God and Suffering: Is He Responsible or Not?
The subject of suffering and the goodness of God (theologians call this theodicy) is one of the more difficult issues that Christianity has to grapple with. The age old question of how a God who is infinitely wise, good, and powerful, could allow suffering is one that has occupied theologians and philosophers since the dawn of time. I was poking around the blogs the last few days and stumbled into a discussion regarding determinism and non-determinism, the two basic approaches to this issue. Rather than spend more time there, I figured I’d invest my energies here at home. First, let’s define terms.
Determinism teaches that everything that happens is in some sense God’s will. For determinists, this doesn’t mean that God likes everything that happens, nor does it mean that God directly intervenes in every circumstance (whether for good or evil). They acknowledge that much of God’s will occurs through indirect means. Nor do determinists deny the reality of free will (“free will” being defined as the capacity to make real moral choices), or deny that the choices of free moral agents have a real consequences. Determinism simply affirms that in some mysterious way, everything that happens (both good and evil) does so according to the unfolding of God’s ultimate plan. In short, God ordains everything.
Non-determinism, while not denying God’s sovereignty, teaches that God’s plan does not extend to every last detail. Many things happen “on their own” (for lack of a better way to say it). Non-determinists emphasize free will, and insist that much of what happens (particularly evil and suffering) is not the result of God’s foreordained plan, but rather is the result of human (or angelic/demonic) choice. In short, God doesn’t ordain everything.
Consequently, when it comes to suffering and evil, determinists readily acknowledge that God bears some measure of responsibility, in as much as all things occur within the scope of his ultimate plan. Non-determinist however, because they don’t think God’s plan is exhaustive, tend to argue that God doesn’t have responsibility for suffering and evil, placing the blame on human or demonic free will instead.
At the end of the day, this isn’t merely an intellectual exercise. Anyone who has faced a particularly challenging season of suffering, or experienced a particularly egregious evil, knows what it is to look toward heaven and ask “Why, God?” As those called to minister to others, we should have a well-formed perspective on this issue. We don’t have to have the ultimate answer, but we need to offer more than a blank stare and a “Uh, I’ve never thought about it before.”
I’ve got a follow-up post coming, but let’s take a roll call. In the comment box, state your position along with a few of the best scriptures to support it. I won’t state my own position yet, but you can get a hint by looking at the image of this post.
Categorized as: From Gerald, Theodicy, Theology
