FOCUS: If God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-good, how do you explain and respond to the existence of so much suffering and evil in the world?
The Problem of Evil
“Whatever the status of evil in the world, I know that the only God in whom I can believe will be a God found in the midst of evil rather than at a safe distance from it; suffering the evil rather than inflicting it." – Robert McAfee Brown
Ever ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “I wonder what she did to deserve that?” Perhaps you’ve heard someone claim that, “The poor are poor because they’re lazy!” or “AIDS is a punishment from God” or “so-and-so is suffering because of…fill-in-the-blank.” The problem is, no matter how many people repeat them, these statements are still false.
The truth is, life is hard. If we look at the way the world really is, we see that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. That’s just the way it is. And that’s probably why struggling with the reality of evil and suffering in the world has been one of the foundational questions of existence from time immemorial.
If God is all-loving, all-good, and all-powerful, how can evil exist? For some, the reality of evil is the best argument against God's existence. "With all the evil in the world, how can you believe in God?" How can it be so? Libraries of books have been written on the problem of evil, the source of evil, and why the innocent suffer. Out of all this effort, one thing seems clear: God cannot be all of anything. As grating as this is to the spiritual sensibilities of many, perhaps it is time for a paradigm shift recognizing that which seems painfully obvious: rather than all-loving, all-good, and all-powerful, understanding the Divine simply as loving, good, and powerful will have to be enough.
The Greek word for evil, kakos, suggests a lack of something, of being not quite whole. Yet at times, evil seems to be anything but lacking. Even the most faithful have cried out in despair, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's not evident when you're in the midst of the pain, struggle, and injustice how anything good could ever come of it. But time and again, the evidence suggests that often even the most horrific evil can be redeemed – even in some small way. Suffering is transformed into endurance, mourning into dancing, and darkness into light. But despite the glimmer of hope, the problem of evil endures. Each new disaster, abused spouse, or ruthless injustice brings with it the painful questions of God’s absence in the midst of tragedy and why the innocent suffer.
To receive a complete copy of the text used for the session, please contact Pastor Marj at daytonfirstcong@gmail.com. It will be sent as an email attachment for your perusal as opposed to printing multiple pages, a stewardship practice. Because of copyright law, we are not able to make the materials available here. Another option would be to purchase a copy of Felten and Procter-Murphy's newly-released book, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity from your local bookseller.
Questions to be considered in light of the video and readings:
Describe the characteristics of the “conventional wisdom” or the “domestication of reality” represented in Deuteronomy and Proverbs.
Describe the characteristics of the voice of protest found in the book of Job and Ecclesiastes.
What can you say about the “wildness and the splendor and utter magnificence of undomesticated reality?”
Varghese says for one to claim the “luck of the world – wealth, prosperity, comfort, power” as a sign of God’s love is profoundly heretical. Explain.
What is the “price of good” that Cobb describes?
According to Brueggemann, what is the “metaphorical benefit” of 9/11?
In what ways might our organizations – the principalities and powers – be compromised by a tendency to expediency?
“Han” can be relieved through a variety of practices. Explain.
Reflect on Brueggemann’s statement: “Voiced pain becomes a public fact that requires the re-arrangement of social power.”
Parker says that God is “the power of life, the power of creativity, the power of the Spirit in community, the power of justice…”. To what end?
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