The Christian Meaning of Suffering

Abstract

EW THINGS AFFECT US SO DEEPLY as human suffering. This is the perennial and universal problem of all human history. Why, alongside of all the good things in life, is there so much evil, pain, and suffering? Why do we have to lose loved ones to death? Why do we have to die at all? What’s gone wrong with the world? The answers to these questions are to be found at the very dawn of human history. Adam and Eve were created in complete friendship with God. There was no evil, no suffering, and no death. They were at peace with God, with each other, and within themselves. So what went wrong? They disobeyed the Lord. They chose to follow the words of the serpent, rather than obey God. They rebelled against the very source of their own life and happiness. It was this rebellion that introduced sin, suffering and death into human history. God is not to blame for all the misery of the world; human beings are.