One of the most common misconceptions in Christianity is that people suffer because they have sinned. While we do find evidence of this view in the Scriptures, it is not the only way the Bible deals with the problem of suffering. In Amos, the nations are judged because of their atrocious crimes. Job’s friends tell him he is suffering because he has sinned against God. Of course, in the most obvious example, Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden for eating forbidden fruit. Yet another popular example is when God decides to flood the earth and wipeout humankind because of how wicked they have become.
In and of itself, the idea that God punishes people because they sin is not a misconception. The problem is that, all too often, the church interprets this as the only solution to the problem of suffering. Surely, you are familiar with the free will theodicy. If everybody lived perfect, Christ-like lives, there would be no suffering. But, we would all be programmed robots. With free will, we have the choice to do good deeds or sin incessantly. In truth, I can understand why the church focuses so heavily on this singular topic. It’s the “easy way” to explain how an all-loving, all-powerful God can allow so much depravity in this earthly life.
In my last post, I discussed a topic very close to my heart. That topic is the loss of my mother to liver cancer. When she was suffering such excruciating suffering to this awful disease, I knew the free will defense completely. I knew that God punishes sin with suffering. But what I did not know is how God can allow the righteous to suffer. While I can admit that no person is perfect, my mother did not deserve this horrendous level of suffering.
She birthed ten children. She homeschooled all twelve of us. Unless she was sick, she never missed a church service. She was actively involved in the community. She understood her role as a churchgoer; not to sit and listen to a pastor once or twice a week, but to go out and help those who struggle. She was faithful to her husband, even when he treated her worse than the dust on his feet. She lived to serve; and for that, she was punished? Needless to say, I had many questions. A lifetime of questions. Was she perfect? Absolutely not. But I cannot think of one thing she would have done to deserve God’s punitive wrath.
The word “innocent” is a Latin word, literally meaning “not harming.” Yet, all too often, we see that the innocent are dealt more harm than the vilest of humans. Will it be made right in the afterlife? Maybe. I do not believe in hell because it is an invention of Western theology. Argue as you will, there is no biblical basis for a fiery pit of demons torturing the wicked for eternity. None. There is a certain level of suffering that troubles me, and that is the suffering of the innocent. A child dying of starvation when there is enough food in the world to feed everyone? A family torn apart by the loss of life in a natural disaster? A person tormented in war because of their religious preference or ethnic origins? How can free will explain any of this?
In the simplest response, it cannot. The free will theodicy can explain the bulk of suffering prevalent in the world, but it is not capable of explaining all suffering. In his book God’s Problem (and one of my favorite books on the subject), biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman notes, “The Bible contains many and varied answers to the problem of why there is suffering in the world.”[1] Some of these answers, he contends, are at odds with one another. The response of Ecclesiastes, that everything in life is “meaningless” or “vanity” may be the surest answer as to why the innocent suffer.
Space does not allow a full treatment of this issue, but in a very personal sense, I am not satisfied with the view of Ecclesiastes. Like the free will defense, Ecclesiastes can explain a great deal of the suffering we see in the world. But as one who has walked through the dark path of grief and loss, I find it exceptionally hard to accept that my innocent mother suffered tremendously for no apparent reason. As one who earnestly believes that “everything happens for a reason,” I have a difficult time believing that my mother suffered in vain.
That is my rant on the issue. Coming back to the point of this entry, free will is not the only definite answer to the problem of suffering. This is a monumental problem that tugs at the heartstrings of each and every individual. It is not solved as simply as 2+2=4. As the Bible makes clear, the solution is as confusing as polynomials. There is not always an absolute answer. I recall struggling to understand how some equations in algebra can result in a positive or negative number. Either answer is correct, although the answers are opposites. I am no math genius, and I hate algebra with a burning passion, but as I learned from the subject, there can be multiple “right” answers to any problem.
The same goes for the problem of suffering. Free will may explain one facet of the problem, while responses from Ecclesiastes or the Prophets may explain another. As one who lived and breathed the church for the majority of my life, I know that the church believes in one absolute answer. You sinned, you failed, and because of that, God is making you suffer. It is ironic to me that this is the same answer Job’s friends gave, and they were condemned by God.
I do not think I will ever understand how God can allow, or even make, the innocent suffer. It is an eternal mystery to me. What I do know is that there is no “one size fits all” solution to the problem of suffering. This idea of divine retribution that the church proclaims certainly has its grounding in the biblical texts, but so do the multiple other solutions offered throughout. I can tell you that whatever you are going through, it is not only because you are a bad person and God is punishing you. There certainly is a reason, but frankly, it is one that you and I may never know.
[1] Bart D. Ehrman, God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer, (New York: Harper Collins, 2009), 15.