SUFFERING: why doesn’t GOD stop evil?

SUFFERING: why doesn’t GOD stop evil?

• the intellectual problem• the experiential problem

SUFFERING: everybody’s problem

SUFFERING: a Christian response

Suffering is very real – but not ‘natural’

Suffering is very real – but not ‘natural’• It has a moral cause: it’s our fault

Suffering is very real – but not ‘natural’• It has a moral cause: it’s our fault• It serves as a warning: we’ll all die

Suffering is very real – but not ‘natural’• It has a moral cause: it’s our fault• It serves as a warning: we’ll all die• It can’t be simply ‘swept away’

God has experienced and defeated evil

God has experienced and defeated evil

• The uniqueness of the cross

God has experienced and defeated evil

• The uniqueness of the cross• The glorious paradox of the cross

God has experienced and defeated evil

• The uniqueness of the cross• The glorious paradox of the cross• God’s love displayed perfectly

There is an eternal context• There is a broader purpose to suffering

There is an eternal context• There is a broader purpose to suffering• Suffering is ultimately redeemed

Our experience of suffering“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our

conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (Lewis)

• Look around you• John Bunyan• Eric Irivuzumugabe