In the third article of this seven-part series, Bruce Miller and Ruth Jackson explore this challenging question, drawing on wisdom from faith leaders and the Christian belief in a God who suffers with us.
Bruce Miller, a pastor in Texas following academic study in theology, based his book: “The 7 Big Questions: Searching for God, Truth, and Purpose” on what he says are the most googled questions about God. Top of the list was why God would allow pain and suffering, which will be explored in this third article in a series on those questions.
Read more:
Does life have a purpose?
Is there a God?
He talks to Ruth Jackson about the importance of this question of suffering and his own approach. “I find if you don’t ask these questions if you sort of push them back and try to ignore them and push them out of the way then you don’t develop a solid faith,” he said. “Your faith ends up being shallow and you have these doubts in the back of your mind that weaken your faith.”
Elsewhere, the church has often received profound insights into suffering when one of its key leaders endures their own trials. The late Tim Keller was a celebrated pastor and had persuaded many of belief in God through his book ‘Reason for God’ and other outlets. But when he was struck with pancreatic cancer, his Premier Unbelievable discussion on suffering became more poignant, as did his discussions about his improved prayer life and insights from having a terminal illness. Just as meaningful was a conversation with his widow, Kathy Keller, a year after his passing.
Similar depth can be found from the great author and apologist CS Lewis, whose work is frequently explored on these channels. The death of his wife led to a period of suffering that he recorded and published in “A grief observed”, initially under a pseudonym.
His faith journey is contrasted with another great author, JRR Tolkein, by Dr Holly Ordway, author of Tolkien’s Faith. Both writers experienced the profound early loss of their mothers, but while Tolkien’s faith deepened through suffering, Lewis went through a period of atheism before his conversion.
Apologist Vince Vitale has presented a number of approaches to the difficult question of suffering. He points out that human knowledge is limited, meaning that we can’t necessarily understand all the reasons why God might allow suffering. Another is the gift of free will, and whether we would want a world where it did not exist in order to limit suffering. Another question is whether suffering is a means by which we are individually unique. And finally, the Christian understand of the Divine is of a God who suffers with us – Jesus Christ who was tortured and died on the Cross, in our place.
Search and explore the archives of Premier Unbelievable to find more exploration of the problem of suffering, as well as stories of endurance through trials and meaning found through suffering.
