“Is God telling me something?” is I think something that we ought always to do when we find ourselves ill. What is God teaching me? And our response to the problem of evil…let me outline first of all…one possible response is an intellectual response. The experience of physical pain and/or mental distress. And why is it a problem? First of all, I want just to reflect very briefly on what is sometimes called “the problem of evil,” and not so much from a philosophical point of view, rather from a pastoral point of view that there is a problem of evil, a problem of suffering. some suffering is meant to be educational or disciplinary, suffering is a part of the universe forever. Our suffering builds endurance and strength, and unites us deeply with God's heart, with the goal of being glorified with Yeshua . In light of this alleged problem, what is a Theology of Suffering and why must we have one? The core of the Deuteronomist Theology can be reduced even further to a core principle: Yahweh will bless those who obey and punish those who disobey.In practice, though, the principle is expressed in the reverse form: if you're suffering, then it must be because you disobeyed and if you're prospering it must be because you have been obedient. Sixthly, eternal suffering must be a part of a theology of suffering: that suffering is a part of the universe forever.We believe in a day of judgment, and afterwards the just punishment of sinners in hell forever. It’s the problem of trusting God even when the lights go out. Even Paul prayed three times that the thorn in the flesh be removed. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain. Have you ever considered Leviathan?” Have you ever asked yourself the question, ‘Why did God make a crocodile?’ Well, why did God make a crocodile? I had a vague recollection that I had seen him or I knew him from somewhere, and eventually I realized he was a minister that I had met before of an independent, somewhat charismatic church. It did not.” – C. S. Lewis. I urge you to study these references in their contexts, to develop a more comprehensive biblical theology of suffering. To possess the Scriptures, to read the Scriptures, to hear the Scriptures, there are no substitutes. I just want to suggest them for the fullness of this seminar on a biblical theology of suffering. Kate Bowler’s recent book, Blessed, traces the history of the prosperity gospel in America. It is also not a means of gaining points with God, nor of subduing th… And another is to modify God’s goodness. If you live a profligate lifestyle and contract AIDS as a result of it, you are to blame. Let’s begin by addressing something of what theologians and philosophers sometimes euphemistically call the problem of evil. Sovereignty of God and disasters b. Spiritual depression is linked with theological ineptitude. We believe in a day of judgment, and afterwards the just punishment of sinners in hell forever. Some non-believers adopt a docetic view of suffering, which denies the reality of pain altogether. That’s a very considerable issue that if we don’t see suffering and trial as something that must produce in us more praise for God, more yielding to His sovereignty…. By natural evil we mean evil that isn’t of particular human volition or action. (page 194) To abandon God’s control of the future. A theology of the cross, by contrast, accepts the difficult thing rather than immediately trying to change it or transmute it. Some suffering is meant to be educational or disciplinary. And then, another issue that I’ve already touched on, the disregard of the psychosomatic links. The church is not meant to be a loosely bound association of functional Lone Rangers. There are arguments to suggest, for example, that Islam modified the goodness of God. And, thirdly, I would suggest that illness may have a prospective disciplinary sanctifying purpose without bearing any relation to past sins. And then they recount the shovels, and there’s none missing. Various causes of suffering 2. Nietzsche and the Problem of Suffering Van Harvey on the metaphysical aspects of an anti-metaphysical philosophy. We live in a fallen world. Ninth, freedom from suffering is no indication of a right relationship with God. However difficult it may be for us to understand the extent of the retribution for what is, you might suggest, a white lie about the price of a piece of real estate that the church had no business knowing anyway…you might attempt, though I don’t advise it, to philosophize on Ananias and Sapphira in that way. The question of the meaning of suffering, in many ways an impenetrable question, finds an answer, above all, in the Passion of Jesus. That sometimes is an avenue that is adopted in order to maintain and secure human freedom. My understanding of the universe, or of God, or of theodicy would not be bent out of shape if there were no crocodiles in the world. There will forever be suffering in a part of the universe that God has created. “This isn’t an epic story of good and evil. It was for His glory. Ten, we must glory in suffering. I don’t know if Psalm 88 is familiar to you; if you tell me it’s your favorite Psalm, you are in need of counseling, big time! I don’t mean that in any other sense but the way I say it. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines suffering as “the state or experience of ones that suffers” and “pain.” Distress, suffering, misery, and agony mean the state of being in great trouble. “In Gethsemane the holiest of all Petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. God wants you to thrive. Origins of Deuteronomist Theology . Even Jesus was tempted by suffering. Let me just suggest some of them…and I don’t have time now to go into all of them. One possible avenue, of course, is the avenue of dualism: that evil and good are equally ultimate, and that we live in a dualistic world. So we can think of hurricanes or floods, as was on the news this morning, or tornadoes; or perhaps even cancer, although sometimes cancer is a direct consequence of human action, to be sure; or, something like cystic fibrosis, perhaps. Friedrich Nietzsche shared at least one fundamental concern with the religions and metaphysical systems that he so criticized: the problem of suffering and how one deals with it. Well, pastorally, from another trajectory altogether, what can be our response to suffering? And I think the fact that we don’t sing the Psalms and read the Psalms in the same way that previous generations sung and read the Psalms means that we have lost something of significant value in the Psalms. Whoever wrote Psalm 88 — his name has gone from my mind, but you’re with him. This article evaluates the experience of suffering and its redemptive value in the light of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. An issue of course that’s under great stress and even denial today in certain evangelical quarters is ‘How can somebody suffer on the part of or in the place of, or as a substitute for another?’ That seems to some to be inherently unjust. I don’t want to be anywhere near them. Cultural Myths about Suffering 1. He conquered evil with good. It is designed to build our trust in the Almighty, but suffering requires the right response if it is to be successful in accomplishing God’s purposes. Both strands in the tapestry eventually will lead us to glorify God even if we don’t quite understand how or why He sometimes chooses a path that involves so much pain.’”, Well, that’s true enough. it’s at the heart of the atonement that Jesus suffered in our place, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Nothing tests our love for God more than suffering and trials, and the death of someone we love, or the illness of someone we love more than anyone else in this world, apart from Jesus. As I walked through the door…I said hello to him and he left, and I went up to the lady, and she was in tears. And in the ground, in the sandy surface of the ground in that cave there are footprints, and they are the footprints of Jesus. How we train is how we perform. You have reaped what you have sown. Distress implies an external and usually temporary cause of great physical or mental strain and stress. Well, thank you for coming along today to this seminar. It is at this point that we expose ourselves to the charge of Hebrews. The very One who calls us to follow Him was well acquainted with suffering and sorrow. I’ll never ever forget that, and she ministered to me. [Laughter] Why did God make alligators and crocodiles? You cannot point the finger at anybody else. We thank You for our Savior, who has been tempted in every point like as we are, yet without sin. Suffering forces us to turn from trust in our own resources to living by faith in God’s resources. And seventhly, suffering that is a substitution. 5. He suffered on behalf of others in order to prevent somebody else dying; he gave himself. Hear us, O Lord, for Jesus’ sake. And help us by Your Spirit to bring us to the point whereby we may glory in tribulations also, and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that thereby You are glorified and Your kingdom is further advanced. And that’s precisely what Eliphaz and his friends are doing in the book of Job. It is, for example, what open theism has been advocating in the last five or ten years. They’ve lived thirty or forty years in anger and resentment. Apply and teach about how to live meaningfully in suffering. And God in the person of Christ heals him, and through his healing he ministers to others. Our expectations and preparation for trial will govern our ability to endure spiritual drought and burnout. Sovereignty of God and disasters b. I think of the man born blind in the Gospel of John. I think if you hold to a deterministic view of the future then you have to in some way modify God’s goodness. We’d love to hear from you! And yet, He doesn’t shield us from suffering (John 15:20; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. if that kind of complaint, if that kind of lament isn’t part of the fabric of your Christian experience, then you don’t have the resources, the biblical resources, to address on a personal level the issue of suffering. How we anticipate and are willing to accept pain will dictate whether we walk away or sustain faith through times of suffering. [Laughter], “Maybe a person has to believe in predestination to fully grasp the concept, but I cannot quite get my mind around the idea that God’s hand is in everything I do or that is done to me. As Christians we can expect to face challenges and hard times. They were meant for the likes of you and me. Join the conversation on our blog! If I choose to order catfish instead of chicken for lunch one Sunday at the Crystal Grill, is that God’s will at work? It seems to me that the three friends of Job…and to some extent Elihu…you may have your own interpretation of Elihu. It was Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz’s contention that Job had sinned — either a big sin or a little sin, a sin in his past, a sin in his youth that he can’t even remember and recollect anymore; that all that he needs to do is confess his sin and he would see God coming and restoring him again.   Website, Copyright © 2019 HarperCollins Publishers. He’s set in a theater to play a part for God in the world. A false theology of suffering emerged that was built on the hypothesis that the meritorious suffering of Jesus, though necessary for the redemption of God’s people, is not complete—there is additional merit that can be added to it by the suffering of the saints. The title of the seminar is “The Theology of Suffering.” And I have a number of things I want to say by way of theological summary of what the Bible teaches on suffering, but before I do that, I thought I’d begin by telling you of a story of a young woman, a girl. 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