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There are lots of different ways in which suffering might provoke difficult questions for people who believe in God. Some philosophers have argued that the worst suffering simply makes belief in God incoherent, or implausible; others have suggested that in the light of such suffering we may need to revise our understanding of God. Equally, the experience of suffering may also play a more constructive role in shaping and informing Christian beliefs.
This course examines a few central moments in these kinds of discussion, from the way that some philosophers have used suffering to try to undermine belief in God, through to the way that suffering is dealt within the Bible, and recent debates in theology about the nature of God and the meaning of the cross. The course does not aim to resolve all the questions that suffering raises for people of faith; it does aim to help us to think more deeply, honestly and clearly about them.
Week 1
Job’s question (and ours)
There are different kinds of suffering, and different ways in which such suffering might cause problems for people who believe in God. In this session we try to think as carefully as we can about these, so as to be clear about what questions we need to ask. The Book of Job is famous for the way in which Job questions the justice of God in the face of his suffering, but it is less clear what kind of answer the book presents. This session examines a few different approaches to this fascinating book, and asks how Job’s questions connect to our own.
Week 2
Suffering and the existence of God
Many serious thinkers have found that the existence of God seems incompatible with the worst suffering, and “the problem of evil” is perhaps the most serious objection to belief in God. We examine a number of thinkers who have articulated thoughts along these lines, and ask what kind of challenge they present for thinking Christians. Does “the problem of evil” undermine belief in God? Or might it be that this problem is somehow essential to belief in God? Does the idea that God created humans with free will shed any light on these issues – and if so, how?
Week 3
The cross and the “use” of suffering
It is sometimes claimed that God makes use of suffering, and that this helps us to understand its place within the universe. We look at a few examples of thinkers—from both within and without the Christian faith—who have explored this thought, as well as those who have objected most violently to it. Is there something morally objectionable about saying that suffering might be spiritually “useful”; or is this position inevitable for anyone who believes in a God who “works all things together for the good of those who love him?” We also explore whether the Christian understanding of the crucifixion of Jesus gives us a different way to interpret the meaning of our own suffering.
Week 4
A suffering God?
For many 20th and 21st century theologians, the idea that God suffers alongside humans is an important theological response to the worst suffering in the world: perhaps, as Bonhoeffer said, “only a suffering God can help”. We examine some famous examples of this theological trend, and ask how we can make sense of the idea. What would it mean to say that God suffers with human beings? Or even, that God suffers in Godself? Would this be a comfort or consolation to someone in their owns suffering – if so, why? The idea of the suffering God challenges a well-established part of orthodox Christian belief – that God is impassible (changeless)and so cannot suffer. So we also examine the roots of this idea, and discuss how well it fits within the Christian landscape.
Week 5
Suffering and “the life of the world to come”
Some of the most influential Christian philosophers of recent decades have tended to think that we can only make sense of suffering with reference to beliefs about resurrection, or ‘the life of the world to come’. We look at one particularly interesting Christian philosopher—Marilyn McCord Adams—and ask how convincing her response to the atheistic arguments are.
Reading
The Book of Job - as much as you can manage! (If you don’t have time to read the whole book, then try chs 1-7; 22-24; 38-end.)
Additional reading
Walter Bruggeman, Theology of the Old Testament (extract)
Questions for reflection
1. Think about the distinctions that are reflected upon in the first audio recording. What kinds of question/problem seem most important to you, as you think about God and suffering?
2. What do you take the message of the The Book of Job as a whole to be? Do find that any particular speech, or moment, is central to this message?
3. What do you make of God’s words to Eliphaz at the end of the book: “you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”? In what way do you think that Job has “spoken of [God] what is right”? How does this relate to the God’s rebuke of Job – that he “darkens counsel by words without knowledge”?
Reading
Richard Swinburne, Is There a God? (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996), 95–113.
Additional reading
Brian Davies, Thinking about God (London, Geoffrey Chapman, 1985).
Joan L. Mackie - The Miracle of Theism (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1982).
Questions for reflection
1. Some atheist philosophers (like J. L. Mackie) think that the challenge for theists is of how to reconcile their belief that an all-powerful, perfectly good God exists with their acknowledgement that rea levil exists. Does there seem to be real conflict between these beliefs to you? If so, how have you tried to resolve it thus far?
2. Richard Swinburne claims that the opportunity to have ‘deep responsibility’ for each other is a great good, and that the possibility of moral evil is ‘the necessary condition’ for this great good. Do you find this to be a helpful observation? Does it go any way to refuting the argument ‘from evil’, against the existence of God?
3. Swinburne goes on to explain that God has the right to allow us to suffer, because of the unique way in which God is related to each of us. What do you make of this suggestion?
Additional resources
The videos below might help you to understand the basic shape of ‘the argument from evil’ (especially if the chapter itself feels like a struggle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4z9Y2u30Qs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L67dlpMgDa4
There is an accessible introduction to free will defences in general in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0tLRO8_qRI
Reading
Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 386-402.
Stump explains some of her ideas in the interview here: https://www.publicchristianity.org/the-problem-of-suffering/
Questions for reflection
1. Aquinas&Stump’s views depend on us being able to evaluate earthly suffering in view of an everlasting future. How do you respond to this way of seeing things?
2. Do you think that some suffering really does enable people to become open to God,or to act as a form of ‘healing’. If so, why? If not, why not? What do you make of this idea? If it is NOT true of some kinds of suffering – why is this?
3. What do you imagine that you would make of this set of ideas if you had no experience of Christianity, or Christian ideas?
Reading
Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom of God (London, SCM Press: 1981), pp. 21-54; 47-52; 57-60.
Additional reading
Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (London, SCM Press: 1974), pp. 226-235.
Thomas Weinandy, Does God Suffer? (London, T&T Clark: 2000), pp. 172-177; 201-206
Questions for reflection
1. What do you make of the way that Moltmann connections suffering and love (see p.23)? Does God’s love necessarily involve God being “intimately affected” by humanity?
2. Moltmannsays that “the theism of the almighty and kindly God comes to an end on the rock of suffering” (pp. 48-9). What do you make of this? Do you agree? How would the idea of a “suffering God” fare any differently?
3. What do you make of Moltmann’s description of creation as God’s “self-limitation”(p. 59)?
Video Interview
Marilyn McCord Adams discusses evil and optimism with Nigel Warburton on the ‘philosophy bites’ podcast.
https://nigelwarburton.typepad.com/philosophy_bites/2009/07/marilyn-mccord-adams-on-evil.html
Questions for reflection
1. Adams focuses on the category of ‘horrendous evils’ which, she says, undermine the possibility of finding life to have positive significance, and provide a challenge for atheists as well as theists. How do you respond to the thought of ‘horrendous evils’?
2. Adams claims that optimism is only a ‘rational posture’ if there is some superhuman power that can ‘make good’ on horrors. Do you find this claim persuasive?
3. Adams says that she does not have an answer to the ‘why?’ question, but has faith when it comes to the ‘how?’ question. What does she mean by this – and how does this compare to your own faith (if you have faith)?
We would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to provide us with feedback on your experience with our course. Please complete an evaluation form here:
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Stuart is the Theology Lead at LJC. He graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.
