No Suffering, no Jesus

In moving forward now the most obvious answer to give to the previous question posed…

Why didn’t God just create a heavenly world with heavenly bodies in the first place? Theists typically believe that a heaven awaits faithful believers when they die, where there will be no “death, or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev 21:4), where believers will have incorruptible bodies (1 Cor. 15:30 ff.), in a perfect existence. So why didn’t God just create a perfect existence in the first place?

Is that God wanted a world in which Jesus Christ lived and died for our sins. If hypothetically God had just created a perfect existence then there would have been no need for a savior, no need for Jesus Christ, God’s son to enter time and space on earth.

This of course is the position made so clear by the letter to the church in Colossae,

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together, (Colossians 1:15-17).

God’s priority in the creation of the earth was to make it with His son Jesus Christ and also to make Jesus Christ the beginning and then end of everything, within creation. Paul the Apostle echoes this idea in his letter to the Corinthians.

…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist (1 Corinthians 8:6).

If we take suffering our of creation then inevitability we must take sin out of creation as all suffering is a result of sin. If there is a sinless creation then there is no need for a savior, consequently Jesus Christ is not required. God’s plan for creation was to uphold, magnify and exalt his Son Jesus Christ. For this to happen there needed to be sin and suffering.

Now this may seem a little unsavory for our spiritual palate. It looks an awful lot like some divine form of utilitarianism, God needs suffering of His creation and evil in his creation in order for the greater good of exalting Jesus. Why couldn’t God exalt Jesus without suffering? Why allow humans to go through such agonies in order that His son may be exalted.

The answer to this question lies in how the savior is exalted. That is, the physical suffering, death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus. God allows suffering because Jesus Christ will save us from suffering by suffering. Or to put it another way, pain is present in our world in order that pain may be ceased through pain of Himself as God. This is why God is not doing utilitarian ethics, God wanted Jesus to be a saviour but that meant Jesus would have to suffer. Before any human suffering (or any suffering for that matter) took place in this imperfect world God new His son would suffer and die unjustly.   

We may now come to the first part of answering this question posed by the atheist Loftus. God didn’t just create a perfect, sinless world, because He Jesus Christ within the world. The logic of creation is crucial here. If Jesus is before all creation then He is the priority over suffering. Why is there suffering, because God wanted Jesus Christ. We may explore reasons why God wanted this above a suffering world but for the moment this point can be sustained.

Imagine if God just did make us all live in a perfect heaven. Whilst lovely this would mean that we would never know the experience to the answers of these questions…Would God save us if we rebelled? How would he do it? Would it cost him anything to rescue us if He was willing? All these questions are answered in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When the perfect creation does arrive those there will bask in the glory of the knowledge of what God has done with an imperfect suffering creation.

Obviously the creation of a perfect and sinless would is by far the easier option for God as it involves only creation. Consequently this is less glorifying to God that creation, redemption and re-creation. The creation of a world where sin and suffering is divinely permitted shows us much more of God’s character and how worthy he is as our God. God is a God not just of creative power, but of mercy, compassion, justice and redemption. God will create a perfect world but only after we fully grasp the type of God he is and therefore praise him all the more for what he has done for us. 

As a result this is quite a comforting piece of news for those suffering. Christianity teaches that if you suffer, you are not alone, Jesus suffers with you. Not only does Jesus sympathise with you but he is also the answer to suffering. Trust in Jesus will one day mean the end of suffering. Any person suffering does so not in vain or without theological point, rather it is there for Jesus to deal with.       

The Challenge of Suffering

Approaches to sacred suffering, those that believe a good God exists and still allows suffering, has usually lied in either the realm of the philosopher or the theologian. Recently however, these disciplines rarely come together. Since the rise of Evangelicalism and biblical criticism it is perhaps time to re-look at this highly significant question in the attempt not only to find an intellectually satisfactory answer but also a pastorally comforting response to those held in the grip of suffering. It is my attempt to bring both of the disciplines to bear in searching for this goal.

As such we shall begin by looking closely at a challenge given to the problem of sacred suffering by non other than a former Christian apologist now Atheist. This challenge is the correct challenge for this blog and the author is John W. Loftus, and it comes from his book, Why I became an Atheist: a former preacher rejects Christianity.[1] His challenge goes like this…

Why didn’t God just create a heavenly world with heavenly bodies in the first place? Theists typically believe that a heaven awaits faithful believers when they die, where there will be no “death, or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev 21:4), where believers will have incorruptible bodies (1 Cor. 15:30 ff.), in a perfect existence. So why didn’t God just create a perfect existence in the first place?[2]

This is an excellent question because it directly narrows the field of enquiry for us to begin without worrying about too many definitions. The assumptions behind this question are articulated and are as follows...

1. God mentioned here is the Christian God revealed in the Bible.
2. God has created a world where evil suffering and decay are present.
3. God has the power to stop suffering and evil and one day will do just that.

As a result this is exactly the place the discussion needs to begin for us to understand why God has set up the world the way He has. Answering this question will get us some way to understanding why God allows horrific suffering yet reveals Himself as supremely good for us in the present.

As I write this it is but a few days since the mass shooting in Connecticut which took the lives of 20 children and 6 staff members. The question seems more poignant than ever. Why didn’t God stop this tragedy before it happened but one day will?

Before go further we must take a step back and examine the active or passive role God’s has in His creation. If God is active in creation, does that imply that he had a hand in the shooting in Connecticut? And if so how much of a role did he play. Or If God is passive in creation, does that make Him guilty of negligence? For example, in order to prove negligence a person must have had a duty of care, which means a responsibility to act in the best interest of another; hasn’t God therefore breached His duty of care to stop murder of innocents in Connecticut?

But before we begin there are some assumptions that are not clear from this question or even indeed from the whole book written by John. These are...

1. What is Evil, or how do we define what is an evil act?
2. What exactly is God's role in the world? 
3. Is this the right question to ask?

Evangelical teaching on this is pretty straightforward and we may come to appropriate conclusions on them quickly enough. Firstly, Evil can be defined as an absence of God, or Godlessness. Sin, which is a failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude or nature is consequently evil as it is devoid of God. Secondly, God's role in creation is both transcendent and immanent, meaning God created the world from nothing and stands apart from it but also simultaneously governs every bit of it at every moment. God is transcendent and immanent with His creation together. Thirdly, this question is very similar to the question found on the lips of Job as he questions God as to why he, a righteous man, suffers. Job's question is about why does he suffer, John's is why does the world suffer. 

With this beginning we are at a good place to examine some of the possible answers.       

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[1] Loftus, J. W. (2008). Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity. New York:

Prometheus Books.

[2] Ibid., p.236.