Why SUFFERING ?    -   an explanation

"Why suffering ?" is a question often asked by atheists who want to confound people who believe in God. The atheist's argument usually says that if God cares about people He would not allow suffering, but we see suffering all around us, therefore there can be no God. If Christian believers reply that God allows suffering because of His great love for everyone, the argument usually degenerates into farce.

But there is a reasoned explanation for suffering. However it would be tactless to assume it will appeal to someone, or anyone who knows someone, who is in continual torment, whether of the body, the mind or the spirit.

Furthermore, to appreciate this explanation one needs to understand some basic principles, some of which may be difficult to accept.

  • God is just and fair, and not capricious - perhaps like a wise parent who does not treat their children equally, because they are different, but treats them fairly, without any undue favouritism. For instance a wise parent gives different gifts to a son and a daughter, but makes sure that the gifts are of similar value.
  • There is some form of spiritual, non-material existence after death, and that we carry our characters to this existence, and so can make choices, communicate and be recognised by others. Let us call this existence Limbo-Land, as it is somewhere where the spirit part of our existance waits for the final Heaven or Hell judgement - Bible references. Purists will probably want to explain that between these events there will be a resurrection, a 1000 years of peace with Satan bound and then Satan being released for a season, but it is not necessary to consider these in this discussion.
  • We had some form of spiritual, non-material existence before birth, where we could make choices, communicate and be recognised by others. Let us call this the Life-Before - Bible references. Initially we were with God in His Heaven but over time some chose to stray away from being close to God, in the same way that Adam and Eve initially talked with God every evening but later drifted away. The rebellion in Heaven before the time of Adam and Eve, shows that it was a place where choices could be made - Bible references.
  • By contrast let us refer to our present existence as Mortality or Earth-Life.
  • We all had the same start in the Life-Before, as opposed to the wholly unequal start that we observe people have when born into Earth-Life. The unequal starts in Earth-Life that people have, and a just God, make a strong argument for some previous existence.
  • Since our memory cells grew from nothing we have no recollection of the Life-Before, but we retain some remnants of the character that we developed in the Life-Before. This accounts for the different characters that even identical twins have. We obviously made friends in the Life-Before and it is a nice idea that the close friends we make in Earth-Life could have been friends that we knew before.

To recap, everyone’s existence had the same start in Heaven, we lived in the Life-Before, we made choices which determined the character we brought with us into Earth-Life, we develop our characters in Earth-Life, and after death our characters will go with us Limbo-Land and thence to the final Heaven or Hell judgement. From an eternal perspective one could view Earth-Life as a short, but important, interruption to a much longer spiritual existence, where we started with God in His Heaven and will hopefully eventually return there.

This is not to suggest the almost continual cycle of death and rebirth as supported by Hinduism, although the concept of Karma is appropriate.

Let us make some assumptions about our existence in the Life-Before.

  • Our desire was to return to Heaven but we knew that we would at some time be born into Earth-Life and then pass into Limbo-Land. We knew that in Earth-Life we would remember nothing of the Life-Before, and we knew of the ultimate Heaven or Hell judgement after our time in Limbo-Land. We knew that Earth-Life would be a severe test and that, because of the physical nature of the existence, it would be a major factor in determining our Heaven or Hell judgement.
  • We knew that the greater the challenge we overcame in Earth-Life, the greater our reward in Heaven would be. The parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 suggests this.
  • We could choose the level of difficulty we would face in Earth-Life. Some would be confident enough to ask for a great challenge, perhaps to be born handicapped to a drug dealing lone parent in one of the world’s poorest shanty towns, so that they could overcome more and receive a greater reward in Heaven. Others would ask for an easy life, perhaps to be born into a good, prosperous Christian family, to lessen the chances of failing at the Heaven or Hell judgement. Again the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 supports this.

If all this is correct then it must mean that
the level of suffering a person has to endure in this life is what they chose for themselves while in the Life-Before.
It would also mean that a person who seems to have an easy, un-challenging Earth-Life, will have little potential for reward at the Heaven or Hell judgement.

Of course it would be un-Christian and entirely tactless to explain this "armchair philosophy" to someone who is suffering greatly. Indeed, if we follow the example of Jesus Christ at all, we would see alleviating someone’s suffering as an answer to a prayer for an opportunity to render service.

[© Martin, 2006 Nov 6, 1099 words, revision 070830 ]

There are probably many arguments against this explanation for suffering, principally perhaps that the question of "Why Suffering ?" has not been answered at all, but merely referred to a different frame of reference. However, dear reader, if you have followed thus far, your comments in the guestbook or by email to martincambridge@live.co.uk will all be read, and much appreciated.

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