The book of Genesis in the Bible describes to us that the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve), lived in the "Garden of Eden", a world of happiness, without fear, shame or evil. It is obvious that God did not intent for there to be suffering in the world; it was not part of his created order. He did however give humans what many would describe his greatest gift, Free will. “You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, but you must never eat from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat from that tree then you will die!” Genesis 2:16-18 As you can see, God lets man decide for himself whether he should obey him, and through giving him this decision, evil entered the world, there was no suffering in the world until humanity rebelled against God. It would be the view of the fundamentalist (literal belief of the bible) and the Old Testament writers that it was due to Adam and Eve that sin entered the world.
Iranaeus was the Bishop of Lyons in Gaul and lived about 125-202. His view was that God created evil. He claims that God does indeed exist, yet explains him to be responsible for the occurrence of evil as he created us to be imperfect. He believes this however to be essential as evil is the only method of creating greater good. ‘The earth is a place for the perfection of souls before their entry into blessedness. The trials of this world are like a refiner's fire; they temper, strengthen and purify our natures to fit us to dwell with God. He suggests that the reason that we have such difficulties with suffering and evil is largely due to our imbalance between our concepts of good and evil. He felt that if our concepts were more balanced then we would have created the best possible world for soul making. He does, however, support God’s morals in that he believes that free will could not (and would not) exist without the perseverance of evil, as many evil occurrences are a result of people acting through their own free will and without. He therefore concludes that humanity is only partially responsible for suffering.
John Hick who stresses the developmental nature of life, especially human life, has further developed the iranaean argument more recently. Believing that humans are not born perfect and that perfection comes at the end of the process. Virtue is not given, it has to be achieved.
St. Augustine (354-430) would completely disagree with Iranaeus’ argument. He believed that God did not create evil but its occurrence just serves as a privation of good. He believed that all suffering was due to humanity who had abused God’s gift of free will. He believed that the creation of evil was largely due to the fall. The fall effected all of creation and the gap between man and God was eventually made to be so big that man began to depart from God and this is where the creation of evil arose. If God is good then he is neither the author of evil, nor its helpless victim. Rather, precisely because of His goodness He chooses to co-exist with evil for a time. Augustine eventually came to the conclusion that evil must be a result of soul deciding through human free will. Aristotle (384bc-322bc) supports Augustine’s view, believing himself that God could not be responsible for the existence of evil. God is an all powerful and good being, and man cannot ever be to his standard, no one will ever have the same moral values as God.
This all would imply that human suffering must be a cause of our disobedience. This said, how can we justify innocent suffering, natural disasters. Events in which human interference has no obvious position?
Natural disasters. We hear about them often, earthquakes, floods, famines, landslides, they can wipe out thousands of innocent lives. Starvation and its related diseases causes one person per second to die. 75% of them are infants and children under 5. The suffering caused by floods, hurricanes, earthquakes etc cannot largely be blamed on other people. However it’s sometimes due to the mistakes of others that natural disasters happen as natures laws are stretched to their limit. Natural disasters are often called "acts of God". Again many Christians believe that natural disasters are caused by the fall, a consequence of the disruption of the perfection of God's original creation. Natural disasters are a result of disorder in creation. However, if you take time to think of a recent natural disaster, such as the Earthquake in El Salvador (Feb 2002) a 6.6 magnitude earthquake resulted in at least 315 deaths and around 3,400 people being injured we cannot begin to believe that are loving god is responsible. Nature is often seen, as it is in the New Testament as natural in God’s eyes. Hanson and Hanson would agree with the sentiments that natural suffering is inexplicable. The basic theory to be learned is that nature is not moral and humanity is, therefore, as our world is continually changing however much we strive we will never achieve a perfect world as the natural laws will always follow their own course. God neither allows or forbids evil, it is just part of the way the world is, an event which humanity must put up with if they choice to live on this planet.
Although most see suffering as something which is painful and not at all enjoyable, some would believe that there is a reason for it, that it is a privilege, that if you are submitted to great suffering and overcome it you are fulfilled in the eyes of God, you are fit to become a disciple. Christ himself undertook great suffering on the cross to save us and many Christians believe that the suffering they undergo themselves is closely linked with the pain suffered by Jesus, “We share in many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ. If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation, and if we have comfort, you also have comfort. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings we have” 2 Corinthians 1:5
Suffering can also been seen as a test of faith. It is felt but those of the Christian faith that those who are subjected to suffering will eventually be brought closer to God. It has once been said that if we as Christians cannot bear the cross then we will not wear the crown. This is in connection with the above theory of suffering being a method of making oneself fit in the eyes of God to be a disciple. There are references in the bible to how suffering my be a test by God, for example in the Old testament Jesus tests Job’s loyalty to him by inflicting suffering upon him. Job overcomes this suffering and is therefore rewarded for the pain he had experienced. “The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than the first part” Job 42:12. God had established that Job would stay true to him, even through the greatest suffering.
This story of Job you would think would go some way to proving that suffering is not a punishment, as with Job, it just brought him a deeper and more meaningful understanding of God. Still however it is often viewed as a punishment, a way for God to retaliate for humanity’s sin. It is common belief, especially in the Old Testament, that evil was solely created for use to punish people who went against God’s wishes. A substantial amount of our suffering is due to our own personal sin, for example, if a person abuses drink and then drives a car recklessly and injures himself then their injuries are obviously partially due to their own personal sin. However what can be said when suffering is subjected to a person who has made no obvious sins in theirs life? When pious people suffer from sickness, bereavements etc the question is often raised, ‘what did I do to deserve this?’ And when children suffer, such as the disappearance of missing 10 year olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who were later found dead in an area near their home, how can it be possible that their deaths were a punishment for there sin? The problem with coping with bereavement also is that people tend to think, ‘why them and not me?’
Much of the suffering in the world is caused by others sins however. So much suffering is caused by murder, adultery, theft, sexual abuse, unloving parents, reckless or drunken driving, slander, unkindness or selfishness of one kind or another. It has been estimated that 95th percent of the world’s suffering can be accounted for in this way. As was told with the story of Job however, the bible disagrees with this opinion, the story of job recognises that the wicked often prosper and if we are to believe that the way in which we suffer is a direct mirror of the way in which we live our lives we would be much mistaken as this would be an unfair judgement of Jobs life. “God shines on good and bad alike”.
One of the most important counter arguments to that of suffering being a punishment is to remember that Jesus himself suffered. He led a perfect life, and yet he still suffered an excruciatingly painful death, “Our suffering is not worthy of the name off suffering. When I consider my crosses, tribulations and temptations, I shame myself almost to death, thinking what they are in comparison to the sufferings of my blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Martin Luther King. God can be seen to work through suffering. Those who nailed Jesus o the cross did so for evil purposes, but God intended it for good. The cross stands ultimately as a victory because it holds the key to salvation. Christians are taught not to be afraid of suffering and death, and to turn to their faith as, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid for I am with you always even into the end of the world” John 14.
Many are unsure as to where the suffering will end. Despite all our talk of the great injustice of human suffering many people are unwilling for it to end, live is something to be enjoyed in many cases. However the spectrum is wide in that respect as some people are faced with great injustices whereas others lead mainly trouble free lives. Will those who deserve to suffer pay for there sins after death and those who suffer innocently in life rejoice? It is the view of the New Testament that those who have not received salvation will continue to suffer after death, have to endure eternal torment. The Roman Catholic Church, however, believes that when death becomes us we will enter a period of purgatory where we will pay for our sins, but eventually will be rewarded with a life with God.
It is the feeling by many Christians that whatever suffering we have to endure on this earth will be fully compensated through the resurrection. That our, “light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” 2 Corinthians 4:17. This develops the ‘test of faith’ theory even more strongly as it takes great religious faith to undergo suffering and still be aware that there will be a greater glory waiting. Gavin Reid, the bishop of Maidstone, tells of a boy who shattered his back falling down a flight of stairs at the age of one and consequentially spent the majority of his life in hospital, when asked the question, is that fair, he simply stated that God had all eternity to make it up to him. The New testament is full of promises of how wonderful heaven will be, so with this knowledge, our suffering should only be making us more fit for the reward that we shall receive.
So, if we choose to accept that evil does indeed exist what is it, what form does it take? The New Testament gives the impression of God being at War with evil, or more specifically, a war between the Devil and God. This dualist view that is taken by many people and by religions such as the Zoroastrians of ancient Persia, in which states that the ‘lord of light’ is locked in perpetual combat with the ‘lord of darkness’ Other religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam remain monistic, in that they are of the opinion that the devil is one of God’s creatures, as the Lord created all. There is a very stereotypical view of the devil, which stems from medieval time. This paints the devil as being a humorous creature with read face; horns and pitchfork but the bible would present it very differently. He is referred to often as Satan, the Hebrew word for enemy.
Some would say that one of the synopsis of our sin is our desire to ‘be as God; and wanting all the answers. When looking at the situation with suffering and evil I feel it would be a some what naive and narrow minded view to take that, because of the great suffering endured by so many people that there cannot be a god. As this existence of God is unlikely to be proved and is purely based o n faith it would be wrong to strike of any of the points discussed in this essay as invalid to the situation, all or none may be of relevance.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” Revelations 21
