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The Problem of Evil and Suffering (Peter Kreeft) Peter Kreeft Iowa State University 2010 The problem of pain and suffering has affected atheists, agnostics, and believers for millennia. How can God …More
The Problem of Evil and Suffering (Peter Kreeft)

Peter Kreeft

Iowa State University 2010

The problem of pain and suffering has affected atheists, agnostics, and believers for millennia. How can God exist with so much evil in the world? How do we make sense of suffering? Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, provides his thoughtful answer. From The Veritas Forum at Iowa State University, 2010: "The Problem of Evil and Suffering."

Where does suffering come from?
The Bible gives four specific answers.
First, from natural disasters, such as an earthquake or a large storm. The suffering that results from these disasters happens to both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).
Second, from man’s inhumanity to man, including armed conflicts. Because of greed and pride, individuals try to hurt others (James 4:1-2).
Third, from our own erroneous actions. If I walk off the roof of my office and fall to the ground, breaking my leg, I am suffering because I broke God’s laws of physics. We also suffer when we break God’s moral laws. Some, not all, suffering is allowed by God as a punishment for sin. Often, God simply lets us live with the consequences of our actions (Galatians 6:7-8).
Fourth, from the unseen hand of Satan, our adversary. The abiding lesson of the book of Job (one of the oldest Hebrew Scriptures) is that even the wisest of men and women cannot always comprehend in a purely rational manner where evil, suffering, and pain come from. Often it can be understood only from a divine perspective, from the propositional revelation that God is far above us, God is good, God is in control (even though Satan opposes us), God has his purposes, and God will gain the victory through our perseverance.
The one mistake we dare not make, Philip Yancey reminds us, is to confuse God (who is good) with life (which is hard). God feels the same way we do - and is taking the most radical steps possible (Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and more to come) to redeem the present situation.

How can suffering exist?
The Bible presents a paradox. In a remarkable exercise of his sovereignty, God has given humanity the freedom to make moral choices. In more than twenty passages, the Bible clearly states that every person makes wrong moral choices. Because by nature we tend to choose our will over and against God’s will, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Such acts of rebellion against God produce most heartaches and suffering.
An atheist may rightly reject such an answer, but only if he or she is first willing to face a much more difficult question. Harold Kushner describes the atheist’s dilemma this way: "He has to explain why there is love, honesty, generosity, courage, and altruism in the world, and why it feels so good and so right when we let those qualities into our lives."
Scott Peck concurs: "Dozens of times I have been asked by patients or acquaintances: ‘Dr. Peck, why is there evil in the world?’ Yet no one has ever asked me in all these years: ‘Why is there good in the world?’ It is as if we automatically assume this is a naturally good world that has somehow been contaminated by evil.... The mystery of goodness is even greater than the mystery of evil." Whether due to a brain tumor or debilitating syndrome, no one ever has uncontrolled fits of goodness.
Still, Why does evil exist? Contrary to Gere’s thinking, the Bible makes it clear God did not create evil. Evil entered the universe through the fall of Satan, an archangel who dared to rival the Almighty.
The prophet gives us a picture of this: "You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit" (Isaiah 14:13-15).
Another prophet writes: "‘You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.... So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings" (Ezekiel 28:15-17).
Jesus himself said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18).
But before his expulsion from heaven, Satan drew perhaps a third of the angels into his rebellion. Ever since, the Devil has schemed against God and His people. Satan knows he’s doomed, but, like any common criminal, he wants to take as many with him as he can. Misery loves company, but the tragic irony is that hell will be the epitome of loneliness.
Some joke that they want to spend eternity in hell so they can party with their friends. Yet hell, by definition, is separation from relationship with God and others forever. In the words of Lewis, "The only …