In discussing the problem of pain, the first thing that comes to mind is, why discuss it at all? Surely pain is exceedingly present in our lives on earth, but I don’t believe it’s possible to understand why there is pain in the world. Maybe it’s strange, but I find I am content in the knowledge that God has a reason for the pain in the world, and our finite human minds cannot comprehend God’s purpose or His plan. That mystery is one of the things I love most about God. If we could understand everything about Him, He wouldn’t be God. At the beginning of his chapter on Divine Goodness, Lewis writes, “…if God is wiser than we His judgment must differ from ours on many things, and not least on good and evil. What seems to us good may therefore not be good in His eyes, and what seems to us evil may not be evil.” (p. 28) Consequently, we cannot ever comprehend God’s purpose for things, or even the difference between good and evil. Is it strange or naïve for me to accept the “problem of pain” so easily?
Friday, October 1, 2010
What if pain isn't a problem?
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We might need to ask whether pain is a problem for whom? If I already believe in God, and I think that I have good reasons for trusting in him, then it may very well be that I can live with a good deal of mystery and unanswered questions. If I'm an atheist, on the other hand, and I reject belief in God, then I'm in a different position. It's difficult to ask someone to trust a person they don't believe in.
ReplyDeleteFurther, it's one thing to say that it's a mystery why in general we suffer. But some folks would be outraged by the idea that we might regard the rape, torture, and murder of a child as a part of God's mysterious plan. On their view, there's nothing mysterious at all: any being who allows such a thing to happen as part of a plan is a moral monster.