Why Does God Allow Suffering? How Can a Loving and Mighty God Allow Pain and Misery in the World?

If God exists, why is here suffering in the world? The philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC) saw it this way: “Either God wants to abolish evil, but he cannot; or he can, but he does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how comes evil into the world?”

Is it Possible to Understand Suffering?

One philosophical argument regarding human understanding of suffering is the “Bear in a Trap” argument, which goes like this:

Suppose there was a bear in a trap and a kindly passer-by wanted to set it free. He tries to win the bear’s confidence but the bear assumes it is the passer-by who put him in the trap and he tries to attack whenever his rescuer comes near. The only way to help the bear is to shoot him with a tranquilizer gun. The bear sees this as an attack and becomes further enraged, fighting against the rescuer and increasing his own suffering. What if the only way the rescuer can help the bear it to push him further into the trap in order to access the release? Surely the bear would be wild at this point, thinking the rescuer was trying to kill him.

The Bear in a Trap argument suggests that humans are like the bear in the trap; they cannot fully understand suffering and its purpose because of their limited perspective, and therefore they cannot fully understand what suffering is, so they cannot accurately judge it as good or bad.

Does Suffering Have a Purpose?

The suffering of others can move people to compassion. Suffering can bring out the best in people, it can test their faith, and it can deliver an opportunity for them to grow spiritually, to change for the better, and to make a difference in the world. Suffering arrests inertia. It motivates people to either seek or reject God, forcing them to move toward or away from Him.

Suffering presents an opportunity to rely on God, or to try to survive without Him. Suffering forces people to connect with others as they reach out to ask for or to offer help. Suffering drives people to ask God the big questions, to become so frustrated or so enraged or so depressed that the only place they can turn is to Him. Suffering humbles. It is a reminder of human limitations as contrasted against God’s limitlessness. Human suffering begs people to tap into God’s resources.

Is God to Blame for Suffering?

Some philosophers suggest that when people blame God for incidents of great human suffering, like the Holocaust, they are merely shifting blame. When they ask: “Why didn’t God do something about this tragedy?” then they don’t have to ask the question “Why didn’t we?” Theologians argue that suffering is caused by human beings acting in cross-purposes with God’s will; as long as human beings choose their own imperfect will over God’s perfect will then there will always be human suffering, which is a product of human will, and the only way to end human suffering is align human will with divine will and show love and compassion for all.

The copyright of the article Why Does God Allow Suffering? in Catholicism is owned by Francine Morrissette. Permission to republish Why Does God Allow Suffering? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

May 14, 2009 3:36 PM

Guest :

You call you selves men of learning, but need facts for every thing and when you look into the story of Christ, all the facts are there, but like Christ says, you are blind and deft to his wisdom and none of you have worked out, that it is the seed of doubt, that brings suffering to man kind, and Christ tells you this but not straight out, he tells you in stories and parables, why he can't stop the seed of doubt at the moment, but none of you can see it, for the seed of doubt, plays you like a puppet on a string, facts facts facts, you can read the story of Christ a million times and still you men of learning will still not know the real reason for the son of mans visit and all this is because of the seed of doubt and Christ knew this, that when it came down to it, man is so weak when it comes to the seed of doubt, that is why he said those last words on the cross, father for give them, for they know not what we do and do you know something, we don't even know the half of it. God Bless billmcdowell35@yahoo.co.uk

Sep 26, 2009 4:14 PM

Guest :

I do not understand how the deaths of 26,000 children each day can bring us closer to God. Why do these chldren die? In the Old Testament God was always intervening saving this nation or destroying that one. Why doesn't he intervene now?? You can't blame the natural disasters on mankind.
God being perfect could only make a perfect world so why is it so evil?
I cannot accept the original sin theory - would you curse and punish for ever your grandchildren and great grandchildren etc etc because of your son or daughter's sin?