If There Is a God, Why Do We Suffer?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Why does evil and suffering exist if God is all-powerful and loving?
0:58 Bart and Megan on feeling personally well while the wider world feels overwhelming
2:51 The classic problem of evil and the modern syllogism behind it
6:08 Why ancient biblical authors did not frame the issue in quite the same philosophical way
8:00 One biblical answer: suffering happens because people sin and God punishes them
10:42 Why Bart finds the punishment explanation theologically troubling
13:11 New Testament examples of suffering as punishment, including Acts, Paul, and Revelation
14:58 How apocalyptic Judaism and early Christianity explain suffering through Satan and demons
18:18 Another biblical answer: God uses suffering to bring about good
21:34 Could God have created good without suffering first?
23:02 Modern arguments about suffering, free will, and even tectonic plates
25:20 Heaven as compensation for suffering now, and why Bart rejects that as a satisfying answer
29:23 The Holocaust, moral growth, and why some “greater good” explanations feel unbearable
31:56 Free will as a defense of suffering, and the problems Bart sees in that view
36:20 How Bart handled the problem of evil when he was still a Christian
39:26 Bart’s conclusion: even if we do not have the answer, we can still have the response
39:43 Course promo: Paul and Jesus: The Great Divide
41:27 Weekly Update: Bart’s upcoming Western Europe cruise on “the sea in the Bible”
44:59 Listener Q&A: the Son of Man, how to study New Testament scholarship, Revelation under Constantine, and whether the Gospels are meant as parables
55:33 Final summary: the New Testament offers multiple explanations for suffering, but none fully solves the problem

Episode Description
The question has been around for millenia: if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent, why do people suffer? The answers seem obvious to many (most?) people. It's because of free will. It's because of sin. It's because of the devil or other evil powers. It's because God is testing us. It's to make us appreciate the good. It is to make goodness possible. It will all be resolved in the afterlife. It's a mystery that only God can explain. Pick your answer! And there other options are out there! But is any of them ultimately satisfying? Do they really solve the problem? If not, where does that leave us? Is belief in an all-powerful, loving God possible?

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Can There Be Meaning in a World without God?
Can There Be Meaning in a World without God?

Telling God What He Can Do
Telling God What He Can Do

Who Really Wrote the Gospel of John?
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Megan asks Bart:

-What does the NT say about evil and suffering? Is there any biblical explanation for why God doesn’t remove it?

-Could you tell us more about that syllogism?

-How do people try and explain how those three statements can be true?

-What do you think of those explanations?

-Where does this turn up in the NT?

-If suffering can occur because God is punishing someone, then how does the NT view demons and the devil? What purpose does that evil serve?

-Are there any other views or explanations of evil and suffering seen in the bible?

-Do you see in ancient writings this question of why can’t god create good without suffering, or is this something that develops later in Christian thought?

-Are there any modern explanations for the problem of suffering that differ substantially from ancient explanations?

-What other simple explanations have you come across?

-How does free will play into these explanations?

-When you were a Christian, how did you deal with this problem?