by jimwalton » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:29 pm
There's no mistaking that tragedies like this are just awful to endure. I'm very sorry for your pain.
There's no reason to think that the existence of God, the acceptance of suffering by Christians, and the existence of suffering in the world are contradictory concepts. Logically speaking, there's nothing in the "syllogism" that is irrational. What's really hard about it (besides the suffering itself) is trying to make sense of it all.
For one, I think that's a clue. You feel a pull to make sense of it all. That tells you you believe in purpose in the universe and in our lives, both of which point to the existence of God rather than just random natural processes. But the scene contradicts your sense of justice: Why didn't God do something? Why do things like this exist without God's interference, especially for his own people? A couple of thoughts come to mind.
One is the retribution principle: if the world was a just place, then good people should get rewarded and bad people get punished. If God was just, that's the way the world would work. But that doesn't really make sense. If that were the case, people would start being good just to get the prize, and so they really wouldn't be being good, just selfish or greedy or whatever. But then would it be more fair if the good people had it worse than others? Of course not; there's nothing fair about that. So the retribution principle really is not the way the world works or the way God works. Good and bad things happen to us all, at apparently undetectable percentages. That doesn't mean there is no God or that he is unfair.
As far as suffering, it also can't be true that REAL good always works to eliminate evil as far as it can. For instance, we say that pain is evil (and suffering is an absurdity), but wait a minute: when a doctor performs surgery, he causes pain, but he doesn’t stop being good because he did that. As a matter of fact, the pain was part of the good he did, and you can't get rid of that "evil" without getting rid of the "good" too. So a "good" God and "pain" aren't automatically contradictory.
Well, you may continue, then, maybe it's only evil when it doesn't produce a good that outweighs the evil. Well, but you’ve already admitted then that the existence of pain is not a contradiction to a person being good and allowing that suffering.
OK, then. Maybe God is perfectly good only if he tries to eliminate every evil that he can without also eliminating a greater good? Bingo. God can be all-powerful and good, and certain evil can still possibly exist. That’s what I would say, for sure. Sometimes suffering brings out the best in people, and they display nobility and courage in the face of it. Sometimes people get stronger by it, or learn important lessons. It’s very possible that good and evil together can be a good state of affairs. And that means that God can be all-powerful, and permit as much evil as he pleases without forfeiting his claim to being good, as long as for every evil he permits there is the possibility of a greater good—as long as there is a balance of good over evil in the universe as a whole. That’s exactly what the Bible teaches.
People's suffering is tragic, no doubt, but it's not an absurdity. If you think so, you have to show that if there is ANY evil, it's unjustified evil, and that evil is always unjustified. But even if it’s remotely possible that evil is justifiable for a possible greater good, than there is no contradiction with God being good and evil existing. Is this getting too tangled, or is it clear? You’ll have to let me know.
All I’m saying is that it’s possible that God is perfectly good, and that God allows evil to exist in the world although he could prevent it. The point is there may be reasons he doesn’t prevent it, but that doesn’t make Him not good.
But what about those "evil" and "absurdity" of Parkinson's or protracted cancer? To prove that its' unfair (besides the deep pain you are feeling) what you have to prove is that even those suffering never do and could never possibly have ANY redeeming value if your point is true. I would say that’s difficult, if not impossible, to prove, and that what the Bible teaches is still possible, and certainly not a contradiction or an absurdity.
I'm so sorry for the ache you are feeling.