Why Might God Permit Suffering?

Respond

Respond Podcast Episode 7 - “Why Might God Permit Suffering?”

Presenter: Stuart Gray, @stuhgray

Christian thought has understood evil as the absence or corruption of good.

1 – There are two types of evil:

Moral evil – drunk driving, lying and murder, for example.

Natural evil – tsunamis, and cancer, for example.

2 – There are two ways people wrestle with evil:

The Emotional Problem of Evil – are you there, God? If you are, do you care?

The Intellectual Problem of Evil – does it make sense to believe in God given human suffering?

3 – The Logical Problem of Evil

Is it logically impossible for God to exist in the face of suffering?

No, because:

· God can’t make a world without suffering, because he made humans with free will.

· God can use human suffering for our good, e.g. 1 Peter 3:18

So – God can have good reasons to allow suffering to exist in the world.

4 – The Evidential Problem of Evil

Is God improbable given evil and suffering?

No, because:

· Humans are limited – why should we expect to know specifically why God allows instances of suffering?

· God’s not improbable given all the natural evidence for God’s existence PLUS the evidence for suffering.

· Christianity teaches the likelihood of suffering increases for Christian believers to grow our characters.

5 – The Natural Problem of Evil

Humanity’s rebellion against God has led to a breakdown in man’s relationship with God, and a breakage of the natural world. Opening the opportunity for storms, cancer, and human death.

This points to the serious consequence of man’s rejection of God.