It’s a fairly common idea. Because most of us try to understand unmerited suffering. Deep down (or not so deep down), most of us are okay with the suffering of people we think of as “bad” or “immoral.” We can even make peace when suffering seems to be the natural result of a poor decision. It’s really unmerited – I didn’t do anything to deserve this – suffering that bothers us. 

And so we try to make sense of it. And understand what its relationship is to the good God that we believe in. Throughout recorded history, religious leaders and thinkers have come up with a variety of ideas for why we suffer. It’s a big challenge for people of faith. The philosopher I study, Alfred North Whitehead, writes that all religious dogma are shipwrecked on the problem of evil. Within the academic study of the philosophy of religion, we have an entire field devoted to it (“theodicy”).

Sometimes we try to figure out how the suffering is merited: We suffer because we are being punished for doing things we should not have done. For not being faithful to God. For turning away from God. For our bad behaviors. For being religious in the wrong ways. 

Other times we conclude that a positive outcome on the other side of suffering required the suffering in order to get there: Suffering taught me something. Suffering showed me something I needed to realize. Suffering made me stronger.

And if you believe that God is the author of all the things in the world, then it is God is who causing the suffering that punishes or God who is causing the suffering that will teach us something.

There’s a strong logic here.

And it’s hard to refute when people – maybe yourself or others – survive an experience of suffering and declare wholeheartedly that God had them suffer so that they could learn or be re-oriented towards God anew. Testimony is meaningful.

For many of us, that’s not enough. Maybe we’re not sure that God caused the suffering. Or we didn’t learn anything from it. Or we can’t seem to think of what we did to earn punishment. So we are left with big questions.

Some folk quit God and religion all together because they reject the options I mention earlier. I understand. Some folk just sit in silence with sufferers because there really are no words for deep pain. A great loving practice. 

But if you still have questions and the previous responses aren’t settling for you, I’ve found very satisfying answers in process theology. My own experience as a survivor of violence and advocate for women survivors of domestic violence drove me to some big questions about suffering. Process theology enabled me to still love God while being honest about the senselessness of evil and suffering.

Dr. Monica