Why is there Suffering if God is Good?

(c) 2025 by Barton Paul Levenson

The Problem

Christians (and Jews, and Muslims) believe God is good. He is the summum bonum, the sum of all good things. Every good thing comes from the Father of Lights.

So why are there genocides and torture and child molesting? Why do people get killed or maimed by accidents, volcanoes, earthquakes, and terrible plagues? If God is so good, why doesn't he prevent such things?

The Answer

I don't know.

And neither do you. Atheists glibly say, "Because there's no God." But if that's the case, and everything is just Nature (the physical world) acting as Nature acts, why aren't we comfortable with it? After all, we're a part of Nature. Why do we feel the causes of suffering violate our moral standards? A plague or a volcano isn't acting maliciously, so why are we so angry about them? Why don't we just accept them because "That's how Nature acts?"

There are theological defenses to the Problem of Pain--"theodicy" is the term for such an argument. See C.S. Lewis's 1940 book, "The Problem of Pain" for a sample. But although they make logical sense, they are emotionally unsatisfying. We would like to know the answer in such a way that we could come to terms with the evil in the world.

But why do we think an answer like that is something we can understand? Humans have evolved to a particular level of intelligence. We don't think an ant could understand the Answer, and we don't think a dog could, either--so what makes us think we could? Why do we think we humans have reached some level of intelligence where we can understand everything?

An analogy may help. The dog doesn't understand why the master it loves is holding it down while a stranger pokes it with a sharp instrument. But the master knows that there's a rabies pandemic in western Pennsylvania and the dog has to be inoculated against it.

But the dog trusts its master.

Either you trust the Master or you don't. I don't know what the answer to the Problem of Pain is; in this life I will probably never know. But I trust that there is an answer, even if it's one I can never understand. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Your reaction to the Problem of Pain, in the end, depends on what you bring to it. If you feel more comfortable blaming God, you will react to suffering as a proof that God doesn't exist, or isn't good. But if you really want to know what the answer is, if it's more to you than just an argument against God, you may feel differently.

Personal Stuff

I hate pain. I am subject to multiple disabilities, some of which are occasionally very painful. And I have been tortured (by criminals, a long time ago). I never for a moment want to treat pain lightly, or ignore suffering. The problem is very real to me.