Suffering

Hi - I'm a questioning atheist. I would really like to get to the bottom of how Christians deal with the "Problem of Pain". I know and respect many Christians, so I assume they must have found a way to deal with it that I can't see. Most of them, though, are too busy to tie up for ages with questions - so I thought I would try the online community. Is there a particularly appropriate forum to post this sort of question in?

Welcome to the forums. What type of pain are you talking about? Is it physical, emotional, other?

Welcome Eric. Hope you like it here and find some answers.

__________________
God is good all the time.

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Hi, thanks for the welcome. I am talking about the general amount of suffering in the world. The old problem of "if there is a good God - how is it that there is so much badness and pain". I have heard and read quite a lot of answers to this, but none seem convincing. I have a particular scenario in mind that I would like to present to someone. I need to find a Christian who is confident that they have a convincing answer.

the true God can just remove all pain quite directly

Acts 5:40-42 "and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Blessings

I'm not quite sure what you are suggesting here. Is it your opinion that anyone in right relationship with "the true God" will never suffer?

we have meant this:

John 16:20-22 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."

Blessings

Hi. Thanks for that. But would it be possible to describe in normal English what you think the situation is. Is it your opinion that anyone in right relationship with "the true God" will never suffer? If so - that really doesn't seem to match up with the way the world is. Perhaps I have misunderstood you completely.
Cheers.

Greetings, my brother. I will take an attempt at the answer you are looking for. You see, when you look around at the world, and the way things are, the fact is that not much is truly the way it's really supposed to be. God doesn't force His way into our lives, and many have turned their backs on Him, so what you see is the result of evil actions of people in places you cannot see and know, doing things you may not be aware of that you could understand. Make any sense? People who believe will still suffer at the hands of the world, but we are told to rejoice, for our reward is great in Heaven. How do we deal with pain? Our Father who is unlimited in power and love can and will heal us, but we have to be the ones to take that leap of faith and trust and wait in His way, His time. All too often we demand things of God, saying I want this in this way at this time, but He sees and understands so much more than us. He answers our prayers, in His way and in His time. We should all pray and ask for patience.

Thanks very much for your answer. There are a number of things I would be interested to pick up on and explore further - but instead of being too theoretical, I would like (if you would be patient with me) to present a scenario. This really encapsulates why I have so much difficulty thinking that the Christian God (or one like Him) exists:

A particular real-world case I have in mind involved an 8 year old child who was starved, beaten and tortured until she eventually died. This occurred over several months, possibly years. It was carried out by two adults living in a flat with her. I imagine a lodger in the flat – let's call him Mr G. He is big and strong – perhaps an ex-marine – who is an expert in hand to hand combat. He is also a highly trained negotiator, very skilled in psychological techniques to influence people. He lived in the flat all during the time that this abuse was taking place. He saw exactly what was happening. He had all sorts of options for intervening to stop it. He could have used force, he could have used persuasion, he could have picked up the phone and reported it to the authorities. Instead, he did nothing.

In the subsequent enquiries, Mr G was asked why he didn't do something, or get help. I don't know what his answer would have been. I can't think of anything at all he could say that would be a reasonable excuse for his inactivity.

Obviously, I am putting Mr G in place of God. If God is everywhere, knows everything and is all-powerful, then it seems a fair analogy. Perhaps you could help me understand what “Mr G” would have said that would have convinced people that he was really acting for the best.

Thank you.