It can be said that suffering is in different ways essential to the very nature of man and to our lives on earth.

It's also a mystery that is something that we may perhaps come to understand to some degree,

but with a seemingly endless remainder of aspects that we don't understand.

And it's a mystery both on a natural level, expressable as a philosophical operia.

Operaria means a puzzle or a paradox.

It's also a divinely revealed mystery in the Christian religion.

Philosophy and theology have different but compatible approaches and answers to the problem of suffering.

In this brief talk, I intend to do no more than briefly point to in the direction of the resolution of the philosophical difficulty.

It's rather involved. It's all rather involved.

There's such a brief talk.

And then to present just a few reflections on human suffering as a poignant mystery of Christian faith.

Necessarily then, many aspects of suffering are going to be left untreated.

But we can address some of those in the Q&A, if you like.

Finally, I don't pretend to have all the answers or even all the correct answers

to aspects of the problem of human suffering.

I'm open to correction, open to the truth.

So let's start with a philosophical analysis or investigation, then we'll move to the theological.

Theology is actually an academic discipline, just not in state schools.

Usually it's like religious studies or something. Okay.

All right. The 18th century philosopher David Hume, in part 10 of his great work, the dialogues concerning natural religion, he says, or he wrote, in the person of his character, Philo, who's quoting

Epicurus, who was the ancient Greek philosopher, quote, is God willing to prevent evil but not

able?

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