God, and the Problem of Suffering

By Philip St. Romain

Why does God allow human beings to experience suffering and evil?
In this eBook, we will explore that age-old question, seeking light from Scripture and Church teaching on how it is that a good and powerful God can allow creatures to suffer from abuses inflicted by nature, accidents, social injustice, sickness and death. We will also reflect on what Christ teaches us about how to bear the sufferings we cannot change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329524422

Philip St. Romain

Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min., has published over 20 books on spirituality and theology. He has served as a spiritual director for many people during the past 25 years, and currently ministers at Heartland Center for Spirituality in Great Bend, KS.

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God, and the Problem of Suffering

GOD, and the Problem of Suffering

Copyright: Philip St. Romain, 2015

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2015

ISBN 978-1-329-52442-2

Published by Contemplative Ministries, Inc.

4101 N. Edgemoor

Bel Aire, KS  67220

Introduction

Schoolyard shootings, devastating hurricanes, plane crashes, genocide, child abuse, cancer: where is God when these and other tragic events happen?

God gets blamed for many things. I recall when my wife, a sixth-grade religion teacher at the time, had a discussion with her class about a famine in Ethiopia, and she asked the students what they thought about it. Several stated that the reason the Ethiopians were starving was because they probably were not Christians. Others stated that God was punishing them for something they did wrong. These comments might be excusable for children, but several said this was what their parents had told them.

People in every walk of life struggle with the issue of God’s involvement in suffering and evil. Consider, for example, this quote from Sidney Hook, a contributor to Free Inquiry, a journal of secular humanist ideas. 

I ask: How could an all-loving and all-powerful God exist if he permits the innocent to be tortured and the wicked to prosper? If he is all-loving and cannot prevent it, he is not all-powerful; if he is able to prevent it but will not, he is not all-loving.

What’s the answer to this dilemma? Has Mr. Hook painted God into a corner?

How we understand God’s role in suffering and evil has a significant impact on our faith. How difficult for those sixth-graders taught by my wife to feel compassion for the hungry if for some reason their plight is deserved. The dilemma presented by Sidney Hook in the above quote has significant implications for faith. Indeed, it seems that for many people today, it is a primary stumbling block.

The reflections which follow are intended to help shed light on God’s attitude and response to suffering. Ultimately, we are dealing with a mystery here, which is not to say that we cannot comprehend anything about it, but that the topic goes beyond the capacities of human reason and its manner of understanding things. Indeed, we must rely, to some extent, on divine revelation to help us comprehend God’s attitude toward suffering and evil. After all, a critique of God’s complicity in these matters implies some kind of concept of God, of which there are many among the world’s religions. The response given herein will