Draft
Suffering don’t disprove God’s existence. If we turn into an atheist because of all the pain in the world, it doesn’t change anything. Atheism will just make it worst. Everyone suffers. At least in Christianity, you have meaning and hope.
We suffer because things don’t work the way it should be. If we get attach too much on temporary things, it will one day fade away, and we will suffer lost. We have to hang on a much bigger and solid foundation. A goal which is eternal & immutable. I’m talking about God. The meaning of life, is to become a Saint. Once in Heaven, the darkness of death, pain & suffering will be no more.
Prologue
“Life is full of tragedies & obstacles. Some people can handle them, some abandon & quit, some grow up out of their experiences. The only way we can face them is that we have an ultimate purpose in life.”
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then where comes evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
Epicurus (341 – 270 BC)
His argument assumes that the goal of life is to live happily on earth.
Epicurus was a brilliant philosopher. Unfortunately, he was born 300 years before Christ, so he couldn’t never develop a theory based on a suffering God: he was missing details about God’s nature which was revealed in Jesus.
God’s existence don’t depend on how much He allow pain & suffering. This issue is an emotional one, not a rational one.
Plus, this argument doesn’t disprove God’s existence, but only question his character. This is a tricky way to make people stop believing in God rather than disbelieve in his existence. If God is evil, it still doesn’t disprove his existence. But we know that God is good, so on both side of the argument, God still exists.
Some suffering is due to a poor decision that’s causing more damage.
Without strong points of reference in your life, it is extremely easy to get lost after enduring a great deal of suffering. Things don’t last. But God does.
If God is so loving, why can’t He stop all the suffering in the world?
So much people has been wounded by their high hopes & expectations that God will protect them from all harms, and end up suffering more from unanswered prayers.
Points of reflection
- Suffering don’t disprove God’s existence
- God don’t promise an easy life
- Atheism isn’t a better alternative
- Pain exists to avoid death
- God knows suffering too
Evil & suffering
Evil & suffering aren’t the same thing. Evil cause suffering, but suffering isn’t always purposeless. When I go to the gym, it hurts, but that’s not evil. When I study, it’s boring, but that’s not evil. A tornado, tsunami, earthquake, they aren’t evil, it’s just how nature works. Yes, they cause damage, but evil is based on human intentions.
Meaning of life
Life is tough, your ultimate goal should be to pursue ‘meaning’ instead of ‘comfort’.
Things don’t last long, we lose our beloved ones early, our hearts gets broken.
We have to first begin our reflection with this question: what is the ultimate meaning of life?
The reason of our existence is to do the will of God: be a Saint.
“If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that he certainly intends to make you a Saint.”
St Ignatius of Loyola
As Simon Sinek would point out, the “why” is what drives our motivation.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Suffering & atheism
I know many people who become atheists because of all the suffering in the world.
Honestly, it doesn’t make things better, it just makes it worst. It’s impossible to get rid of all the suffering in the world. It’s a harsh reality that no one can escape, whenever we are believers are not. Atheism just taken away any hope left.
At least in Christianity, you know that God suffers with you, so you’re never alone in your afflictions. Your suffering can also be redemptive & transformative.
2 people can face the same situation, but arrives at a different conclusion. It all comes down to your attitude toward life.
The only advantage of turning atheist is that life is all that it is, and you have to endure as best as you can. You don’t need to have high expectation that God makes a miracle all the time to save you.
The capacity to feel pain
It’s pretty obvious: the biggest thread to life is death.
Our body can feel pain because the sensation serves as an alarm system that is key to self-preservation.1 When the body detect harm, “nociceptors” send information to the neurons of the brain, and perceive that as pain to avoid. Basically, the body is protecting you from death. Each individual’s experience is different: some can tolerate pain more than others.
People with a rare genetic condition (SCN9A) have the ability to not feel pain at all. It sounds attractive but their life is way more at risk than us!
Which suffering?
There are things in llife that we have control, and others that we don’t.
There are 2 types of suffering: intentional & accidental.
Intentional are evil acts that are preventable (ex: murder, rape, steal, etc.)
Accidental are by essence, how nature works (ex: if I fall from a cliff, I die)
A fire is great for camp bonding, heating meal, keeping warm, etc. but is can also be damaging & deadly. Should the fire stop to exist because it burns people? That sounds illogical. Water can hydrate the body, but can also drown people to death.
Is suffering really evil?
God desire the greatest good, but it also come at a price.
Does suffering bring us to the conclusion that God doesn’t exist?
That we live in a hopeless world?
Or is that we put our trust in God that He would make our life painless & we were deceived?
If God is all knowing, then He should know what is best for me, even if it would hurt me for a necessity to being something good. Since God is all wise, I shouldn’t question his wisedom. A parent who ask their children to study instead of playing is doing greater good for them that the opposite, even if it’s not pleasing.
Suffering doesn’t disprove God’s existence, as much as a wound doesn’t disprove the existence of a medical doctor.
Is it because that I am sick, that a doctor doesn’t exist?
Is it because I’m sick, and my mom isn’t, that she doesn’t care about me?
1) What is the meaning of life? To do the will of God. To bring the greatest good. We all have our cross, that will lead us to salvation. Keep humble. Be more like Jesus. Love must be greater than evil.
4) It makes you grow, stronger, on the opposite side, without suffering there will be lazy & spoiled people
5) Facts: we will all die
6) God knows to suffer too and doesn’t exclude himself from it
7) People commit the error of forcing their worldview
As Dostoyevsky said: “To live without hope is to cease to live.”. That’s a huge problem for atheism. How can you live without ultimate purpose?
“The chief purpose of life is not happiness, but the knowledge of God.” 2
William Lane Craig
“Let it be done, according to Thy Will“. God can bring out a greater good. God wants us to grow and get closer to Him. It’s a challenge to makes us become Saints.
Atheism wants to get rid of suffering because having no God means there’s no objective meaning to life, thus, leaving people in total despair & nihilism. They pursue other things to feel better, but it doesn’t satisfy the eternal hunger in us.
Taking responsibilities
Don’t expect your life to get better if you don’t take charge of your life. While there are situations where we have absolutely no control over (place of birth, genetics, accidents, etc), there are however many aspects where we can take control to get us a better future.
Start eating healthy, do exercise, sleep well, manage your finance, learn, read books, etc. these things can prevent your future of potentially getting worst. Start being responsible for yourself.
Being lazy will create more damage than good.
It’s during hard times that the real ‘you’ starts to manifest: where did you put your anchor?
Take up your cross
God don’t promise an easy life. In fact, Jesus was teaching the 8 Beatitudes based on suffering. The goal, is to become a Saint. No Saint can ever become one without Christ & the cross, so therefore each of us must carry our cross to gain redemption.
“Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to Heaven.”
St Rose of Lima
For a greater good
In an ideal world…
If God allow suffering, it is because there will be a greater good that will come out of it. We, as limited creature, can’t see the future or understand God’s plan in a whole. The problem with atheism is that they impose their worldview on God: they want Him to act as they want. It requires humility to obey God.
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”
Romans 8:18
Building virtues
It is during times of hardship that virtues are build effectively. Without obstacles, we can’t develop courage, perseverance, zeal, etc.
“Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope […]”
Romans 5:3-4
God knows suffering too
What is so great about Christianity is that we worship a God who doesn’t exclude Himself from the pain of our human condition. In fact, the Incarnation of Jesus shows us that He does care about His own creation & is willing to live the same conditions like us.
| Us | Jesus Christ |
| I feel pain | Jesus was tortured & crucified (Mt 27:28) |
| I lost a loved one / closed one | God the Father lost his Son on the cross (Lk 23:46) |
| I feel alone / abandoned | Jesus was abandoned alone on the cross (Mt 27:46) |
| I feel poor and miserable | Jesus left Heaven to become poor & miserable |
| I feel hunger | Jesus was hungry in the desert (Mt 4:2) |
| I feel betrayed | Peter rejected Jesus 3 times (Mt 26:70) |
| I feel unloved | The world rejected Jesus (Jn 15:18) |
| I am not been listened | The world didn’t listen to Jesus |
| I feel ashamed | Jesus was naked on the cross (Mt 27:35) |
| I feel thirsty | Jesus was thirsty on the cross (Jn 19:28) |
| I feel unworthy | Jesus humble himself as the Son of Man |
| I feel ridiculized | Jesus was mocked as a king (Mt 27:29) |
| I was falsely accused | Jesus was falsely accused |
| I was tempted | Jesus was tempted in the desert (Mt 4:1) |
| I was cheated | God was abandoned by Israel for idols |
John Lennox had a brilliant answer.
God, like any parent, gives love and care for their child. But, naturally, it will come to a time when the kid will freely love back or reject their parent’s love. God, knowing that when He would create beings in his image with a free will, can end up rejecting God. Imagine it. How painful it is for a parent when their child reject them for eternity, and they had to endure it since the beginning.
“Jesus doesn’t give an explanation for the pain and sorrow of the world. He comes where the pain is most acute and takes it upon himself. Jesus doesn’t explain why there is suffering, illness, and death in the world. He brings healing and hope. He doesn’t allow the problem of evil to be the subject of a seminar. He allows evil to do its worst to him. He exhausts it, drains its power, and emerges with new life.”
N.T. Wright
Reality of the cross
When we see the reality of the cross, we start to understand God’s love more & more.
The more someone experiences the cross, the more that person can feel how much God had to endure suffering because of His love for us, and can better respond back to His love.
Be grateful when you don’t
When things go well, we tend to forget God. When things don’t go well, we tend to blame God. When we lose something, it makes us realized how blessed we were to have it. What is life all about? Material gains? Success? Fame? Power?
Darkness brings value to the light
When we see the reality of the cross, we start to understand God’s love more & more. As we are wounded, God can restore our brokenness and make it into a new creation (Rev 21:5). Look at the church’s glass, they are made of broken pieces, but gather back together, they become a splendid beauty.
Jesus suffers just like us.
By suffering the same experience as Jesus, we can easier recognize the great love of God for us.
God isn’t distant from our pain & suffering, you’re never alone in your dark time because Jesus experienced it as well in his human condition.
We were created by God and for God. Like a marriage relationship. Sometimes it will be beautiful, and sometimes there’s conflict & pain. But we learn to endure and love each other at all cost. Suffering can be endurable, only if there’s a goal, meaning, and purpose behind it.
A soldier is ready to die for his country. A martyr is ready to endure suffering for Jesus Christ. An athlete is ready to sweat to win an Olympic gold medal.
And that’s why suffering doesn’t make sense in an atheistic worldview. Everything is subjective, and ideals can be hit by a wall of brick. It does make sense only through the lens of Christianity where meaning & purpose for life are objectives.
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