GOD, AND THE PROBLEM OF

SUFFERING
by
Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min.
- all rights reserved Published by
Contemplative Ministries, Inc.
Through Lulu Press
2015

ePub and pdf versions of this work are available

free of charge.
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New International Version

Philip St. Romain

God, and the Problem of Suering

Contents
Introduction - 3
- Acknowledgements - 5
1. God, and Human Suffering - 6
- Five Causes of Suffering - 6
- Moral Evil - 8
- Accidents - 12
- Natural Evil - 16
- Growth, Sickness and Death - 22
2. The Critique of Atheism - 27
3. Christian Spirituality - 32
- Faith and Love - 33
- Redemptive Suffering - 37
- Hope for the Future - 40
Summary - 44

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
Gods 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 allloving and cannot prevent it, he is not allpowerful; if he is able to prevent it but will not,
he is not all-loving.

Whats the answer to this dilemma? Has Mr. Hook

painted God into a corner?
How we understand Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods attitude toward
suffering and evil. After all, a critique of Gods
complicity in these matters implies some kind of
concept of God, of which there are many among the
worlds religions. The response given herein will be
from the perspective of Christian theology, which is
based in large part on the revelation of God presented
in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It will be a sketch on
how to approach and respond to this topic rather than a

scholarly thesis, of which there are many.

Acknowledgements
This work was initially published as a much shorter
pamphlet in 1989 by Liguori Publications, whose
editorial staff provided assistance in shaping its
structure and expression. Critical feedback and
evaluation for this present publication was provided by
Ann Axman, Derek Cameron, Sr. Jolene Geier, Fr.
Kerry Ninemire, Theresa St. Romain and Todd St.
Romain, Evangeline Truex and Jerry Truex. Thank you
all for helping to make this a better work. I also
presented a webinar on this topic using the approach
taken in this work in August 2015; comments and
interactions of participants have also been taken into
consideration.

1.
God, and Human Suffering
We begin by recognizing that there are different
causes of pain and suffering in our human lives, each
having different implications for how we might
understand Gods role.

Five Causes of Suffering

1. Moral Evil: suffering caused by the misuse of
human freedom. Poor eating habits, smoking, and lack
of exercise are examples of poor choices made by
individuals; heart attacks, cancers and other problems
are possible consequences. Guilt and shame resulting
from lying and other immoral behaviors are also
conditions that we bring on ourselves. No one is
surprised when a smoker gets lung cancer or a liar has
relationship difficulties. Individuals hurting others
through violent actions is another example of this type
of suffering. Child abuse is a sad but fairly common
example, but so is gossip that damages anothers
reputation. The list could go on.
Social injustice is also caused by the misuse of
freedom under the influence of social biases. Racism,
sexism, and other forms of bias are common examples,
as is persecuting people for their religious beliefs.

Genocidal movements have claimed millions of lives

during the past century.
2. Suffering caused by accidents. For example, a car
wreck because of a tire that blows out is unplanned and
not completely preventable. Neither is tripping and
breaking ones arm, and a wide variety of other mishaps
and mistakes. Accidents are in their own category
because they are unintended and unpredictable. They
are often ascribed to bad luck or similar phrases,
prompting different kinds of questions concerning Gods
role in the situation.
3. Natural evil. Suffering occasioned by nature is
quite common. This can include tragedies brought on by
weather (tornados, floods, lightning, blizzards, etc.) and
geological phenomena like earthquakes and volcanoes.
These natural causes are sometimes called acts of God
by the insurance industry, as there is no human being
or social entity to assign blame to them. Biological
factors like birth defects can also be assigned to this
type of suffering, as are unavoidable forms of mental
illness.
4. Suffering caused by sickness. Even though one
lives in a country where social injustice is minimal, and
one manages to avoid accidents, natural disasters, and
poor choices, we all get sick at some time. This is
unavoidable, as our immune system is not invulnerable

to every kind of virus or bacteria. Sickness even the

common cold is painful, not to mention a stress on
our caregivers.
5. Suffering rooted in the growth process derives
from our creatureliness. As we grow older, it is natural
that we stretch our physical and psycho-spiritual
boundaries. From the reproductive and birthing process
to teething and learning to walk to the adolescents
search for identity to aging and death, there is pain
accompanying growth. These pains cannot be
prevented. They are part of life.
Sometimes we find combinations of these causes of
suffering, as when a hurricane makes landfall in a
country that is poorly governed and unable to provide
assistance to those in the path of the storm. To make
matters worse, looters might move in, further
worsening the situation. Small children and the elderly
will be most vulnerable to the stresses of inadequate
food and medical care. A hurricane is a powerful,
destructive force to begin with, but all the more so
where there are many poor.

Moral Evil
Now that we have examined the five common
sources of human suffering, we can reflect on the
problem of moral evil. Keeping in mind the theological

understanding of evil as the absence of good, let us

consider the question: What would God have to do in
order to prevent evil from happening?
Since moral evil is the natural and logical outcome
of the misuse of freedom, the way to prevent it would be
for God to somehow prevent people from doing harmful
acts to themselves and one another. For example, God
would have to deter the child abuser from beating his
child, or disallow the unjust laws imposed by a dictator
from being implemented. Obviously, God does not do
this. Why? Because to allow humans to make only good
choices while preventing us from making and enacting
bad ones would be no freedom at all. We would be more
like robots if that were the case, but that is not how God
has created us.
Still, it seems that this explanation lets God off the
hook completely. After all, God is the one who created
us with freedom, and who sustains in existence those
who create evil acts. Therefore, God has a living
connection with evil-doers; without the gifts of life and
existence, they could not do anyone any harm.
There is great mystery in all this, but what we can
say from our biblical tradition is that God, who is love
(1 John 4:8) created us in his image and likeness (Gen.
1:26). This is to say that we have a spiritual nature
coexisting with our bodies, enabling us to act as

rational beings and make free choices. Love cannot

exist outside a context of freedom; it cannot be required
or demanded. Nor is love on the spiritual level a blind,
instinctual drive; it is a decision made in freedom. This
freedom must include the possibility of choosing selfwill over friendship with God or it is no freedom at all.
God created us free to accept or reject Gods love. He
knew that most of us would reject Him some of the
time, and that a few would deny Him most of the time.
He also knew that the gift of free will would enable men
like Hitler to rise to power, that the Cains of this world
would kill the Abels, and that death squads would
torture innocent children. Nonetheless, God knew that
some human beings would finally, in spirit and truth,
choose to love Him in return. Why does God allow evil?
He must have thought that those who would accept his
offer of friendship would make it all worthwhile.
Still, even though God allows evil to happen, it does
not follow that God approves of it. God loathes moral
evil (Ps. 26:5).
Following the biblical story of the Fall of Adam and
Eve (Genesis 3), we read of the spread of evil
throughout the human race, corrupting our awareness
of Gods love and our reverence for truth. This was all a
natural and logical consequence of our First Parents
betrayal of the spiritual enlightenment they had been

10

blessed with. Their own darkened consciousness

contaminated their childrens, whose darkness was
passed along, generation after generation, becoming
politically and economically enculturated through the
centuries.
God did not leave us to ourselves, however. The
biblical story is one of God taking the initiative to invite
us to live more responsibly and lawfully with one
another. When the time was right, God became
incarnate as a human being, Jesus of Nazareth, to
stand with us in the battle against evil while
empowering us with his very Spirit to become loving
children of God.
Jesus position was always to resist evil without
further escalating it; his power was demonstrated
through love, not aggressive coercion. Through his
death and resurrection, Jesus broke the hold of evil in
this world, demonstrating that the power of goodness is
stronger than evil. We see, too, that Gods power is not
negated by evil, for the resurrection of Jesus
established a spiritual foundation from which all
creation shall eventually be renewed. It is this same
power that God shares with us in the gift of the Holy
Spirit to help us love as Christ Himself loved.
So we see that God is very concerned about human
evil and has even suffered, through Jesus, a most

11

unjust process of torture and death from powers of evil.

God empathizes with those who suffer because of moral
evil, and has done everything possible to help us face
the powers of evil without revoking the gift of freedom
that enables the precious possibility of friendship with
Him. During this epoch of salvation history, we live in a
world where forces of both good and evil are in conflict,
knowing that God is with us through the struggle. This
world and this age are but part of the ongoing story of
creation. In the end, Gods will shall prevail. The
resurrection of Christ is our hope and promise that evil
shall not have the last word. More on this in a later
section.

Accidents
If it is possible to believe in a good God who
nonetheless permits evil, and a powerful God who will
not use his power to negate human freedom, then the
question of Gods role in suffering brought about by
accidents naturally emerges. One might say: OK, so
God cannot be blamed for a ruthless dictators rise to
power nor for the evil of social injustice. Why, then,
does God not warn us about accidents? God could surely
alert us to tires that were about to blow out, or a bridge
that was going to collapse. This would not violate our
freedom; we could still choose to take a risk and travel
on the tire or bridge, or to do something else. So why, if

12

God is good, are we not warned about accidents to spare

us this type of suffering?
One common response to these questions is to
consider all accidental occurrences to be part of Gods
plan. One often hears people saying this after an
accident of some kind. Even the statement, God works
in mysterious ways presumes that God has some kind
of role in engineering the accident. In this view, the
thousands of people killed in plane crashes through the
years were called by God to die in that manner.
Perhaps we might say, it was their turn to go, or
something like that to try to make sense of it. Those
who ran late and missed those fatal flights were
somehow saved by an act of divine intervention as it
wasnt their turn to go. This view represents a
misunderstanding of Gods power, providence and
sovereignty.
Accidents happen, and God has nothing to do with
it. Those who maintain that God somehow has a role in
bringing about accidents as a means of selecting those
whose time on earth is up fail to make a distinction
between primary and secondary causality. Primary
causality is the theological affirmation of a God who
creates things that can act according to their own
nature. Secondary causality is the recognition of the
actions of creatures to one another. This is to say that

13

God makes creation (primary causality), but is not

responsible for the actions taken by the creatures
(secondary causality), including the failures of even
things like tires and airplanes. Tires and airplanes
were made by people, and so their failures even
though unintended are to be laid at the feet of
humans, not God. Build a better tire and there will be
fewer blowouts; make a better airplane and there will
be fewer crashes (both have, in fact, improved through
the years).
Can God prevent accidents? Yes, of course; God can
do anything! But this would require that God somehow
forewarn us so we could avoid them. It may well be that
God sometimes does alert us of a problem by nudging us
internally away from a certain destructive course of
action; many people have given testimony of this kind of
experience (usually with the clarity of 20-20
hindsight). For example, I recall a situation years ago
when I was about to take a trip, and felt very strongly
that I should check the lugs on the wheels of my car
before doing so. As it turned out, they were very loose,
as I hadnt completely tightened them after rotating my
tires a few days before. Its possible that this awareness
had been percolating in my unconscious and finally
caught my attention, but it might also be that the Holy
Spirit had something to do with bringing it to my

14

awareness. Another example: around 350 people

changed or canceled their flight plans for the planes
that were hijacked on September 11, 2001 in the U.S.
This is an extremely high number compared to similar
days on these flights. Coincidence? Warning from God?
Impossible to say, in most cases, though some have
stated that they had received an inner warning or sense
of danger.
It seems, however, that God usually allows us to
experience the natural and logical consequences of our
lives on earth so that we might become more
responsible as a people. If God warned us every time a
tire was ready to blow out, we would not have had the
initiative to build a better tire. We would probably be
lax in our efforts to address social problems if God
directly intervened by forewarning us of the approach of
a madman with a gun, ready to shoot whoever is in
sight. If God stepped in to prevent these kinds of
occurrences, it would probably undermine our incentive
to correct these kinds of problems.
The reality of accidental suffering and death should
be a sobering reminder to us that we never really know
when we will die. Because an accident can take us away
from this life before we are ready to go, we must live in
such a manner that we are always ready to stand before
God to give an account of our lives.

15

Suffering caused by accidents also calls us to be

compassionate to those who have suffered such
misfortunes. One of the ugliest and most insidious
myths prevalent today is that we all get what we
deserve including accidents. This is a pagan view,
unworthy of Christians. There is that fascinating
passage in Luke 13:1-5 where Jesus refers to eighteen
people who were killed by a falling tower in Siloam. Do
you think they were more guilty than anyone else who
live in Jerusalem? he asked the crowd, rhetorically.
Certainly not! he exclaimed in response. Sometimes
one is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The
most appropriate response to suffering cased by
accidents is to do what we can to reduce them while
providing compassionate support to those who, through
no fault of their own, fall victim to this type of suffering
in our imperfect world. The last thing we should do is to
blame God for the accident and ensuing suffering.

Natural Evil
The term natural evil has been used to indicate
suffering brought about through natural processes.
Some writers have even considered sickness and death
to be of this type, but we will discuss those types of
suffering separately. What we are most concerned with

16

here are largely tragedies related to weather and

geological processes.
Of course, it is difficult to completely subtract
human influence from even this type of suffering. For
example, much has been written during the past few
years concerning climate change how emissions of
greenhouse gasses (CO2, methane) from industry,
automobiles and cattle has contributed to broad
changes in weather patterns. Although it is difficult to
prove the degree to which climate change is related to
extreme weather patterns, climatologists insist there is
a connection. The prediction is that we will see more
weather extremes in the decades to come, one
consequence being more human suffering from such
natural causes.
Human agency is also implicated in other kinds of
natural disasters. The dust storms in the Great Plains
of the United States during the 1930s were caused, in
part, by irresponsible land cultivation methods that left
the topsoil unprotected from the prairie wind. Humans
depleting the rain forests also influences weather
patterns and leads to more flooding. The examples
could go on.
Even in a world where humans lived in perfect
harmony with nature, we would sometimes suffer from
an earthquake, volcano, hurricane, and so forth. These

17

so-called acts of God have been happening for a very

long time long before humans came onto the scene.
They are part of the way the earths natural geological
and climatological processes unfold. The problem for us
is that we are often in the wrong place at the wrong
time, unprepared or unable to cope with these
situations.
In Kansas, where I now live, we have numerous
tornadoes every year. Some of these can be very
powerful, destroying virtually everything in their path.
They are generally less than a half-mile wide, however,
and it often happens that a house on one side of the
road will be destroyed, while one on the other side will
be untouched. The path of a tornado is often erratic,
prompting some to speculate that they express some
kind of divine purpose destroying this home and that
barn for reasons known to God, but sparing others just
a few feet away, or seemingly in the direct path because
of divine mercy.
As tempting as it is to consider tornadoes and other
natural forces to be agents of divine justice, I am sure
this position is not theologically defensible. As always,
good people suffer from these forces, and bad people
escape unharmed. There is no moral intent expressed in
natural forces. As was the case with accidental
phenomena, we need to make a distinction between

18

primary and secondary causality. Climate and geology

operate in the realm of secondary causality.
Thanks to scientific progress, we are now able to
avoid some of the causes of natural suffering better
than in the past. When a hurricane destroyed
Galveston, Texas in 1900, no one knew it was coming in
advance and so there was no evacuation of the island.
Thousands died. Now, we can track hurricanes from
their early formation and provide ample warning time
to encourage evacuation. This will not diminish the
damage done to property in its path; those who wish to
avoid this risk can consider living elsewhere. Likewise
for those who live near geological fault lines. Earlywarning systems for earthquakes dont give much
advance notice, but they can help one to at least get out
of a building before serious damage is done. Also,
knowing where earthquakes are likely to occur provides
information to consider when planning where to settle.
San Francisco, California is a lovely city, and its easy
to understand why anyone would want to live there.
But no geologist would be surprised if a major
earthquake caused extensive damage to the city at any
time. Science can also help to predict situations where
tsunamis will arise, as well as give warnings about
flash flooding, severe thunderstorms, and volcanic

19

eruptions. The more we learn, the better we can adjust

our lives to natural forces.
I have placed birth defects in this section because
they can seemingly turn up randomly and without
warning. As with other natural causes of suffering,
however, they are not completely disconnected from
human actions. For example, a woman who drinks
alcohol and/or uses drugs during her pregnancy can
harm her developing fetus, sometimes severely. But a
wide range of handicaps can arise in the children of
healthy women and marriages. With a better
knowledge of the genetic heritage of both parents, it
might be possible to predict some of these possibilities,
but not necessarily prevent them. Genetic testing of
fetuses is also possible, raising the ethical dilemma of
how to deal with those who will be born with handicaps,
especially severe ones. Church teaching on this issue
gives priority to the right to life of the unborn, and that
is helpful in sorting out the ethical issues at stake.
Bringing a handicapped fetus to term and caring for
him or her will surely present extraordinary challenges
for the parents, however.
I think Gods attitude toward suffering from natural
causes is similar to that of accidents first and
foremost encouraging compassionate assistance to those
who are victims of such tragedies. During the flooding

20

of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I

heard people say things like, well, if you live in a city
below sea level, youre asking for it! Not exactly
compassion! God also prompts us to learn more about
the earth and its natural systems that we might live in
more safety and harmony with these mighty forces.
Better levees have been built around New Orleans, for
example, and more care is being given to inspecting the
pumps that are supposed to remove flood waters (most
were not operative at the time of Katrina). Couples who
know they at risk for bearing children with serious
handicaps can better decide if they want to take this
risk, or to find other ways to be generous with their
lives like adoption, for example. God gave us
intellects that we might become more responsible for
how we live our lives, and the Spirit of God has been
given to guide us in our studies and discernments.
On a purely fantasy level, I can imagine that God
would be delighted if we dropped the phrase, acts of
God in reference to tragedies brought on by nature.
The term gives the wrong impression, ascribing blame
to God and thus discouraging people from turning to
God when they need Him most. God is always with us,
loving us in all of the circumstances of our lives. How
about acts of nature as a substitute?

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Growth, Sickness and Death
All life forms undergo a growth process, struggle to
find adequate food, experience illnesses, and finally die.
It is no different with humans. Between the time the
egg is fertilized in the mothers womb through birth,
toddlerhood, adolescence, adulthood, and finally old age
and death, we are challenged and stretched to let go of
what has been to realize more of our potential. The
growth process need not be too painful if one is healthy
and supported by a loving family, but that is not always
the case. Still, theres no getting around the fact that
life is often difficult, stressful and wearisome.
Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
(Ps. 90:10)
As with the other causes of suffering, things can be
made better or worse depending on the kinds of choices
we have made in our lives, and those we continue to
make once the difficult times arise. The research is very
clear, for example, that diet, sleep, exercise, and
relationships are strongly correlated with health. No
doctor is surprised when an obese person develops
diabetes, or an alcoholic has liver diseases. Children

22

who grow up in homes where the parents frequently

quarrel will often develop low self-esteem, which is a
painful psychological consequence they will struggle
with for years, in many cases. Obviously, we cannot
blame God for illnesses brought about through our own
poor lifestyle decisions.
Even in the best of circumstances, however, sickness
and death can intrude unexpectedly. We are probably
all aware of someone a health nut, we might have
called him or her who was careful about diet, sleep,
exercise, and managing stress, but suffered a stroke or
heart attack at an early age. In one case I am familiar
with, the man, aged 42, had had a physical exam, with
excellent numbers to boast of. He dropped dead during
a jog the very next week, leaving his wife and three
young children behind. Statistics are in favor of those
who make good self-care decisions, but there are no
guarantees. Death can come at any moment.
I suppose most people would have little quarrel with
God if they knew they could count on a long life with
few illnesses and a rather quick dying process,
surrounded by family and friends, with joyful
anticipation of the heavenly world to come. After all,
everything that lives eventually has to die, so one has
no right to feel exempt from that fact. But the later the
better, and with as little suffering as possible, most of

23

us would say. Indeed, some people are granted such a

gift, but of course they do not know that it will happen
this way, and most likely have experienced times of
stress thinking about their eventual death.
What needs to be noted in all this is that, from a
biblical perspective, God did not will that humans
should know suffering and death as we now experience
it. With the creation of the first humans, God breathed
into them an immortal spirit that transformed even
their bodies with a fullness and glory that was resistant
to illness and death. We do not know how that would
have worked, of course, as this metaphysical situation
was lost with the Fall in Eden. Even though those early
chapters in Genesis are mythological in construct, they
do describe a change in the status of human nature and
its capacity for suffering. Genesis 3:16-19 describes the
curses humans were to experience in our new, fallen
state mental anguish, struggle, loss of harmony,
contentious relationships, to name a few. Then God
gave them animal skins to clothe them for life outside
of Eden, signifying that we are now like the other
animals, who will experience disease and death. There
is also a new capacity for knowing good and evil (Gen.
3:22), which is to say a judgmentalism that we can
apply to any situation. God did not will that we

24

experience this fruit of the tree of Knowledge, which is

the source of so much of our misery.
Human judgmentalism must be ranked among the
chief sources of human suffering and misery. It is bad
enough that the shoe of life pinches tightly at times, but
we make things worse by judging that this is a bad
thing and something to loathe, maybe even blame
someone else (including God) about. Making mistakes is
inevitable, but judging oneself to be a bad person and
failure for doing so is quite another. Animals become
frightened when they perceive a threat, but unlike a
cat, who calms down when the dog is finally out of
sight, we continue to scare ourselves by fantasizing
other threatening situations. We create inner
disharmony through our mental mismanagement,
compounding the pains we experience from illnesses
and other difficulties. Granted, these are but more
examples of suffering brought on through poor choices,
but what we are naming here is a kind of spiritual
disease that biases us to make such choices in the first
place. We are our own worst enemy, and that is perhaps
the worst suffering of all, for it disposes us to be
hopeless and despondent.
I do not understand what I do. For what I
want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And
if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the

25

law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who

do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that
good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my
sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is
good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the
good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do
this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not
want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin
living in me that does it.
(Rom. 7:15-20)
God knows all about our misery, of course, and has
done something about it, as we shall soon see. What
needs to be affirmed here, is that God wills that we be
compassionately responsive to the pains and struggles
that we all undergo through the growth process,
sickness and death. We see Jesus doing so on many
occasions in the Gospels, and he calls us to do the same.

26

2.
The Critique of Atheism
The fact of suffering and death is one of atheisms
strongest criticisms of belief in a loving God. What
follows is a quote from Dr. Bart Ehrman, a biblical
scholar who is also an atheist, in large part because he
found the biblical response to the problem of suffering
to be inadequate:
We live in a world in which a child dies every five
seconds of starvation. Every five seconds. Every
minute there are twenty-five people who die because
they do not have clean water to drink. Every hour
700 people die of malaria. Where is God in all this?
We live in a world in which earthquakes in the
Himalayas kill 50,000 people and leave 3 million
without shelter in the face of oncoming winter. We
live in a world where a hurricane destroys New
Orleans. Where a tsunami kills 300,000 people in
one fell swoop. Where millions of children are born
with horrible birth defects. And where is God? To
say that he eventually will make right all that is
wrong seems to me, now, to be pure wishful
thinking.
(from http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/
blogalogue/2008/04/why-suffering-is-godsproblem.html)

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As we have seen in our reflections on the different

causes of suffering, Christianity does indeed have a
response to Professor Ehrmans objections. Gods love
and omnipotence are not in conflict, especially if we
recognize that God grants a measure of freedom to
humans and indeed all of creation in its operations.
Without such freedom, the universe would simply be
like a machine, with creatures going about and doing
things according to causes they could not resist or
change in any manner. Yet the fact that humans are
capable of changing their attitudes and behavior is
proof enough that our lives and actions are not predetermined. Freedom of mind and action is inscribed in
the heart of all humans, and to a lesser degree in other
creatures as well. Such freedom implies the possibility
of doing harm, even in the face of the experience of
negative consequences.
Some atheists will grant the role of free-will in
human suffering, but complain about God creating a
kind of universe where natural evil, birth defects,
growth pains, sickness and death take place. Change
and even violence are found throughout the universe,
from the birth and death of stars, to the cataclysmic
changes that planets undergo through volcanoes,
bombardment by meteors, and so forth. Life on earth
has come forth in such a context. Animals eat plants

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and other animals. Species arise, and eventually go

extinct; such is the way of the universe. The atheist
might want nothing to do with a God who creates a
universe where suffering and evil are possible, but its
not as though they have a choice about which one they
will live in. Neither is it obvious that they could have
done a better job!
Of course, its possible that God could have designed
a universe where free creatures would be compelled to
do only good. In fact, such a place actually does exist,
according to Christian theology. Its called heaven a
state of existence where the goodness and beauty of God
are perceived so fully that its inhabitants are are
irresistibly drawn to goodness and love. Another way of
considering the atheists complaint, then, would be to
inquire why God didnt create only heaven and skip the
step of this mortal life with its struggles and pain?
There could be no arguing about existence of God if that
were the case, nor of Gods goodness and power, for that
matter. God could have done things that way, but God
did not, so there must be a reason for His plan.
What we know about Gods ultimate plan and Gods
reason for working it out in the context of this physical
universe is extremely limited, however. As the Apostle
Paul noted, For now we see through a glass darkly, (1
Cor. 13:12) and the great prophet Isaiah stated: Who

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can know the mind of the Lord, or teach Him

anything? (Is. 40:13) And (God speaking) As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your
thoughts. (Is. 55:9) God has His reasons for having
created a universe where creatures could experience
suffering and evil. The Bible is generally silent on this
matter, as it does not occur to its authors to question
why God created this kind of universe and not another.
What is unequivocally affirmed, however, is that this
universe is good indeed very good (Gen. 1:31). It is
more than adequate for accommodating life:
For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens
and earth and put everything in place. He made the
world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos.
(Is. 45:18)
One thing we can all say, however, is that the
universe is not lacking in beauty and grandeur!
Atheists are often very much in touch with this, but
they do not recognize a Transcendent Source behind
and within it all. For the religious person, creation is
iconic, or revelatory of a greater Goodness, Beauty and
Intelligence. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote: For
since the creation of the world Gods invisible qualities
his eternal power and divine naturehave been
clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are without excuse. (Rm. 1:20)

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Creation itself stands as a witness to the existence of

God, for it cannot account for its own origin and
existence.
Atheists, then, are inescapably shackled to a
materialist perspective that even the most noble of
their humanists cannot overcome. Their hope to leave
the earth a better place for the next generation is
laudable, but does not address the deepest aspirations
of the human soul and its yearning for complete love,
knowledge and meaning. For them, death is believed to
be the end, including the extinguishing of the light of
individual consciousness. Perhaps they feel some degree
of satisfaction in their protest against a God whom they
believe to be unjust and mean-spirited, but such selfrighteousness is small compensation for the harsh
reality of an eventual death and annihilation.
Nevertheless, the number of atheists is growing, in no
small part because many of them are ignorant of the
hope Christianity holds out in the face of evil and
suffering.

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3.
Christian Spirituality
Christians share with atheists a sense of
responsibility for the social and ecological future of the
planet. We recognize the work for good that they are
often doing, and we stand with them in many ventures.
As the Apostle Paul wrote long ago, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything
is excellent or praiseworthythink about such
things. (Phil. 4:8) There are many such excellent and
praiseworthy writings and initiatives carried forward
by atheists. With regard to scientific research, in
particular, it makes little difference whether the
scientist is an atheist or a religious person. Science
proceeds by following a method of inquiry that helps to
clarify facts, and what is most important is fidelity to
this method.
How to act upon and understand the meaning of
scientific data necessitates consideration of ethical and
sometimes even theological principles, however, and it
is here that one often finds disagreements. We can
collaborate on mapping the human gene code, for
example, but what to do with this information is
another question. Other complicated areas include

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embryonic stem cell research, birth control methods,

and assisted suicide. Should we proactively and
painlessly terminate the life of a person suffering from
a terminal illness, for example? Is it ethical to perform
late-term abortions when the mothers life is not at
risk? Science cannot resolve these questions as they are
ethical considerations.
Christianity has no quarrel with advances in
technology that help to relieve suffering and extend life.
Although our symbol is the Cross, we do not believe
that suffering in itself is a good thing. As noted in a
section above, the kind of misery and strife we
experience at this time in history was not Gods hope for
us, and so its a good thing to do whatever we can
through scientific means (medical, pharmaceutical,
psychological, etc.) and otherwise to work to alleviate
suffering and to reverse the conditions that bring it
about. Chief among these conditions is the misuse of
human freedom a topic about which Christian
spirituality has much to offer.

Faith and Love

The misuse of human freedom is the cause of
enormous misery and destruction: relational, social,
political, economic, environmental, and so on. If we
could eliminate this cause, we would still have natural

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evil, accidents, growth pains and sicknesses to contend

with, but we could deal with each of these problems
much more effectively.
Its obvious that making rational and loving choices
would make things better in any circumstance, so one
wonders why we would ever choose to do otherwise?
The answer is because our choosing is deeply influenced
by three negative factors: ignorance, selfishness, and
social bias. These three are often entwined to twist our
consciousness, thus distorting our perceptions,
judgments and decision-making. All of the worlds
religions and many atheists as well are aware of these
destructive influences, but countering them is another
matter.
In Christianity, the problem of ignorance is
addressed in a variety of ways. Christians support
educational endeavors such as the pursuit of the arts,
science, math, and so forth. The greater problem of
moral ignorance is also addressed in several ways.
Biblical revelation confronts us with the Ten
Commandments, for example, and moral theologians
today reflect on the application of ethical principles in a
wide range of situations. But it is the example of Jesus
that sets forth the clearest expression of what it means
to live a good and moral life. His teachings on love and
his example of living a life of love inspire us to do

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likewise. Because Christians believe that Jesus is Godincarnate, we find in Him the focal point to draw the
mind and will in the direction of goodness.
The problem of selfish bias is more difficult to
overcome. As the Apostle Paul noted, the Jews had the
moral Law, but their history betrays an inability to live
up to its requirements. The reason for this has less to
do with a disregard for the Law than with a deep
woundedness that leaves the human psyche polluted
with fear, shame and resentment. These negative
emotions exert considerable influence on the will and
reason, moving us to seek our own good first without
regard for the needs of others. Christianity responds to
this inner bias by calling us to conversion to
renounce our selfish ways and to open ourselves to the
love of God through faith. Faith also enables us to open
to the power of the Holy Spirit a deeper Will and
Energy at work within us Who heals the deep
recesses of the soul and gifts us in power to love God
and one another. Of course, its painfully obvious that
many who call themselves Christians seem to have
missed out on this inner healing and empowerment.
But what should also be obvious is that this kind of
religious transformation is not an option offered by
atheism, which, in fact, denies its very possibility

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despite the example of countless saints and mystics in

our day and through the ages.
Finally, the influence of social bias (racism, sexixm,
excessive nationalism, etc.) is offset by Christian
community, where we find support and encouragement
for growing in faith and living by moral values.
Through the preaching, teaching, fellowship and
Sacraments, we are nurtured in our growth in Christ.
We are also sent forth to live a life of love in our
families, workplace, and in the larger culture.
We see, then, that Christianity does offer a positive
response to the problem of individual and social bias,
and the case could easily be made that the world today
is a better place because of the influence of Christians
through the ages. The record is tainted by scandals,
inquisitions and so forth, but it would be wrong to
consider these to be characteristic and definitive.
Wherever such wrongdoing has occurred, it has
eventually been condemned by Christian teaching. Far
more characteristic has been transformed individuals
and relationships, with schools, hospitals, and religious
communities responding to a wide variety of needs.
Much remains to be done, of course, but the spiritual
means to do so has been richly provided for by God
through Christ and His Church.

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Redemptive Suffering
Even with the responses of education, faith,
spirituality and community described above, everyone
will suffer at some time. It is during such times that the
question of a good and loving God becomes most focused
and urgent. Sometimes people become angry with God,
holding God responsible for their situation, or at least
wondering why God doesnt rescue them from it
somehow. In the worst of cases, they reject God
completely, including spiritual disciplines and
Christian community. This can lead to the experience of
non-redemptive suffering.
All pain moves us to focus on self, our problems, and
possible solutions. When we fully give in to this
movement, we can shut others including God out
of our lives, and become more withdrawn, isolated, and
hopeless. This non-redemptive suffering makes a
difficult situation worse by straining relationships and
leaving us with a sense of meaninglessness. The life
circumstance from which we suffer is bad enough, but
we compound it because of our negative, judgmental
attitude, perhaps going so far as to become bitter and
closed off to life. Alcohol and drugs might provide
temporary relief, but we have little hope for
experiencing happiness. This is a tragic mistake, for

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Christianity holds out a very different way of

responding to a painful situation.
The message and example of Christ is that God is
with us in every circumstance of life. Thats why the
response of faith discussed above is so important; it
helps us to be open to God and to extend Gods
compassion to others. Jesus says, Come to me, all you
who weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Mt. 11:28) He is the promised Immanuel (God-with-us)
from the Book of Isaiah (7:14). He is with us when we
suffer, offering his love, friendship, guidance, and hope.
If our suffering is a consequence of poor or selfish
choices, he holds out his forgiveness, inviting us to
make amends, if necessary, and move on. Even from the
Cross, where he was being mocked by those who had
tortured Him unjustly, he persisted in love and
forgiveness. Jesus reveals that nothing can separate us
from Gods love not trouble or calamity, persecution,
hunger, poverty, death, demons, powers and
principalities (see Rom. 8:31-39).
The promise of redemptive suffering is that we can
continue to grow in our relationship with God, self and
others even during times of pain. In the book, Mans
Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl noted that even in
the experience of a Nazi concentration camp, it was still
possible for individuals to choose their attitude in this

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horrible situation. Christ did the same during his

passion, and he can strengthen us as well through His
Spirit dwelling in us. There is no guarantee that the
cause of our suffering will be resolved. One still might
have the cancer, or the destruction left by a tornado, for
example. The main point is that one can go through this
difficult time open to God and loving, or one can
withdraw from life in bitterness. The choice is ours.
At the heart of the Christian spiritual life is a
dynamic called the paschal mystery. The paschal
mystery refers to Christs dying and rising from the
dead, and we experience this pattern in our own lives.
Sometimes things fall apart, but if we stay close to God
and persevere in loving relationships, we come to
experience transformation. Looking back on such an
experience, we can see how close God was to us, and
how much we learned and grew through it all. As the
Apostle Paul observes, we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope
does not put us to shame, because Gods love has been
poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who
has been given to us. (Rm. 5:3-5)
The paschal mystery is another answer to the
question, Where is God during times of suffering? God
is with us, loving and supporting us, deepening our

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capacity for compassion and insight. We are grown by

God through times of suffering just as surely as we are
when things are going well maybe more so. While
suffering is not a good thing in and of itself, God can
bring forth good from suffering, and even make use of it
to teach us lessons we would not learn otherwise.

Hope for the Future

Religion is the opiate of the people is a summary of
Karl Marxs critique of the role of religion in society. He
saw that the promise of a heavenly future held out by
religions could often serve to distract people from
taking responsibility for improving life in this world.
Even worse, teachings about heaven in combination
with an unhealthy emphasis on the nobility of the Cross
and suffering played into the hands of the wealthy, who
used it to oppress the working class. Hence, for Marx
and the communists who made use of his teachings,
there could be no place for religion in their socialistic
society.
Marx had a point, of course. Sometimes religious
teachings have been used to manipulate people. As
always, however, these distortions have been confronted
by Christian teachings themselves, with the errors
pointed out and exaggerated emphases corrected. The
solution to the problem Marx pointed out was not to get

40

rid of religion, as the communists did, but to reform and

renew it, as has been done many times through the
centuries. Religious traditions participate in the
paschal mystery in a manner similar to that of
individuals, with structures and emphases that worked
in one age eventually falling apart and then rising
again in another form with different emphases. Church
history tells the story of these dyings and risings, which
continue to this day.
The truth is that we need a little of the opium that
Marx was protesting against. A better name for this
would be the virtue of hope, which looks to a better
future for individuals and the world. After all, if this life
is all there is, then the future ends with death and its
annihilation of everything we know ourselves to be
body, psyche and spirit. What kind of future is that?
And yet theres no denying the fact of death, so what
would be our basis for hoping for a future beyond?
Some religions (Hinduism, New Age) respond by
proposing that the human spirit survives death, but is
embodied again to go through another life as a human
or perhaps, even, as another kind of animal, or even a
creature on another planet. This process continues
through many lifetimes until one finally attains
complete oneness with the divine and the universe.
Like the drop of rain that falls into the ocean to become

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one with it, so, too, does the individual soul eventually
lose itself in the great ocean of existence. This view
tends to encourage people to try to live a good life to
attain a better rebirth, but it can also lead to a certain
fatalism concerning the future.
The Christian basis for hope in a future beyond is
based on the resurrection of Jesus. The risen Christ is
the individual, Jesus of Nazareth, transformed in body
and soul to fully participate in the life of God. This
revelation is held out as a promise to those who are in
Christ that we, too, will be resurrected as Jesus was,
to experience eternal life with God. Christ was raised
from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen
asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20) The encounters with the risen
Christ reported in the Gospels give us a glimpse of our
own glorious future.
The resurrection has implications beyond that of the
destiny of individuals. A spiritual transformation of
society and the world are promised as well, fully
overcoming the various causes of suffering. Christians
believe that Christ will come again in glory, ushering in
a new age in which the reign of God will exist on earth
as in heaven. In this new world, God will wipe every
tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away. (Rev. 21:4)

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The Gospel of Christ holds out a glorious future to

hope in for our individual destiny, and for that of the
world. Because of this hope, we can hold our heads high
and more cheerfully endure the inescapable sufferings
of this life. This hope is pie in the sky, to some degree,
but thats not a bad thing especially if we can taste
the pie in this life. Thats why God left us the Holy
Spirit, Gods enduring presence with us through this
time in history as we wait for the promised fulfillment
to come. Through faith, prayer, and spiritual
disciplines, we can experience a glimpse of what this
new life will be like. As the Apostle Peter writes,
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and
even though you do not see Him now, you believe in
Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious
joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith,
the salvation of your souls. (1 Pet. 1:8-9) The utopian
future hoped for by Marxists and other atheists pales in
comparison with this hope for resurrection.

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Summary
We live in a time of biblical history between the fall
of our first parents from fullness of relationship with
God and the triumphant second coming of Christ. We
are both fallen and redeemed deeply wounded by
shame, fear and selfishness, but also gifted with the
love of God made available through Jesus Christ. We
continue to experience suffering brought on by our own
bad choices, and also from accidents, natural evil,
sickness and growing pains. Often it does not seem to
make sense that God allows us to experience such
misery, but biblical and church teaching note that this
was never Gods plan for the human race. Nevertheless,
God is still with us, and nothing can separate us from
the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ. If we claim
Gods love through faith, we can experience Gods
presence during times of suffering, and even continue to
grow in character. Suffering need not deprive us of
meaning or hope. There will come a time when Gods
reign will be fully established on earth and suffering
will be no more, but in the meantime, we are all
vulnerable, and we all shall one day die. As a people of
God, we are called to extend the compassion and
consolation of God to one another as we journey through
life.

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