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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. Some Christian thinkers have defended some kind of ‘theodicy’ – an account of why it is that a good God could permit creatures to suffer in the ways they do. But these views have often provoked very strong reactions, as people find the very idea that the worst suffering could be part of some kind of divine plan to be intolerable. Most people have, at one time or another, been struck by these kinds of questions.
This course examines a few central moments in these discussions, not so as to put forward final answers, but so as to some resources to think carefully about the questions. We will address a range of issues, from the arguments that claim that the worst suffering undermines belief in God altogether, through the way that suffering is dealt with in the Bible, to 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.
Alongside texts by philosophers and theologians, we will also make use of literature, film and music that has explored these issues.
Week 1
Job’s question; our questions
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. What is known as “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 own 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 will ask what Christian eschatology has to do with the problem of evil, and what role hope for “the life of the world to come” might have in our understanding of suffering, now.
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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.
