The Meaning of Suffering

Many people reject religion based on the following rhetorical question: “If God is so good and all powerful why is there so much suffering?”

The implication of this question is that if we have power to prevent pain we would if we are being good.

This, however, ignores the value of pain. Pain teaches us. It purifies us of our harmful behaviors.

There is a health condition where people cannot feel pain. It is very rare and very dangerous, people with it usually die as children. Without pain we find it very hard to learn what harms us.

As a parent, I am happy that my child occasionally can and does feel pain; it prevents them getting injured or dying. Pain is how we are informed we are doing something wrong.

I can be a good parent allowing my children to feel pain so that they learn how to behave in ways that don’t harm them.

I could intervene all the time, but then my children would never learn for themselves and that actually puts them at far greater risk.

God can be good and powerful if the suffering that He allows people to experience can lead them to becoming better people; if it causes them to lose their pride about their choice of actions and change.