Why a Good God Allows Meaningful and Meaningless Suffering
It’s the question that turns people away from faith more than any other, and it’s a question that deserves a direct answer.
The argument from suffering is a simple one—if God is a good God, then he would stop meaningless suffering. An omnipotent God could stop it, but it isn’t stopped, so God can’t be both omnibenevolent and omnipotent. This argument is simple, but it has weight, and should be met directly.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
The logical structure of the argument from suffering and why it has such power
What the Bible actually says about these issues through the story of Job
How the philosophy of skeptical theism tackles this issue
What purposes suffering can have
How faith can be reasonable despite these issues
1. The Logical Structure of the Suffering Argument and Why It Has Such Power
This argument is often called the problem of evil, and there are many variations, but most boil down to the same logical structure. An omnipotent God could prevent all suffering. An omnibenevolent God would want to prevent all suffering. An omniscient God would know how to prevent all suffering. If all these combinations are true, then why doesn’t God stop suffering?
What makes this such a powerful argument is that it seems almost intuitive and unquestionable. It taps into our natural sense of morality, and the sense that God’s actions should align with ours. This, however, assumes that God’s reasons for allowing or preventing suffering are the same as ours, which isn’t necessarily the case.
2. What the Bible Actually Says About Suffering Through Job’s Story
When Job’s children are killed and his servants are injured in one day, Job is grief-stricken, but he doesn’t believe this suffering is a result of his sins. Job’s friends, however, assume it is, but God rebukes them at the end, saying they have not spoken according to God’s wisdom, as Job has:
“My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” Job 42:7
Note that He never tells them why Job suffered, but rather talks of His own glory and power, showing that Job’s suffering wasn’t a direct result of his sins, but was rather an event that tested his faith. Job himself begins to accept this:
“I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” Job 42:2
He has gone from seeking a reason to why he suffered to accepting God’s power and wisdom over his own.
3. How Skeptical Theism Tackles This Issue
Skeptical theism suggests there is a way out of this dilemma by adding another part to this argument. We have good reason to think God exists, and that reason may well be that our moral intuitions are actually the voice of God within us. We have reasons to think that God exists and is benevolent, but we can’t necessarily understand why He permits suffering, because we are limited in our moral perception, but God is not. This doesn’t make us blind to the moral order of the world; it lets us see it, and trust in it. We have reason to think that God is good, and if we do, then it’s reasonable to trust His judgment is also good, even if we aren’t sure why He lets these things happen, because we can take comfort in the fact that He wanted to stop it as much as we did.
The weakness here is that many people base their reason for believing in God solely on these moral intuitions. If that were the reason you believed in God, then this view would actually hurt your arguments for Him, because you can’t trust those intuitions to be wholly from God if you base your belief on the idea that they’re moral and not divine. It works well with other evidences, however, and can provide a good basis to trust in God.
4. Why Some Suffering Might Have Purposes
Some suffering does have obvious purposes; the pain in your hand when you touch a hot stove warns you to not do it again. The grief you feel when a loved one dies can teach you that they were important to you. Even joy and pain can build our character, if we let them. Not all suffering is meaningless, then; some of it has clearly defined purposes. Where the argument fails is with the random suffering, such as when seemingly healthy children get cancer. It’s easy to say that God could stop it, but why should He? What purpose could be served by destroying something as horrible as childhood cancer? God’s reasons for doing anything might be beyond our understanding simply because He is so much more than us, but it’s hard to imagine a reason He could not prevent something that has already happened.
5. How Faith Can Be Reasonable Despite These Issues
Faith can be a reasonable thing, because while you can reason to the existence of God, you cannot reason to the idea that God’s reasons for doing what He does are always known to us, but it’s reasonable to place faith in someone whose wisdom we know to be good. That’s how Job placed faith in God, and how we can place faith in Him as well. It isn’t unreasonable to ask why God permits us to suffer when we don’t understand it, but when He does not give us an answer, we have to place our faith in the evidence we do have.
WHAT YOU LEARNED
Assumption of Intent: The argument from suffering assumes that God’s reasons for doing anything are the same as ours, which may not be the case.
Job’s Example: Job teaches that God may not have reasons to permit suffering that we can understand, but we can have faith in His goodness.
Skeptical Theism: Skeptical theism gives a good reason why we can believe in God while seeing suffering, as we have reasons to believe in God that aren’t related to why God permits suffering.
Purpose of Pain: Some suffering obviously has a purpose, but some suffering appears random and inexplicable.
Reasonable Faith: Faith can be a reasonable thing when it is based on solid evidence for God’s existence and His goodness.
MY THOUGHTS
I think the argument from suffering is a powerful issue, as it’s intuitively simple and reasonable to assume that suffering would stop if God wanted it to, but the answer is also simple—it’s reasonable to have faith in God’s goodness even when we don’t understand God’s choices. It’s easy to simply deny the argument exists, but I think the better answer is to challenge these assumptions, not ignore the argument entirely.
What I think is most impressive about Job’s story is that he learns to have faith in something greater than himself, even if he might never totally understand it. I don’t think any of us would be able to understand the reasons for our suffering if it came suddenly and without warning, but we can take comfort in the fact that God cares for us all the same, and has our best interests at heart.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Q: Doesn’t skeptical theism let God off the hook too easily?
Not really, if it is combined with reasons to believe in God’s existence in the first place. Skeptical theism can be a good tool to answer the question of why God permits suffering, because we have reasons to believe in His existence and goodness that aren’t related to why He permits suffering. If you have reasons to believe in God, then it’s reasonable to have faith in His goodness, even if you don’t have reasons to believe God permits suffering for good reasons.
Q: Why didn’t God just create a world without suffering?
We don’t know if that’s possible, as a world where people aren’t capable of suffering may also make it impossible for them to make real choices rooted in virtue. God could have created a world of robots who never experience pain or joy, but who also cannot grow in virtue or love. It may well be that this wasn’t an option to God, but only He knows.
Q: How do I trust God when I’m suffering right now?
You may not be able to trust God to stop your suffering, but you can ask yourself if you have reasons to believe God is good, and trust in that. You can ask yourself if God has shown you that He cares for you, and you can trust Him. Jesus cared for us so much that He was willing to suffer and die for us:
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15
Q: Is Job’s story meant to be the final answer on suffering?
No, because while Job is a good example of a man who learns to find faith in God, Scripture contains many other examples of how people have expressed their relationships with God in suffering. Job’s story is one of trusting in God’s goodness, but Paul writes:
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4
Jesus has also promised that His disciples will follow Him into suffering, but He has also overcome the world (John 16:33).
