Question about pain and suffering
I was browsing Galvin’s blog and came across his latest entry on suffering. As you may know, Galvin’s mom is warded in the hospital and we are keeping her in prayer. The entry was a response to pain and suffering in this world. And how is it that there is a good God if there is so much suffering.
I almost hijacked his blog to respond to the question on suffering, but instead decided to post something on pain and suffering here.
In my search for truth, inevitably the question of suffering will arise. However I have found for myself, that no Religion/Faith/Philosophy could answer the question of suffering, except Christianity. Here’s my understanding of pain and suffering.
The question of suffering can be reduced to just a few basic qns.
QN1: I don’t believe there is a God because there is evil and suffering in this world.
When such a question is asked, we have presupposed that there is such a thing as good and evil.
And so when we say that there is good and evil, there must be a moral law to determine what’s good and what’s evil.
Also when we say that there is a moral Law, there must be a moral law giver.
So if there is a moral law giver, who are we talking about? God. So in philosophy, such a question about evil and God sort of answers itself. Thus where evil and suffering exists, God exists too.
QN2: So now that there is a God, then why does God allow pain and suffering? Why can’t he create a perfect world where there is no pain and suffering?
To answer this question, we would have to look at the choices available to God in creation.
Creation of world A: World A is a world that God creates Robots. Where everything has no free will to choose. Solves the problem of sin, pain and suffering.
Creation of world B: World B is much like our present world, but when someone desires to hurt another, say, shoot a gun, the bullet merely turns into a flower and bounces off our body. A world where God constantly intervenes. This would be a world much like a fantasy world.
Creation of world C: No creation at all.
Creation of world D: Our world. Where there is freedom of will to choose, to love, to respond to God. The downside is that man can choose to turn from God.
So amongst these choices God chose D. Our World. The other worlds are not feasible for they are not in the character of God. God is a God of love. And love requires free will. God cannot force you and I to love him. Forced love is an oxymoron. Thus with the present world, with its fallen imperfection, gives God the best chance of a creation that can have a relationship with Him.
Some people might say that God would be better off not creating a world. To answer that, we use the analogy of a car, the car has great potential to bring great convenience to man, but the car in itself can also bring hurt and destruction, yet we do not, because of its potential to damage, kill lives, totally not use or build a car. In the same way this world. It has great potential to respond to God, and also a great potential to rebel against God. So God created World D
Qn3: Why is there pain?
All of us are way too familiar with pain. We prick our fingers on something sharp, and immediately we feel the sharp pain, we pull our fingers away. We eat something bad, it gives us a stomachache and we immediately know something is wrong. We step on a sharp object, and the pain tells us we hurt ourselves.
What is the point I am driving at?
Pain, or rather the senses we feel as pain is triggered off by our nerves sending message to the brain telling us that we have hurt ourselves. Its a protection mechanism. Do you know that for Leprosy sufferers, the nerve ends die and they do not feel pain. They may cut themselves and not know it, they may step on a nail and it lodges itself to the foot and they do not know it. Rats can gnaw at their fingers and toes and they can sleep through it! So pain has its purpose in our physical body. IT TELLS US SOMETHING IS WRONG. Similarly in this world, pain and suffering is telling us clearly that something in this world is wrong. You and I know it. And its telling us we are living in a fallen world. So again, we are pointed to God.
This is really a summary on the topic of pain. To read more on pain, you can pick up books like
“Where is God when it hurts?” by Philip Yancey
“Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis
or any books by Ravi Zacharias.
Hope this entry helps us to see that pain and suffering only tells us, there is God.
