WHY Does God Allow Suffering?
The Bible Answer to Human Tragedy
SUFFERING is a problem in life that comes home to
everyone. A child is born blind, deformed or mentally afflicted; and
the question comes: Why? The child has done no harm.
A man or woman of fine character and in the prime of
life is racked with pain in a hopeless disease that can only end in
death. Why him? Why her? These are the people who can least be spared.
Millions in the world are suffering semi-starvation
and disease in countries with vast populations and little fertility.
Others perish or are made homeless in floods and earthquakes. Why
should they suffer?
Pain, torture and death have been imposed on helpless millions by the
tyranny of man and the destructiveness of modern war. Countless lives
are lost in acts of terrorism, by brutality and hijacking. Accidents
there have always been, but the scale of today's disasters and natural
calamities is often overwhelming: a passenger aircraft crashes; an oil
rig blows up; fire traps hundreds in an underground train. People ask:
Why does God allow it?
The questions readily rise to mind and on the surface
seem reasonable: yet a candid look at them shows that they carry
certain implications. They imply that suffering in human life is
inconsistent either with the power or with the love of God: that as a
God of love either He has not the power to prevent the suffering, or
if He has the power then He has not the will, and is not a God of
love. It is assumed that the prevention of suffering as it now affects
the apparently innocent is something we should expect from a God of
love who is also Almighty. Are these assumptions justified?
Facts of Life
Some facts about life must be taken into account
before we try to form a judgement:
1. Man lives in a universe of cause
and effect and the consequences of certain causes are inescapable.
Fire burns, water drowns, disease germs destroy. These facts have
moral implications. Men live in a universe in which the consequences
of what they do are inescapable, and therefore their responsibility
for what they do is equally inescapable. Without this burden of
'natural law' man could do as he liked with impunity, and there would
be no responsibility. God made the universe this way because He is a
moral God who makes men responsible beings with freewill to choose how
they will act.
2. Man's neglect and misuse of his
own life has corrupted the stream of human life itself, and left evils
which fall on succeeding generations. These, again as part of natural
law, may manifest themselves as hereditary weaknesses and tendencies
to disease. The very stuff of life may be affected as it is passed on
from generation to generation.
3. The consequences of man's acts are
not only directly physical. The social and political evils which they
have created throughout history have left a gathering burden on the
generations following. People today are caught in a net of the
consequences of past history, and even when they try to right one
evil, another is brought to bear: "The whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22).
Should People be Saved from Themselves?
Taking such facts as these into account, it must be
asked, What is it we are really doing when we require God to remove
suffering? Are we not asking that God should
(a) suspend natural law,
(b) divert the consequences of heredity, and
(c) turn aside the effects of man's inhumanity to man?
Have we the right to expect God to save men from the
consequences of human acts? Would it be a moral universe if He did?
These questions can only be asked of situations when
the hand of man is involved. Earthquakes, tempests, famines and floods
are called 'acts of God' because usually there is no other explanation
for their occurrence. So if we look beyond human acts to natural
disaster, we find that it falls upon all, innocent and guilty alike.
As soon as we begin to question the suffering of innocent victims of
these disasters another dilemma is raised. Are we saying that the
calamities should be selective in their working, searching out only
those who deserve to suffer'?
An Evil or a Symptom?
Underlying all the loose thinking on the subject which
has been surveyed so far is one basic assumption: it is that suffering
is evil in itself. It is this belief that suffering is the essential
evil that lies at the root of Buddhism. The Bible view is radically
different: suffering is not evil in itself, but a symptom of a deeper
evil. The Scriptures portray suffering as a consequence of sin: not
necessarily the sin of the individual who suffers, but sin in the
history of man and in human society. Its origin is succinctly put by
the Apostle Paul:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned" (Romans 5:12).
The sentence upon the woman after the disobedience in
Eden says:
"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."
To the man God says:
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis
3:16,19).
The teaching is simple. With man's disobedience there
came a dislocation in the relationship between the Creator and the
created; the relation between God and man is out of joint. The first
sin brought a fundamental change which affects all with the evils
which are common to man. Death is universal: God does not modify it
for the particular individual. The Bible teaching is that men are left
to their own ways and the working of natural law, though there may be
times when natural disaster is divinely directed as a judgement upon
man and for the cleansing of the earth. The outstanding example is the
flood in the days of Noah.
At the same time it is true that in the Bible, for
those who seek to serve God, suffering takes on new meaning; they are
in a new relationship to the Creator, and will learn to see tragedy in
a new light. What is it?
A Godly Man's Experience
The answer may be seen in the example of Job. Here is
a devout man who meets with disaster in the loss of his flocks and
herds-the source of his wealth; with terrible bereavement in the loss
of all his children at one stroke; and then is stricken with a
tormenting disease which separates him from men. Yet he says:
"What? Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall
we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). He recognises the important
principle that he cannot claim good as a right: it is not for him to
decide what God shall do.
The Agonizing Problem
The time comes, however, when the suffering is so
unbearable that death seems preferable. In agony and bewilderment he
asks, in effect: Why should a man live if it is only to suffer? Can
God, who has made man, destroy him like a discarded plaything?
Job's friends argue that there is a direct connection
between a man's sin and his suffering and they therefore contend that
to suffer so greatly Job must have greatly sinned. Job is convinced of
his own integrity: he is human, but he knows that he is not guilty of
the sins they try to fasten upon him. Yet he has enough of his
friends' philosophy to feel now that he suffers unjustly. Has God
chosen him to be set up as a mark to shoot at? Because, compared with
others, his sufferings seem wholly disproportionate to any faults he
can confess. To him it seems that his affliction can only mean that
God has turned against him, and this moral problem adds to his
bitterness. The "tents of robbers" prosper: why should the
righteous suffer? If God is judging him, is it right that he should be
judged by a standard human nature cannot reach?
The friends utterly fail to shake Job's conviction in
his own righteousness, and at last they cease to argue. But underlying
Job's contention is an ultimate faith in God, in spite of all the
questionings, and a belief in God's justice; and so Job reaches out to
the hope that in another life, if not now, God as his Redeemer will
vindicate him and be on his side. And so he introduces a new element
in the argument when he looks beyond the grave to resurrection and
reconciliation. That belief, hinted at in Job, is fully declared
elsewhere in both the Old and New Testaments, and it gives a new
perspective to the problem. Yet it does not in itself explain why men
and women should suffer in this life.
God Speaking to Man
When the friends are silenced and Job has made his
final speech, the young man Elihu comes into the argument. He shows
that Job in his extremity has impugned the righteousness of God, but
he also throws a new light on the problem. God speaks to men (a)
through revelation, and (b) through suffering. God, by His own means,
is communicating with men and women and bringing them to Himself (read
Job 33:14-18).
God speaks to men, says Elihu, for their spiritual education, their
guidance in life and their preservation from destruction. He
"withdraws man from his purpose, and hides pride" from him,
leading him away from his own self-assertive course of life, for pride
is the source of sin. As to the other means of communication, Elihu
says:
"He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and
the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life
abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away,
that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the
destroyers" (Job 33:19-22).
The description of suffering perfectly fits Job, and
Elihu is saying that even he needs the chastening, reproof, discipline
of the Lord-not for the specific sins alleged by his friends, for
Elihu does not mention them, but for a more subtle fault. Elihu has
already hinted at it, for it is the sin of spiritual pride, and only
the experience of suffering can bring it to light so as to convict him
of it.
God's Working with Man
Suffering can, therefore, be part of the ways of God's
working with men for their own development and to bring them to a
knowledge of Himself; and the outcome for Job was a new and intimate
knowledge of God. He could say:
"I have heard of thee with the hearing of the
ear: But now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent
in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
This working of God with man must in its nature be
individual: only the man who suffers can gain this as a personal
experience. The larger problem of suffering remains, and the only
answer to be extracted from the Book of Job is that man cannot
question the majesty and wisdom of God: He is the Creator and
Sustainer of all life, and His works are beyond man's knowledge. It is
this answer which is elaborated with such power and beauty by the
Voice from the whirlwind in chapters 38-41. Man can only accept that
the ways of God are beyond his judgement.
"Does Job serve God for nought?"
While, therefore, the Book of Job offers no simple
answer to the problem of suffering, it has been raised to a wider
level. Only by loss and suffering could Job know that he did not serve
God for the sake of houses, lands, flocks and herds, or even children.
He did not even serve for the sake of his own skin, his health and
wellbeing. He worshipped God for Himself, and in spite of all the wild
words which came from his stress of mind and body he had an ultimate
belief in God's righteousness and faithfulness. It was only when
stripped of everything that he really knew that God was his only
refuge, and in that discovery he was triumphantly vindicated against
the slander of the Adversary epitomized by the three friends.
Job's faith in God was put to the test under trial,
and by trial it was tempered as steel. It was by his final acceptance
of the wisdom of God, and by learning that faith could be developed
through suffering, that Job came at last to the fuller knowledge of
God.
Some Conclusions
The conclusions to be drawn from what has been
considered so far may be summarised as follows:
1. Man lives in an ordered
universe of cause and effect and must accept its consequences; and
since sin entered into human life these must involve suffering. The
suffering, however, may not be directly related to the sin of the
sufferer but may result from the acts of former generations.
2. At the same time it is the
universe of a God of wisdom and love who can guide and control the
suffering for those who seek Him in order to bring them to a deeper
knowledge of Him.
A Divine Discipline
It is in the light of this latter conclusion that we
may understand a passage in the Letter to the Hebrews based on a
saying in the Book of Proverbs:
"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which
speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons;
for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be
without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards,
and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which
corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be
in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang
down, and the feeble knees" (Hebrews 12:5-12; Proverbs 3:11-12).
Read in its context, the passage expounds itself.
Suffering and loss are common to man, but for the children of God they
are directed by their Heavenly Father as a spiritual training, and as
such are the expression of His love.
Does God Suffer?
One stage more may be reached in the understanding of
suffering. It is that God Himself is involved in the suffering of man,
for out of His love He gave His own Son to die for them, and allowed
him to suffer too. Jesus was wholly innocent, untainted by sin of any
kind, yet he voluntarily laid down his life, suffering injustice and
cruelty for the sake of his friends:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved" (John 3:14-17).
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends." Greater love even God could
not have than to give His beloved Son to the suffering of the cross
for the redemption of men.
It is true, therefore, to say that even God suffers,
and it becomes possible to understand the saying of the prophet
concerning God's relation to Israel:
"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and
the angel of his presence saved them" (Isaiah 63:9; see also
Judges 2:16).
Why Does God not Intervene?
The God of Israel is not a remote, impassive First
Cause:
His Holy Spirit can be grieved, He can be moved with yearning
compassion. He can love with an everlasting love. All these are
Scriptural expressions, and they reveal God as the supreme Personality
who can from His holy transcendence enter into the lives of the men
and women He has created.
People often ask: Why does God not intervene to stop
suffering, to halt war, to prevent disease, etc.? God does, of course,
intervene in human affairs; He has shown His power at many times in
history. But there is a limit to this intervention: He has allowed man
freewill, and He allows man to use that freewill -- for good or ill.
God intervened in the history of His chosen people
Israel and gave them special opportunities to worship. Him and be His
witnesses. He entrusted them with His revelation and with the promises
and prophecies of a coming Messiah.
God Sent His Son
So it was that, nearly 2000 years ago, God intervened
in the lives and history of man by giving His Son Christ Jesus to
share in human suffering to the uttermost in order to bring about
redemption from sin and death. Christ came in the life and nature of
man; he shared our experience and endured the temptations from within
and the afflictions from without that are the common lot of all
mankind:
"It became him . . . to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings . . . In all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath
suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are
tempted." (Hebrews 2:10-18)
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered" (Hebrews 5:8).
In accepting suffering in obedience to the will of God
he raised it to a new plane, and showed it no longer as the greatest
evil but as a means to an end: for through suffering, in his perfect
obedience to God, he overcame the power of sin in human nature, and so
made possible resurrection from the dead to eternal life with the
Fat~er. In this he obtained perfection, a tried and tested faith,
completeness in obedience, wholeness in the love of God and the
service of man -- an example to all his followers.
Perfect through Suffering
"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his
steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when
he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed" (1 Peter 2:21-24).
And "having been made perfect, he became unto all
them that obey him the author of eternal salvation" (Hebrews
5:9). He is the author, the source, the cause, of a salvation men
cannot attain for themselves, since on account of his sacrifice men
and women who come to him for life are by God's grace accepted as
members of Christ. And so, as Christ rose the third day, there is
spiritual resurrection to new life now for those who are baptized into
him, and the hope of physical resurrection and a change to immortality
in the day when he returns.
"Partakers of the divine nature"
If men and women were to become "partakers of the
divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), raised out of sin to a level where
they could truly know God, enjoy eternal fellowship with Him and share
His incorruptible life, then God alone knew how this was to be
achieved consistently with His own majestic holiness. It was the way
which required the gift of His Son to die on the cross.
If, then, God suffered, and if, in obedience to the
Father, Christ suffered even to death, the whole problem of man's
suffering is raised to a new level. Without faith in God, suffering is
an evil to be endured. With faith, and the example of the Son of God,
suffering may purify and ennoble, and be a means by which God brings
the sufferer nearer to Himself. It can be truly a divine education,
the chastening of the Lord.
"All things new"
If God's Son suffered, can men expect to escape? But
beyond the suffering was resurrection, and beyond resurrection will
come the Kingdom of God when Christ will come to reign, taking to
himself those who have already committed themselves as his followers.
This time for the kingdom to be set up is very close. But the Lord's
own words and many other prophecies make it plain that the coming of
Christ will be preceded by great tribulation for the world, and no
doubt also for his disciples:
"For there shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened" (Matthew 24:21,22).
But when the Lord Jesus Christ appears, he will
cleanse the earth of all evil, put down all sin and selfishness,
eliminate disease-and ultimately death. He will reign for God and
remove suffering. Then shall be fulfilled the words heard by the
apostle John on Patmos:
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and
be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things
new" (Revelation 21:3-5).
For those who answer the call of God's love, the way
of suffering may be the way of life, and that is the ultimate purpose
of the existence of suffering in the world. The call is still going
out; there is still opportunity for all who are looking for hope
beyond this present evil world, to find it in the 'good news' of the
Gospel.