How could a good God allow suffering?
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Without doubt the biggest and most problematic question about God is to do with the presence of evil and suffering in our world. If God is there, and he is good, then how could he allow so much wrong to be done and so many people to suffer? It’s a difficult question to answer theoretically, and a much, much harder question when we are faced with personal suffering of one kind or another.
Part of the difficulty is that we think suffering is pointless. But it’s not uncommon for people to look back and see how what they have suffered has proved to be the making of them. As Keller says, “With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn’t it be possible that, from God’s vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?”
Surprisingly, it was the fact of suffering which helped convince C.S. Lewis of God’s existence. In his book ‘Mere Christianity’ he wrote, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of ‘just’ and ‘unjust’? What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?... Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too... Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple.”
But even if suffering and injustice doesn’t rule out the existence of God, that doesn’t stop us from feeling angry about it. Just because we can philosophise about the question doesn’t get God off the hook about why he allows it. Christianity’s response to that is to say that God came to earth to deliberately put himself on the hook of human suffering. In Jesus Christ, and particularly in the separation he felt from the Father when he died on the cross, God experienced the greatest depths of pain. “Therefore, though Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it provides deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair.”
Keller continues, “Let’s see where this has brought us. If we again ask the question, ‘Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?’, and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do know what the answer is. However, we now know what the answer isn’t. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself.” Embracing this provides deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life, knowing that God is truly with us and able to help us, whatever our need.
But it is not enough just to say that we can know God’s help in our present suffering – at the heart of Christianity is a future hope which transforms our thinking and our understanding, telling us that our present suffering is not wasted or in vain. This hope is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus, and the belief that his resurrection will result ultimately in “the renewal of all things” when he returns to complete what he has begun (Matthew 19:28; Revelation 21:1-5).
The life of heaven “will not be just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater...This is the ultimate defeat of evil and suffering. It will not only be ended but so radically vanquished that what has happened will only serve to make our future life and joy infinitely greater.” (Keller)
(For more on this theme, see the KISS study on Hope.)
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