Reply to Why does God allow suffering?

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Why does God allow suffering? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am Catholic and grew up looking at Jesus on the cross and hearing the stories of martyred saints.  The idea that suffering was something that happened as a punishment never occurred to me.  Nor have I ever thought that suffering was something that God could, or would even wish to, end.

That being said, I just started reading “City if God” by St Augustine with my book club.  The book was written around 400 AD, not long after the sack of Rome, and was partly a response to Roman pagans who blamed Christianity for the fall of Rome.  He talks about suffering in the book.  The pagan premise for suffering was that suffering was distributed by angry Gods.  Augustine attempts to explain that suffering affects both good people and evil people.  He basically says that the reason for it is two-fold:  1).  This is how you show that you are a good person.  If you are never tested, then good and evil look just alike.  If there is never danger, then there is never courage.  If there is never temptation, then you cannot resist temptation.  
2). This is how you separate true virtue from accidental virtue.  We talk all of the time about inequality.  Some people are born with more:  better looks, better health, more money, etc.  But it is through suffering and adversity that you show your real virtue and worth.  If you are always smiling and kind because you are beautiful and wealthy and life has always been kind to you, then that is an accidental virtue.  However, if you remain kind when you are frightened or in pain, then your kindness is s true virtue.

Anyway, I believe that this underlying idea of suffering has been incorporated into much of Christianity, or at least Catholicism.  Our greatest role models in the catholic faith (from Mary and the apostles to Joan of Arc to Marcelo Labor) did not avoid suffering and adversity, but face it with strength and virtue.

[/quote]

I want to join your book club!
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics