Suffering - a Biblical Study

By Charles P. Arnold Jr. Ph.D.

Arnold brings to the delicate subject of suffering a model which partitions it into four classes. Each is defined by the faith and obedience of the individual and whether the suffering is the result of the sufferer or of forces external to the sufferer. Scripture alone is used as the sole basis for this model. Arnold also introduces a theology of Synergy based upon a translation of the Greek text of Romans 8.28 from ancient manuscripts. This theology is used to explain how God uses the suffering of the Christian to bring about good within the universal church. Still another of the many novel explanations in this book, which should aid the reader's understanding of suffering is the author's use of the python spirit. Taken from the book of Acts the reader finds herein how temptation was introduced into the Garden which brought about the Fall of Mankind. Besides all the new ways of thinking about suffering packed into these few pages Arnold also provides ideas on how one may manage their suffering through prayer, meditation, and community. This sensitive topic is supported throughout with verses from Scripture. Everyone who suffers will find strength and encouragement in God's word as explained in Suffering A Biblical Study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 8, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462817740

Charles P. Arnold Jr. Ph.D.

The author is a retired Air Force Colonel who was a professional scientist with both the military and the civilian contractors who built its spacecraft in the 1980’s. He is also a devoted theologian who has written three books on the subject including The Eschaton, Suffering – A Biblical Study, and Spiritual Essays – A Personal Collection. In the 50 years he and his wife have been married they have frequently shared the oral history of their families from which the stories in this book took form. It is his desire that others will be encouraged to study their own history, to learn more about themselves in the process, and to then share their history with others.

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Suffering–A Biblical Study

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CHARLES P. ARNOLD, JR., PH. D.

Copyright © 2008 by Charles P. Arnold, Jr., Ph. D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Xlibris Corporation

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51864

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

References And Notes

PREFACE

SUFFERING IS SOMETHING many of us, if not all, have had to bear. For some it means a life of pain, of daily medications, frequent visits to a hospital, a life, it often seems, of tiring struggle against the inevitable while trying to maintain some level of normality. For others, it means the struggle of caring for this loved one, a child, a spouse, or a dear friend. The pain for these may be the watching, praying, and hoping for the one among them suffering from disease, addiction, violence, hunger, or poverty.

Still others suffer because they have no work, can not pay bills, and are financially in distress. Today thousands of families across the country are suffering as they loose their homes in foreclosure. The elderly on fixed incomes are finding it increasingly difficult to pay the escalating costs of their medications, not to mention the effect oil prices are having at the pump and the resulting costs which are being passed on at the supermarket. These market related problems are causing great suffering all across our nation today.

And then in other parts of the world there are still repressive governments which do not permit freedom of religion. Christians are suffering and in many countries are giving their lives in service to their Lord. Whatever the cause, the hurt and pain are real and bring all of us to seek answers.

My family like yours has shared in a life of suffering. As a result and as a Christian I have turned to Scripture. What does it teach us about suffering? Why do we suffer? Is it really true that we should thank God in everything? What I have found and written in the following chapters of this small book has helped me to cope, to live with, and to accept suffering. It is my prayer that it may be of help to you in your confrontation with both the causes and the times of suffering.

I therefore dedicate this book to my Son Michael, to my Son-in-Law, Mark and to his wife, my daughter Beth and to all in our family who have learned how to live with suffering and more importantly how to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the good that has and is yet to come from this suffering.

The vast universal suffering feel as thine:

Thou must bear the sorrow that thou claimst to heal;

The day-bringer must walk in darkest night.

He who would save the world must share its pain.

If he knows not grief, how shall he find grief’s cure"

Sri Aurobindo

Though I claim to share in the world’s pain

I do not claim to heal

But gladly proclaim the day-bringer, Christ.

C.P.A.

INTRODUCTION

HAVE YOU EVER suffered? Now that’s a naive question isn’t it? Unless you are an infant or a very young child you have no doubt suffered at one time or another, perhaps like many, even chronically. Suffering is part of the human condition, part of being human. Sometimes the human suffering we see played out on the TV evening news or in our morning newspapers, or even across the street is really beyond human comprehension. Beyond our capability to attach any meaning to it. And yet we want to give meaning to it, to understand all we can about it. To make sense of it.

As I write these very words and think back to September the 11th, 2001 I like most of you recall where I was when the news started coming in about the World Trade Center attack. Though it is seven years since the events in New York, the Pentagon, and in that field in southwest Pennsylvania, the great national hurt and suffering which those events brought to so many thousands of people across our country and even of other countries will now remain a part of our national psyche forever. And the suffering may well last for generations to come.

Then a day after Christmas in 2004 a devastating Tsunami in the Indian Ocean devastated cities along the coasts of Asian and African countries which it hit. And while we were still trying to regain some semblance of normality, Hurricane Katrina brought such horrid destruction of property and displacement of people a year later in 2005 that has not been seen in the United States since the great hurricane of Galveston Bay in 1900. It has been estimated that as many as 10,000 lives may have been lost in that earlier storm and an untold number of people were displaced as refugees as their homes were washed away similar to that of Katrina.

We recently visited New Orleans in March of 2008 and were aghast at the ghost like appearance of homes and storefronts outside the French Quarter as we drove into the city. In a conversation with a young woman who worked the desk of the hotel we were staying in, we couldn’t help but notice her tears flowed freely as she recalled the suffering of her family and how