The Problem of Evil and Suffering (1RB0)
Why does a loving, powerful God allow suffering? Explore the problem of evil and, above all, how belief shapes the way Christians respond to it.
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When suffering strikes
Illness, disasters, cruelty: suffering is everywhere. If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why does it happen? This is the problem of evil. For "Beliefs in Action", what matters most is how belief shapes a Christian's response to suffering.
Key terms
Learn these before you weigh the problem:
Moral and natural evil terms
- Omnipotent
- Omnibenevolent
- Moral evil
- Natural evil
- All-powerful
- All-loving
- Suffering caused by human actions
- Suffering caused by nature
Moral or natural?
Which of these is an example of moral evil, caused by people?
- Cruelty and violence between people
- A hurricane
- A wildfire started by lightning
- A serious illness
The heart of the problem
The problem runs like this: an omnibenevolent God would want to end suffering, and an omnipotent God could do it. Yet suffering continues. This seems to challenge belief in a God who is both all-loving and all-powerful.
How Christians respond
Christians answer in several ways. The free-will argument: God gave humans real freedom, and moral evil is the price of that freedom. Soul-making: suffering can help people grow in compassion. Above all, many point to Jesus, who suffered on the cross, showing that God shares in human suffering, and they respond with prayer and charity.
Christian responses
Select the TWO Christian responses to the problem of evil.
- Free will means evil is the price of genuine freedom
- Responding with prayer, charity and compassion
- Concluding that God cannot exist
- Ignoring suffering completely
Match each response to its idea
- The free-will argument
- Soul-making
- The example of Jesus
- The Book of Job
- God allows freedom, which can be misused
- Suffering helps people develop virtues
- God shares in suffering on the cross
- Keeping faith even without full understanding
Belief in action
A Christian friend is suffering. Put a caring, faith-guided response in a sensible order.
- Listen to them and show compassion
- Pray for and with them
- Offer practical help, such as support or charity
- Point to Jesus, who also suffered
The problem of evil frame
The problem of evil asks why suffering exists if God is _____, all-powerful, and _____, all-loving. Suffering caused by people is _____ evil, while suffering caused by nature is _____ evil.
The free-will response
The free-will argument says that evil exists because...
- God gave humans genuine freedom to choose
- God is not really powerful
- God does not really love people
- There is no God at all
Apply the ideas
Sort the suffering and the responses using what you have learned.
- A person is robbed and hurt by a thief. This suffering is...
- A village is flooded by a storm. This suffering is...
- Putting belief into action, a Christian seeing suffering would...
The responses frame
Christians respond to evil with the _____-will argument, the idea of _____-making through suffering, and the example of _____, who suffered on the cross. In action, they respond with prayer and _____.
Belief into action
Explain how belief in God might affect the way a Christian responds to someone who is suffering.
- Name a belief or response (free will, the example of Jesus, or compassion)
- Explain what the Christian would do
- Say why their belief leads them to respond that way