An Assignment on “Doctrine of God in the context of suffering”

Submitted to

Dr. Tiameren Aier

By

Medozenuo Thou

An Assignment Submitted to
The Faculty of India Baptist Theological Seminary
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject on Issues in Christian Theology

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Introduction: Everyone has experienced some level of suffering. Whether it is the death of a
family member or friend, getting sick, or being persecuted for their faith, suffering is something
that many of us are familiar with. Why do people suffer? C. S Lewis in his book “the problem of
pain” said that “all the great religions were first preached, and long practiced, in a world without
chloroform” while every religion preached to find ways to come out from suffering no religion
promised humanity the absence of suffering.1
The question of why human being suffers has been the burning question of every human
who lived and died from any walks of life or from any religious background. While it is never
easy to answer the why part, it has always been the quest of every human being to know reasons
why we suffer. The question may or may not be answered but to understand suffering from a
biblical viewpoint ease the person who goes through suffering more so because it provides ways
and means to tackle and go through suffering with a purpose and meaning. Christian today
questions God who views it as an impassable God would not care to help human who suffers.
Where as in order to understand suffering, one must also understand and know the God who sees
us suffering. Moreso because we have a god who can empathize and see our pain and sorrows.
So, what does God say about suffering? What does the bible say? Do we have a God who
understand and empathizes our suffering? Is there meaning in suffering?
This assignment will bring some comprehensive study of the doctrines of God in the
context of suffering and will try to bring out light on why human go through suffering. It will
also highlight some examples of sufferings based on certain circumstances and will try to
response to such suffering supported with the biblical and contemporary references.
The problem of suffering is brought about by evil which can be both moral and physical.
Morality, in terms of evil that is against God and physical consists of the unpleasant experiences
that human being goes through. Suffering also has philosophical, psychological and theological
dimensions. The philosophical aspect confronts the human intellects and questions the purpose
of suffering while the psychological dimension touches the human emotions and searches for
ways to overcome or find consolation during suffering. Theological aspects question the
existence of God in such times and wrestle with truth of Christianity.
Understanding the Doctrines of God in line with Suffering: To understand the problem of
suffering that is biblically-based, look at the character and nature of God. The Bible tells us that
God is gracious, merciful, almighty, slow to anger, sovereign, loving, and powerful, and more.
The  Lord  passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast  love and
faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, but  who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”2
The Bible tells us that there is no darkness in God at all and that He cannot sin. When you
understand the heart of God, you will see that it is not in His nature to torture or cause people to
1
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (UK: William Collins Publishers, 1940), 5.
2
Exodus 24:6-7 ESV

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suffer. The passage we see here points on the goodness of God and so many ask the question on
why would a good God would allow suffering in a man’s life especially to good people.
One should not forget the sovereignty and goodness of God. But throughout history this question
on the goodness of God and his theodicy was raised time and again. Example, The First and
Second World Wars in particular have heightened theological reflection on the cross in the face
of unwarranted human suffering.3 The goodness of God and His son’s suffering has been held a
question besides the suffering that humanity go through. Brightman tries to give a solution to this
problem by bringing his view called ‘finitism’ that believes in God who is limited and thus
rejects the omnipotence of God. Brightman, further says finitism “teaches that God is a personal
consciousness of eternal duration, an eternally active will, who works with the ‘Given.’ The
‘Given’ in this context means the eternal, uncreated laws of reason.” 4 On the other hand Jurgen
Moltmaan positioned his theodicy in a theology of the cross, the identification of the Trinitarian
God with suffering of humanity and the eschatological hope of triumph over evil (Moltmann,
1974).
Another proposed solution to the problem of evil rejects the reality of evil and
consequently suffering. This position renders unnecessary, any account of how evil/suffering can
coexist with an omnipotent and good God. But this solution to the question of a world is
unrealistic.
The question of suffering is and will always have a theological dimension. Christians
believe in the goodness of God and in the all-powerful attributes of God. And so, a good God has
the power to allow suffering in our lives and thus has the power to remove it as well. Or turning
it the other way round he can bring goodness from the pain and suffering one go through whether
it is the consequences of evil done by man or not. He enters into our suffering all in His
goodness. The second person in the trinity went through that so that we can have a God who can
understand and empathize our pain and suffering.
2. God and Suffering:
Theology of suffering is the study of what the Bible says about suffering while considering who
God is and the current state of humanity. Many different cultures have their own interpretations
of why people suffer. For Christians, it is important to have a Biblical view of why God allows
suffering and how we are to go through it.5
2.1. A humble view of man: The creation account tells us that when God made man it was very
good. The reference that man was given the chance to choose anything from there on tells that
man was given free-will to choose. The choice to choose between good and evil. As man was
not mechanized to do what Genesis 3:16-19 tells us that suffering is a result of the fall. The Bible
tells us that the wages of sin is death.

3
Kuwarnu-Adjaottor, “God and the Suffering of His People” in Journal of Science and
Technology. Vol.33. No. 1, 2013.
4
Ibid.,
5
https://Just Disciple.com/theology-of-suffering/ (Accessed on 13/9/22)

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No one is good because all have sinned. Thus, people do not deserve anything good because all
human beings are inherently sinful.
When sin entered the world, pain and suffering were introduced as a consequence of sin.
Because of this, one experience many levels of suffering during our lifetime such as bodily pain,
sickness, mental illness, death, and persecution for our faith. Suffering reminds humanity that he
is not in control of anything and shows the frailty of human strength. Thus, a humble view of
who a man is should be taken into consideration when the question of God in times of human
suffering comes up.
2.2 Biblical References on Suffering: People may experience suffering also as a result of
people’s actions (mistakes or ignorance). An example is found in the story of Joseph. Scripture
clearly says that Joseph’s brothers were wrongly jealous of him (Genesis 37:11), hated him
(Genesis 37:4,5,8), wanted to kill him (Genesis 37:20), and did wrong when they cast him into a
pit (Genesis 37:24) and then sold him into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37:28).
The bible verses about how one should be in times of suffering is evidence that even believers
are not immune to suffering but it provides ways and means to confront or overcome such pain
and suffering. In the epistle of James, we see such indications
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”6
God is as sovereign as He is loving. God does not enjoy watching you go through suffering, but
He allows suffering into many different people’s lives to test them and to make His name
glorified. This life is the only time we get to glorify God through our suffering. While there are
suffering which is caused by our own wrongdoing or evil doings of mankind.
The will of God is also questioned at times when it comes to suffering, Bible verses like
Lamentations 3:32-33 “Though He brings grief, he also shows compassion…… For he does not
enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow” since God’s sovereign will be always
accomplished, many people wrongly assume that the suffering in the world is a reflection of
God’s will.7 But the will to accomplished what he desires does not mean he will do it at the cost
of hurting his children or relishing in such pain of his children.
The book of Job and his life has been a subject of suffering and the doctrines of God in context
to suffering is clearly depicted in this book too. Suffering for Job was beyond imagination but
God, the transcendent being revealing himself to Job in providence to God is proof that in
suffering too there is a great matter of comfort providing his readers that we live under the
protecting shadow of the sovereign God. At the end, as a reader of the Job we do not find reasons
why God caused such suffering to Job but we find that the sovereign God is Lord over this
cosmic phenomenon that occurs and effects human being.8

6
James 5:13 ESV

7
www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/life-and-relationships/harships/why-does-God-allow-suffering.html
(Accessed on 5/6/22.)

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God in times of current Covid-19 Pandemic/ God and physical Suffering: COVID-19 is a
previously unknown strain of a severe virus that has spread and was diagnosed in Wuhan city,
China in December 2019 which later on became a global issue and later declared a Pandemic.
This virus spread over to 188 countries more complicated for the moment because there was no
known vaccine or cure. 9 The world-wide death caused by Covid-19 so far is 66,09,476.10 The
death of loved ones, the disruption of normal life patterns or economic distress and even the
potential of financial ruin. The grief for death of loved ones. The uncertainty of who will be the
next to be infected and the longing for normalcy made the world more uneasy. Many believers
across the world might have questioned why would an all-loving, gracious and all-powerful God
allow such thing to happen? A Christian who was a Covid-19 Positive said, “our Covid situation
is like walking into a dark alley without knowing if we will ever get out of that dark alley safely.
Although it is very dark, one day we will see light at the end of the hallway, as long as we
believe that there is light at the end of that dark passageway.”
Whereas many viewed the pandemic as a response of God’s wrath directed towards His
people. Evangelical writers like N.T Wright was very skeptical of those who want to suggest that
God is trying to say something which can be contrary to John Piper. And he was more critical
who might wish to say the virus is a sign of the impending end of the world. While it would in
one way be too easy to blame humanity for his sin as the core cause of suffering at such times,
one cannot undermine the fact that there is a need for ecological repentance. The pandemic
reminded every being that our earth is fragile for the pandemic was not just a biological
pandemic, but also a geopolitical, financial, and environmental pandemic. 11 A reminder that God
is the owner of the entire universe and we are at the mercy of a sovereign God. A time to put
theology in praxis and understanding who we worship and why we believe what we believe.12
Conclusion: The suffering of this pandemic or any situation is call to see our fragility and
dryness of human life and how the spirit of God gives life. In any suffering that one goes
through, God which may seems far from the sufferer, is still the immutable, ever-present and the
omnipotent one on whom one can hold the promise of hope that he is with us.

Bibliography
8
R. Laird Harris, The book of Job and its doctrine of God, (Missouri Covenant Theological
Seminary, 1972) 20-21
9
Clive Pearson, “framing a theological Response to COVID-19 in the presence of the religious
other” in the Ecumenical Review, 2020
10
https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-IN&mid (Accessed on 15/9/22)
11
Clive Pearson, “framing a theological Response to COVID-19 in the presence of the religious
other” in the Ecumenical Review, 2020
12
Sanyü Iralu, “Towards Formulating a Covid-19 Theology: A Call to Translate theological
Education to Practicing Theology for the Church Community and Society” in Thinking Theologically in
Lockdown: Reflections during the COVID-19 Pandemic, ed. Sanyü Iralu et al. (Nagaland: Shalom
Publication, 2020), 3.

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Harris, R. Laird The book of Job and its doctrine of God. Missouri Covenant Theological

Seminary, 1972.

Iralu, Sanyü “Towards Formulating a Covid-19 Theology: A Call to Translate theological

Education to Practicing Theology for the Church Community and Society” in Thinking

Theologically in Lockdown: Reflections during the COVID-19 Pandemic, ed. Sanyü Iralu

et al. Nagaland: Shalom Publication, 2020.

Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. UK: William Collins Publishers, 1940.

Pearson, Clive “framing a theological Response to COVID-19 in the presence of the religious

other” in the Ecumenical Review, 2020

Internet Sources

https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-IN&mid

www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/life-and-relationships/harships/why-does-God-allow-

suffering.html

https://Just Disciple.com/theology-of-suffering/

Journals

Adjaottor, Kuwarnu. “God and the Suffering of His People” in Journal of Science and

Technology. Vol.33. No. 1, 2013.