If God exists, why doesn't He eliminate suffering?
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Opinion
If God is almighty and good, how can suffering exist? René Breuel shows believers how to overcome this dilemma.
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In my previous article, I considered the problem of evil from a secular point of view. Many sceptics claim that the existence of evil is proof of the non-existence of God, but without faith in God, we have no basis for considering evil "evil." Evil is an enigma for believers and non-believers alike.
But how should believers look at the problem of pain? The classical Christian response is to claim that God did not create evil or desire pain but created free people.
And we chose to betray Him, follow our path, and now suffer the consequences of sin. This argument sounds somewhat abstract, doesn't it? Let's examine three critical questions about the doctrine of free will.
Why did God give us free will?
The first objection that comes to mind is: If God could foresee all the pain the human free will would bring, why did God give it to us? C. S. Lewis answers: "Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love, goodness, or joy worth having. A world of automata–creatures that work like machines– would hardly be worth creating."
In other words, a world without human freedom would be without humans. For example, "I love you" only has value if the person intends to say it. A puppet that repeats "I love you" when you press its belly could repeat these sounds, but they would be meaningless. Also, I prefer children who can choose to say "I love you, Dad" or "I'm leaving" because when they hug me, I know they are real hugs, that they love me.
Jean-Paul Sartre said something similar: "The man who wants to be loved does not desire the enslavement of the beloved... If the beloved is transformed into an automaton, the lover finds himself alone."
Why doesn't God prevent tragic events?
We may think, "Okay, I understand that human acts would be meaningless if we could not choose and that it would be better to have a world where loving and being loved is truly possible. But why doesn't God change the circumstances that make us suffer?"
God often prevents bad things from happening. But He cannot systematically stop all the suffering in the world because if He did, it would destroy the world.
Here's a thought exercise: Imagine that I want to punch you in the face (very gently and respectfully!). If God were to prevent me from doing that, He would have to block not only my fist in the air but also my intention to punch you. He would thus block my thinking and undo who I am. The same is true for everyone else: He must undo who we all are.
Ultimately, He would have to stop supporting a world where evil exists, and everything that exists would cease to exist.
To stop the suffering of the world, God would have to stop the world. To end the sources of suffering, He would have to put an end to us!
Is this world worth all the suffering we go through?
This brings us to the third question that comes to mind when we consider the free will that God has given us: "If the choice is then between this world (with freedom and meaning but also suffering) and a world of robots or the annihilation of the world, is it worth it? There is a lot of suffering in this world. Wouldn't it be better if the world no longer existed?"
God Himself knows this frustration. He once decided to destroy the world by a flood because the earth was full of evil (Genesis 6:5-7). That history shows that God doesn't remain indifferent to evil. Human suffering grieved Him even if, in the end, He still bet on life. He chose Noah and his family to give humanity another chance.
"We humans can tolerate suffering, but we cannot tolerate meaninglessness."
Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to defeat Apartheid in South Africa, wrote, "There very well may be times when God has regretted creating us, but I am convinced that there are many more times that God feels vindicated by our kindness, our magnanimity, our nobility of spirit... For every evil act, a dozen acts of goodness in our world go unnoticed."
I was also struck by what Tutu said when he saw the faces of people oppressed by the Apartheid change when they heard how their pain could be used for good: "The texture of suffering is changed when we see it and begin to experience it as being redemptive, not wasteful, and not senseless. We humans can tolerate suffering, but we cannot tolerate meaninglessness."
Valid purpose
We can tolerate enormous pain if we do it for a valuable purpose. A person may donate a kidney, for example, and save the life of someone he or she loves. The problem isn't suffering per se but without a reason. If there is a valid purpose, we suffer willingly.
Let's return to our original question: Why does God allow evil to happen in this world? Because without free will, humanity, love, and evil cannot exist. To eliminate evil, God would have to annihilate the universe or create a world of beings without free choice and the possibility of true love. And that would be the end of us.
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