'If God Really Loved Humanity We Would Never Have to Suffer'.

Also, Christians would say that Jesus’ suffering solved the problem of sin.  If Jesus is God in human form then his death has particular importance. God is allegedly immortal, so why did Jesus die? One common Christian explanation is that Jesus’ death was part of God’s plan for removing sin. Nobody can live up to God’s standards, so the fair punishment for this would be death. However, Jesus who was the only sinless being who ever lived, has taken the punishment for all people. This shows that God’s forgiveness is available to anyone. In this way, Christians say that Jesus was the ‘Saviour’. All of these arguments prove to Christians that suffering has benefited humanity hugely.

 Another Christian argument is that suffering is part of God’s plan. As God is the creator, his plan is far beyond human comprehension.  Humans just have to admit their ignorance and accept that they cannot understand. Christians would argue that we are not meant to know. Liberal Christians would argue that there is no way we can find out the purpose for suffering on Earth, they would say that we would be using the wrong tool for the job. If God wanted us to know, then we would know. Fundamentalist and stricter Christian followers, like monks or nuns, who devote their lives to God, might argue that through intense adoration, confession, intercession, petition, and thanksgiving, we can communicate with God and hopefully witness ‘religious experience’ or a ‘moment of clarity’. This is much like the idea of Buddhist ‘Enlightenment’. A Christian could also suggest that suffering is a test. This idea is hinted at in the book of Job in the Bible. God allows Satan to test Job, to his if he deserts his faith. When Job does not submit, he is rewarded greatly. Christians take this to men that we will all be rewarded for our suffering in heaven.

Another idea is that suffering is punishment for sin. This is totally denied in Job, yet some members of other faiths and cults do believe this. A famous example of this is Glenn Hoddle. Instead, some Christians believe that suffering is a result of God allowing us ‘free will’. If God intervened every time we did something harmful to others, or ourselves, we would just be puppets and there would be no purpose to our lives. Christians believe that God sent Jesus down to Earth to set us an example of how to live. We can choose to follow it, or not. We take the consequences of our own decisions. Genesis 1-3 suggests that the world was once without suffering, yet Adam, out of his own free will, ate from the tree of temptation and was duly punished. Regardless of whether Christians take this literally or not, it shows how human free will has a tendency to turn against God’s wishes. Much suffering can be traced back to human failings. This deals with moral evil, but there is still no excuse offered for the natural evil in the world.

However, I am undecided about suffering. The inconsistent triad is a great problem for theists and I see it as a loophole in the argument for God’s existence. In fact, it is one of the main ideas that convince atheists to become atheists. On the other hand, I can also understand the Christian point of view. I can see that suffering can benefit people in many ways. I believe that suffering is all to do with the balance of nature. All the parts of the universe are intricately related, but they are not necessarily moral. In fact, nature is amoral. For example, the flood that destroys one town, can water the farms that keep another town alive. I believe that God set up the system, and just let nature run its’ course, it would be wrong for him to intervene, it would make life and faith too easy somehow. However, I believe that we have to just accept that suffering exists and is just part of life. We just have to face it and try and overcome it.