Suffering

Abstract

Suffering is a topic commonly driven by human questions and experience, with Christians facing these challenges in light of their own sacred scriptures and broad tradition. Individuals and communities are consistently faced with painful situations that provoke them to ask nagging questions, such as why some suffer more than others and how God relates to the suffering in this world. Pain and hurt often force believers to move beyond general reflections about suffering to particular and personal ones. These deliberations are inescapably tied to how one thinks about God, oneself, and the world. They involve questions about cause, effect, and purpose, producing speculations about the past, present, and future as people try to make theological and pastoral sense of suffering.

Keywords

• suffering
• pain
• divine goodness
• theodicy
• sin
• lament
• the fall
• suffering of christ
• healing
• divine impassibility
• the suffering servant (in isaiah)
• liberation
• kingdom of god