that, although we will undoubtedly meet adversity and pain on His account, He is also the one who has overcome the world and in whom we have life. In LDS theology, I believe, it is the large context for all humans that gives meaning to suffering. One particular response would be to abandon omnipotence: that the problem of pain and suffering can be resolved simply by saying that God isn’t in control. Suffering teaches us empathy, compassion, and humility, and God comforts us in our afflictions so that we can comfort others with the comfort … Some of his books I’ve read several times and I’m still wondering exactly what he’s saying! Well, the language of Job 3, cursing the day in which he was born, wishing that he had died in his mother’s womb so that his mother’s womb would forever be his grave; the language of Jeremiah 20. Bowler explains that the prosperity gospel movement rose out of the New Thought movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thirdly, immediate acquiescence to suffering is not necessarily a sign of Christian maturity. To abandon God’s control of the future. I urge you to study these references in their contexts, to develop a more comprehensive biblical theology of suffering. I’ll never ever forget that, and she ministered to me. Suffering doesn’t automatically sanctify. Our comprehension of suffering as intrinsic to the life of the believer is essential if we are to find our voice among the faithful — among those who know lament. 3:12). Another is to abandon God’s control of the future; that God is sovereign to an extent, but there are things particularly in regard to the future that God doesn’t have control of. OUR VIEW O F SUFFERING V S. GOD’S VIEW A. I would think He is too busy to worry or intervene with such inconsequential matters.”. And the answer is….I don’t know. I wouldn’t recommend trying to read in a hurry anything by Alvin Plantinga, only because it’s not easy reading. We are the results of the covenant of works. In the beginning of the book, Job’s blessings are apparent. I want to try and identify seven different forms of suffering. We’re not denying the role of doctors and nurses and medicine and so on, and counselors. A Theology of Suffering : What is ‘The Problem of Evil’? Well, illness may have a disciplinary sanctifying purpose without necessarily bearing any relation to past sins. Another dimension of Paul’s thought on the meaning of suffering is his conception of suffering as a means for sanctification, keeping pride at a minimum and trust in God at a maximum. But he is right, I think, in this when he says in God, Freedom, and Evil that a person for whom some specific evil is presenting itself as a religious problem, what they need, I think, is pastoral care more than a course on philosophical apologetics. Christianity is an invitation to trust God’s love at all times and in all situations because of the cross. There was a short period in my life where I was affected a little bit by the so-called “by faith” formula; that the reason why you are not well is because you haven’t exercised faith. Not an unreserved…it would be a somewhat qualified response that I would give to C.S. Speaking on the differences between the African and the American church, and on the African Christians’ greater resilience in the face of trials, he said, “There is, within the African Christian community, a robust acknowledgment of spiritual warfare that informs the church’s ability to endure the agony of fatigue. Secondly, blessing is not automatically derived from suffering. Distress implies an external and usually temporary cause of great physical or mental strain and stress. Sixthly, eternal suffering must be a part of a theology of suffering: that suffering is a part of the universe forever. And then, another issue that I’ve already touched on, the disregard of the psychosomatic links. The biblical theology of suffering in this world, in this existence, in the tension between the now and the not yet…in that eschatological tension between what this world now is and what it one day will be, all sin and all suffering is the result of Adamic sin. Suffering. The docetic view is held by the Christian Science cult, and it has many affinities with the teachings of Eastern religions. And then finally in this section, a readiness to leave the world is a discipline to be practiced at all times. Problem of evil, problem in theology and the philosophy of religion that arises for any view that affirms the following three propositions: God is almighty, God is perfectly good, ... not just as reward or compensation but as the state in which the point of human suffering and the way in which God brings good out of evil will be made clear. Then He is malevolent. It did not.” – C. S. Lewis. 10. Let me move on to eight forms of suffering and address these now fairly quickly. We may then find ourselves wavering, frantically searching for prosperity and blessing that we believe is the Christian experience, rather than obediently moving forward in the steps of the Savior. What is God doing? As Corrie ten Boom, the famed Dutch Christian whose family hid Jews from the Nazis during World War II, once said, “joy runs deeper than despair.”, I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. And the problem is that suffering can produce bitterness. They were good pastors. You have reaped what you have sown. And why is it a problem? Eleven, we must look to Jesus in our suffering.Of course I’m thinking of Hebrews 12: “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… [the founder and protector of our faith], who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the majesty on high.”. Building a robust theology of suffering both prepares us for and acquaints us with the journey we have been called to walk. Why now? How suffering may alter our spiritual beliefs c. Biblical teachings on suffering i. Fourthly, that empathetic suffering where one person’s grief affects another…and sometimes we do suffer because we are sympathizing with another…I think in very personal family circumstances we enter into the suffering of another in order to empathize, in order to help, in order to encourage. Participate in a group or individual presentation, mini-sermon, project, PowerPoint, mind-map, visuals, webpage, or YouTube video on a chapter in one of the textbooks. Firstly, that all suffering including illness is a consequence of Adamic sin. ‘He weaves,’ the preacher said, ‘not only the fabric that produces joy and righteousness, but also that which produces agony and evil. Either natural or moral evil? 9. You remember the question of the disciples. Our life is a vapor that appears for a moment and then is gone…that we live for an eternal city…that we mustn’t set down our roots in this world too deep, but that we must live our lives as those who are packed up and ready to go. First, that Christianity is an invitation to trust God’s love at all times and in all situations because of the cross. She was dying of cancer. And, thirdly, I would suggest that illness may have a prospective disciplinary sanctifying purpose without bearing any relation to past sins. We must actually come to the point where we glory in tribulation, seeing it as the vehicle through which God sanctifies, seeing it as the vehicle through which God will be given all the glory. As I walked through the door…I said hello to him and he left, and I went up to the lady, and she was in tears. It is easy for us to see God in our blessings, but can we see God in our trials? Sometimes we think of it as a right, one of our human rights, to have good health, and we get angry with God when bad health seems to come to us. Suffering should make sense to the believer. And in the ground, in the sandy surface of the ground in that cave there are footprints, and they are the footprints of Jesus. We are not to forget the exhortation, the argument, the case by which Scripture speaks. And so little by little he attempts to undo the doctrine of the sovereignty of God in suffering, and actually engages in quite unhelpful remarks about the family’s faith and trust in God…and he tries to do so as a friend. 2. I watch Animal Planet, and I think people who play about with alligators and crocodiles are nuts! When he comes back and gives his report of his first missionary journey, what does he say? Secondly, I would say that all circumstances in our Christian lives are ordered by God for furthering the good of final salvation in heaven, and are occasions for practicing faith and hope and love, and the disciplines that constitute and ripen the fruit of the Spirit. Example of job ii. And it’s a valid form of study, and we could think of the study of apologetics, for example, as it relates to the whole issue of suffering and evil. The Bible has so much, then, to say to us about suffering. It’s a Psalm…it’s the darkest Psalm in the Psalter. The experience of physical pain and/or mental distress. The core of the Deuteronomist Theology can be reduced even further to a core principle: Yahweh will bless those who obey and punish those who disobey.In practice, though, the principle is expressed in the reverse form: if you're suffering, then it must be because you disobeyed and if you're prospering it must be because you have been obedient. That’s his philosophy of Christian ministry: “It is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God.” You know, when you realize that, you won’t be taken by surprise when tribulations come. We are rebuked for forgetting the exhortation which speaks with us. I don’t know if Psalm 88 is familiar to you; if you tell me it’s your favorite Psalm, you are in need of counseling, big time! Seventhly, that Christianity was from the first announced as the way of the cross. Or is it Ezra the…? He is the president of Kilns College, where he teaches courses on philosophy and justice. Lewis’s Problem of Pain. Suffering is merely an illusion in this view. [And I notice that David is here, too, and he ministered to Catherine more than I did in the last number of days. Introduction What is suffering? To reject evil and suffering. And another is to modify God’s goodness. It was, I suppose, a no-holds-barred Presbyterian predestinarian sermon reflecting on the issue of suffering and providence. Some I’m going to spend much more time on than others. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain. The church is not meant to be a loosely bound association of functional Lone Rangers. I venture to suggest that’s probably what this reporter was suggesting — that there are things that God simply isn’t in control of…trivial things…and perhaps for moral reasons to obviate the problem of God’s involvement in pain and suffering, that God is less than sovereign. (1) Suffering is announced by Jesus as central to the understanding of Christian discipleship. And that is the conundrum (at least, the philosophical conundrum) with regard to suffering. Our suffering builds endurance and strength, and unites us deeply with God's heart, with the goal of being glorified with Yeshua . Amen. And then they recount the shovels, and there’s none missing. We’d love to hear from you! First of all, I want just to reflect very briefly on what is sometimes called “the problem of evil,” and not so much from a philosophical point of view, rather from a pastoral point of view that there is a problem of evil, a problem of suffering. And I think the Bible does speak of empathetic suffering. That’s his philosophy of Christian work. And Christian Science and probably Spinoza, the philosopher that lies behind all of that. We are to consider Christ, to think through the significance of His advent and His work. I remember all too vividly visiting a woman. OUR VIEW O F SUFFERING V S. GOD’S VIEW A. You can be a skeptic. The good news is that we have a good God on our side who will strengthen us every single day and give us grace to walk through it. We’re in a world that is “groaning and travailing in birth, waiting for the regeneration of all things,” to use Paul’s language in Romans 8. I want to then move on to try and highlight seven particular forms of suffering. We can never doubt God’s love for us, who gave himself for us in Jesus Christ, to die the accursed death of the cross. One thinks about the writings of Clarke Pinnock and others…Saunders and others…suggesting that in order to maintain human freedom and human choice (and the validity of human freedom and choice in every context and every sphere) that God isn’t in control of the future. We are unskilled in the word of righteousness, inept in applying its great doctrines to the anxieties of life. The words and phrases in the Bible expressing this concept are too numerous to list. You know, that’s in the end the conclusion of the book of Job. Nothing tests our love for God more than suffering and trials, and the death of someone we love, or the illness of someone we love more than anyone else in this world, apart from Jesus. I wish this thing had never come my way.”. First of all, one form of suffering is satanic. As the church and as individuals, it is time that we find our song. A theology of the cross, by contrast, accepts the difficult thing rather than immediately trying to change it or transmute it. To abandon God’s omnipotence. It’s meant to teach us something. 1 Wilhelm Michaelis, The Theological Dictionary of The New Testament, Vol. We should expect it, but we should also begin to rebuild a proper theology of suffering within our confessions of faith. If I choose to order catfish instead of chicken for lunch one Sunday at the Crystal Grill, is that God’s will at work? The issue needs further explication I think, and a differentiation, I think, between physical health or ill health and mental or emotional health, or bad health. Do you remember the first lesson Paul learnt on his first missionary journey? Our expectations and preparation for trial will govern our ability to endure spiritual drought and burnout. Privacy Policy | Term and Conditions. It’s the problem of trusting God even when the lights go out. We must train ourselves for bad times as well as for good. How suffering may alter our spiritual beliefs c. Biblical teachings on suffering i. They are weariness and toil. It gives us the strength and fitness of uniting to Christ more closely in illness and approaching death. ), but they have been down in the dumps, saying things like “I wish I’d never been born. He was a friend (a so-called friend) of the family, and took issue with, “…the Presbyterian minister at the memorial service who made an interesting and scripturally grounded case suggesting that there really is no randomness in our lives; that God’s hand is in everything good, bad, and all in between. But I think in the latter part of Elihu’s chapters, I think that Elihu just steps back again into the theology of Job’s three friends, a theology that I would call instant retribution: that you get out of life exactly what you deserve; that sin and suffering is always a concomitant of personal sin; that suffering is always the concomitant of personal sin on our part. I sometimes say we ought to have a moratorium in using Romans 8:28 in a way that is sometimes inappropriate and trite, but it seemed on this occasion to be the exact words for this circumstance: that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him; that there isn’t a circumstance, there isn’t a set of contingencies in which God isn’t in absolute and total control. It was one of the first cross-stitches (whatever the word is) that she ever did. Even Jesus was tempted by suffering. 2. I think I’ve spoken about Job. A realistic understanding will accurately locate us in the middle of a story in which to suffer is to share in what it means to be human. They were meant for the likes of you and me. It reminds me of my daughter, but it also reminds me of something about myself and about how others sometimes see me. if that kind of complaint, if that kind of lament isn’t part of the fabric of your Christian experience, then you don’t have the resources, the biblical resources, to address on a personal level the issue of suffering. If your expectation is that life is always going to be wonderful, that suffering and pain have no right to manifest themselves in your life, that when they come, they come as a total shock and surprise, then you don’t have all of the armor that you need to face evil and suffering, are ordered by God for furthering the good of final salvation in heaven, and are occasions for practicing faith and hope and love, and the disciplines that constitute and ripen the fruit of the Spirit, God uses not just medicine but uses our prayers as well. Suffering. 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