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WHY SUFFERING? – PHILOSOPHICAL & CHRISTIAN
REFLECTIONS Since: Last Update : 9th April 2010 |
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First
things first The
reasons; the “whys?”
It
is in the context of adversity that we are introduced to hope. HOW SUFFERING CAN AFFECT
OUR VIEW OF GOD AND TRUTH Great
men down through history has struggled with it What
beautiful ways to reflect on suffering STORIES ON SUFFERING Real
people, real stories to life your spirit SONGS ON SUFFERING Songs
of old, Songs of today on suffering Hollywood
movies on suffering? Got to see these to believe! HISTORICAL EVENTS ON SUFFERING Wars,
pestilences, disasters and calamities PAINTINGS ON SUFFERING Paintings
from various sources; largely from Mr PHOTOS ON SUFFERING When
I am lost for words WHAT YOU CAN DO A No
glib talks; no pet answers; straight from the heart QUOATABLE QUOATES Wise
sayings, brilliant insights AUDIO ON SUFFERING Sermons,
preaching, testimonies VIDEO ON SUFFERING Video
clips, mpegs MUSEUMS ON SUFFERING Art
pieces, artifacts Interesting
anecdotes, sayings HOW OTHER RELIGIONS SEE SUFFERING Judaism Bahaism Islam FOR THE MATURE CHRISTIANS ONLY How
the various theological systems see suffering Arminianism Reformed {Calvinism} Open Theism Orthodox Churches “He
will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into
plough and their spears into pruning-knives. Nations will never again go to
war, never prepare for battle again.” – Isaiah 2:4 LINKS TO OTHER SITES ON SUFFERING Why
is there evil in the world when God is sovereign? Why
does Christian suffer? How
can we make sense of it? WHAT YOU CAN
DO ABOUT OTHERS’ SUFFERING Life’s
paradox of easing our own suffering while meeting others’ needs |
INTRODUCTION Pain and suffering has always been a part of human history. The rains
fall on both the good and the bad; the holy and the unholy; the righteous and
the unrighteous. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and the likes are no
respecter of nations, tribes or colours. There are perfect and defective births; timely and untimely death;
joyful and sad partings; holy and diabolical unions; celebration and
mourning. All of us go through roller coasters of emotion, passion and
seasons. At the height of the civil war in Rwanda, Africa in the
early 90s; Times magazine carries an article in its cover page depicting the
word “There is no more devils in hell; they are all in Rwanda”
against a pitch black background. (The evils perpetrated by both sides of
the civil wars, the Tutsis and the Hutus, against each other were so great
that it led a group of sufferers to coin that phrase) In the mid 90’s at the height of the ethnic cleansing war in
Bosnia/Herzegovina; groups of Muslim, Christian and Jew were quoted by a
newspaper article to have said that though they were Muslims, Christians and
Jews, they no longer believe that God is alive. (The suffering they faced
was so severe and intense that it has driven them to utter such words. Such
suffering as systematic torture, genocide, geographical displacement and
rapes were on a scale paralleled to those of the Holocaust of Second World
War)
The human hearts cried for the deliverance from God; but nothing came; nothing happened; and total silence. “Why God? Why me? Why now?”These questions have baffled philosophers, theologians and scholars since time immemorial. It is all the more excruciating for the Christians since the God of the Bible is one who is all powerful and all loving! A God who fold his arms and stand detached in the midst
of his suffering people is certainly not worth worshipping! A God who is all
love, but not powerful enough to intervene and help is of no worth either.
But a God who is all powerful but unloving enough to help is certainly no God
at all. (which indeed make him an evil being). Where then do we stand? Do we have an answer? What does the Bible say? Sarah McLachlan recorded a cover version of an XTC song called “Dear God” that goes partly like this: “You’re
always letting us human downs The wars you bring,
the babes you drown, Those lost at sea
and never found, and It’s the same
the whole world round. The hurt I see
helps to compound That Father, Son
and Holy Ghost Is just
someone’s unholy hoax. If you’re up
there you’d perceive That my
heart’s here upon my sleeve: If there’s
one thing I don’t believe in, It’s you
– dear God.” Is the Holy Trinity a hoax? Is God a hoax ? Is Jesus Christ a hoax? Is the Holy Spirit a hoax? Many people, religious and non-religious, have a hard time believing in an All-Powerful and an All-Loving God. INTELLECTUALLY I DO NOT HAVE THE FULL ANSWER. THE
BIBLE OR CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT HAVE THE FULL ANSWER TO SATISFY ONE
INTELLECTUA IT LIES IN
THE DOMAIN WHERE HUMAN F How do we respond in the midst of suffering? What can we do? Victor Frankel, the famed psychoanalyst who survived the holocaust at Auschwitz at World War II had seen many of his fellow interns dying one by one for lack of reasons to continue living in the midst of tortures, humiliations and atrocities in the concentration camps; only those who have a reason and a hope to cling on to survived. (There were only tens of thousands who survived out of the two millions who suffered at the concentration camps) The Bible says in Romans 8:18-21 “I consider that
our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be
revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God
to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into
the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Come with me and let us reason together. (Isaiah 1:18) (The book of Isaiah is the 23rd book of the
Old Testament of the Bible) B. Eng (Hon) ( Master of Business
Administration (University of Doctor of Theology
(Evangelical Theological Seminary, PhD in Business
Administration ( PS. Instead of the constant need to update this web site, I have opted to post my thoughts on my blog as http://whysuffering.wordpress.com |
