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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781501870712 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Abingdon Press |
| Publication date: | 02/20/2018 |
| Series: | Why? Series |
| Pages: | 64 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.20(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
WHY DO THE INNOCENT SUFFER?
Main Idea: It is possible to reconcile belief in a loving and powerful God with the suffering in our world.
GETTING STARTED
Session Goals
This session is intended to help participants ...
• carefully reconsider the ideas that everything happens for a reason and that suffering must be the will of God;
• explore the biblical perspective that there is much that happens in our world that is most definitely not the will of God; and
• consider three ideas that provide the foundation for reconciling God's goodness with the suffering in our world.
Welcome / Opening Prayer
Welcome participants and then open the session in prayer. Use the following prayer or offer one of your own:
Lord God, after you created the world, you viewed all that you made and said that everything was "very good." Yet the perfect world you created is not the world in which we now live. Daily we read or hear about disasters, hatred, violence, tragedy, and disease — and often we, or our loved ones, are the ones experiencing these ugly realities. Teach us how we can trust your love when so many bad things happen in our lives and our world. Even when we cannot fully know "why," help us to know the "who" we can depend on — you — remembering that you always are with us and that you promise to give us the strength, grace, and hope we need. Amen.
Biblical Foundation
God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:27-28)
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORDGod commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
Opening Activity
Write the following two questions on a board or chart:
• Why does God allow pain and suffering?
• Why did God allow ______________________?
Acknowledge that human beings have grappled with the first question since the beginning of time and that the question becomes more personal when tragedy, suffering, or difficult times hit close to home. Invite participants to complete the second question by verbally filling in the blank — without going into detail about what happened. Suggest that it might be something that happened to them personally, something that affected one or more persons they love or care about, or something that might have been more distant but still touched them in a personal way for one reason or another. Write their responses on the board or chart.
After everyone has had an opportunity to respond, write the word theodicy on the board/chart. Explain that theodicy is the attempt to reconcile belief in a loving and powerful God with the suffering in our world. Say that although you will not be able to resolve the issue in this session, your goal is for the participants to become better equipped to seek answers for themselves.
LEARNING TOGETHER
Video Presentation
Play the DVD segment for Session 1, Why Do the Innocent Suffer?
Running Time: 6:50 minutes
Key Insights
1. Theodicy is the attempt to reconcile belief in a loving and powerful God with the suffering in our world.
2. Our disappointment with God in the face of suffering, tragedy, or injustice typically stems from our assumptions about how God is supposed to work in our world. When God does not meet our expectations, we are disappointed, disillusioned, and confused.
3. The message of the Bible is not a promise that those who believe and do good will not suffer; the Bible is largely a book about people who refused to let go of their faith in the face of suffering.
4. When non-Christians hear Christians say things such as, "Everything happens for a reason" and "It must have been the will of God," they often are left with a picture of a God who wills or causes tragic or evil things to happen.
5. Three foundational ideas can help us reconcile God's goodness with the suffering we experience in our world:
• God has placed humanity in charge of Earth. God has given human beings the responsibility to "have dominion" over "every living thing that moves upon the earth"— to act on God's behalf in managing, tending, and ruling over the planet. God's primary way of working in the world is through people who are empowered and led by God's Spirit.
• To be human is to be free. God gives human beings the freedom to choose God's way or another way. The ability to choose is an essential part of human existence.
• Human beings have a predisposition to stray from God's path. Our tendency to do what is not God's will is sometimes called the "sin nature."
6. Our prescientific ancestors believed that natural disasters are works of God. Today we understand the scientific causes of natural disasters and realize that destructive natural forces are actually essential to life on our planet. This helps us understand why God does not intervene and stop natural disasters from occurring.
7. When God wants to bring hope and help to others, God sends people. Rather than being disappointed with God in the face of tragedy and suffering, we can view the situation as a call to action — to go and be God's hands and voice to those in need.
8. God gives us freedom to make our own decisions, and sometimes those decisions have painful consequences for us and for others. God does not miraculously deliver us from the consequences of our actions or the actions of others.
9. If we have no choices — no free will — we cease to be human and become puppets.
10. Living involves risks, including the risk that we might become sick and die. This is not God's doing; it is simply part of living in a fallen world in which sickness and death are inescapable realities.
11. Rejecting God doesn't change the situation that has caused our suffering; it only removes our greatest source of hope, help, comfort, and strength.
Note: There are numerous books and in-depth studies devoted to the topic of theodicy. Given the expansive nature of the topic, additional Leader Extra material is provided for this session so that you may be better equipped to lead discussion in light of the interests, needs, or questions of your particular group.
Leader Extra
Thoughts About How God Works in the World Excerpts from When Christians Get It Wrong, by Adam Hamilton
• I believe that God is sovereign — the highest authority, king of the universe — yet God chooses to work in the world in certain ways.
• I believe that God is involved in the affairs of the world but that God does not orchestrate every single circumstance. There is great mystery in this, to be sure.
• The Scriptures testify that God has given us free will; therefore, I do not believe that everything is predetermined by God.
• The Scriptures also affirm that God is just, loving, and kind and tell us that God will not do what is contrary to God's nature. Evil and sin are not from God. Therefore, I do not believe that God ordains or wills everything that happens.
• I believe that although God does not cause pain and suffering and tragedy, God redeems it by working it for our good.
"Much of what we blame God for is the result of humanity's sin and the realities of an imperfect world — such as sickness, disease, natural disasters, accidents, violence, and death. God accepts these realities, but God does not initiate them. ...
"When it comes to the problem of suffering, we must allow room for mystery, knowing that there is much we do not know and cannot understand."
Leader Extra
God's Sovereignty and Determinism Excerpt from When Christians Get It Wrong, by Adam Hamilton
This term [sovereignty] means that God is the highest authority, there is no one to whom God reports and no one to whom God answers. God is the Supreme Ruler — the "King of the Universe." The universe is the rightful property of God, who created it. Nearly all Christians would agree that God is sovereign — the highest authority and not dependent upon anything or anyone else.
In an attempt to glorify God, however, some people go too far. They claim that God is not only the highest authority but also the 'Supreme Micromanager.' They would never use this phrase to describe God, but this is what their picture of God looks like. They suggest that God is actually controlling every dimension of creation. This is sometimes referred to as 'determinism.' The logical outcome of this line of reasoning ... makes God a monster.
... I believe all creation is sustained by God and draws its existence from God. But if God does exercise this kind of [micromanager] control, it raises a host of questions. ... Why would God create human beings with the appearance of freedom and a longing for freedom if God is going to control every thought, every word, and every action behind the scenes? And if God controls everything we do, which also implies that God determines the outcome of all things, what is the point of exerting any effort? ...
This leads to another assumption — that history unfolds according to God's predetermined plan. ... We have the illusion of making our own choices, but in fact we do no such thing because God has predetermined exactly what will happen, and we cannot change it. ...
Most people become deeply troubled by this picture of God controlling everything when they encounter horrific evil. ... I believe God is able to redeem suffering and bring good from evil; but to say that God planned, willed, and prompted the hearts of those who committed ... a heinous crime in order to accomplish some greater good strikes me as the worst kind of blasphemy. No ends could justify such terrible means. To claim such an act is the will of God is to say that God is neither loving nor just.
Leader Extra
The Mystery of God's Sovereignty and Our Free Will
It is impossible for us to understand fully the dynamics of God's sovereignty and our free will. Scripture is clear that God knows all things (Psalm 139:1-4; Matthew 6:8; 24:36) and is sovereign (Colossians 1:1617; Daniel 4:35). The Bible also says that we have the freedom to choose and are held responsible for our actions (Genesis 2:15-17; Romans 3:19). How these facts work together is impossible for our finite minds to comprehend (Romans 11:33-36).
People sometimes take one of two extremes in regard to this question. Some emphasize the sovereignty of God to the point that human beings are little more than puppets doing what they have been programmed to do. Others emphasize free will to the point of God not being sovereign above all. Yet neither of these positions is congruent with the nature and character of God revealed through the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal a God who is both Sovereign Ruler, reigning over all, and Loving Parent, giving us the ability to exercise free will and make choices. How these two dynamics work together remains a mystery. And without mystery, there can be no real faith.
Leader Extra
Suffering and God's Discipline
Some Christians say that suffering is part of God's plan because God needs to discipline or teach us. A Scripture passage often cited in support of this view is Hebrews 12:4-11:
In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children —"My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts." Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:411)
Other Christians say that God does not cause difficult and tragic experiences in order to teach us a lesson; rather, God uses them to refine us, improve us, and make us more like Christ. (Some say God allows suffering for this redemptive purpose.) They suggest that, like a loving parent, God turns the difficult and painful experiences of our lives into opportunities for teaching, strengthening, encouraging, and loving us. Romans 8:28-29 supports the view that God uses all circumstances, including difficult ones, to conform us into the image of Christ:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29 NIV)
Leader Extra
New Testament Insights on Suffering Excerpt from When Christians Get It Wrong, Leader Guide, by Adam Hamilton
Matthew 14:13-21
This story is typical of many. When Jesus met people with problems (whether illness, hunger, or any of the many other challenges humans face), he did not offer them a lecture about what they'd done wrong, or tell them God was teaching them a lesson. Instead, he had compassion and sought to make things better.
Luke 13:1-17
In Jesus' day, as in ours, many people were inclined to view tragedy and suffering as a divine punishment and/or object lesson. Jesus said they "got it wrong." He recognized the randomness of some tragedies and the role of evil in creating others. He was not interested in assigning blame but in bringing healing.
John 9:1-41
Jesus' disciples began this story convinced that the man they saw begging was born blind due either to his own or his parents' sins. When the story ended, the Pharisees were still sure of that (verse 34). Again, Jesus disagreed. God, he said, can bring good even out of tragedy, but that does not mean God caused it.
Romans 8:18-28, 35-39
Christians have sometimes applied this passage, especially verse 28, in hurtful ways. Note that verse 28 does NOT say God causes all things, nor that everything that happens is good. Instead, Paul affirms his triumphant faith that if we put our lives in God's hands, God will work for good IN all things.
2 Corinthians 4:5-18
The apostle Paul's language soars as he expresses his unshakable trust in the goodness of God's purposes. What matters most, he says, is not what's happening outside us. We look to the unseen, and we know that God is always at work, renewing us inwardly no matter what circumstances we face.
1 Peter 5:6-10
Early Christian believers often faced persecution from the Roman government, alienation from their families, and economic hardship. Peter was convinced that God did not cause these hardships, and that God was still present and working for good even when believers suffered.
For Further Study
Leslie Weatherhead's The Will of God (Abingdon, 1999) is a classic on the subject of God's will and would prove to be a helpful resource. Rebecca Laird's The Will of God: A Workbook (Abingdon, 1995) is an excellent small-group study based on Weatherhead's book.
Group Discussion
Note: More questions are provided than you may have time for. Select those you would like your group to discuss.
1. How do our assumptions about how God is supposed to work in the world affect the way we feel when we are faced with injustice, tragedy, or suffering? Why is it important to question our assumptions about how God works in the world?
2. Have you (or someone you know) ever thought that if you were a good person, God would take care of you and nothing bad would happen? How did your (or their) thoughts and feelings change when something bad happened? What are your beliefs about how God works in the world? (See "Leader Extra: Thoughts About How God Works in the World.")
3. Read John 16:33. What did Jesus ask of God on behalf of his followers? In contrast to those who feel that "being good" is a kind of "suffering insurance," what did Jesus say? What is your reaction to his words? How can you "take heart" because Jesus has overcome the world — in other words, what would this look like in your day-to-day life?
4. Name and discuss several characters from the Bible who refused to let go of their faith in the face of suffering. How did these individuals demonstrate their faith despite their circumstances? What do you think fueled their faith?
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Why? Leader Guide"
by .
Copyright © 2011 Abingdon Press.
Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
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Table of Contents
How to Use This Leader Guide,
1. Why Do the Innocent Suffer?,
2. Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?,
3. Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?,
4. Why God's Love Prevails,
Endnotes,