Why a good God must allow suffering—even innocent suffering—to exist
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2023
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Across much of this week, the focus has been on how natural disasters like Hurricane Idalia can lead us to question God's goodness and force us to wrestle with the existence of suffering in this world. Today, let’s continue that discussion by taking it a step further to discuss why such suffering is not only redeemable but necessary in light of God's goodness.
Author: Ryan Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Read today's Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/good-god-innocent-suffering/
Read yesterday's Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/hurricane-idalia-fl-residents-swim-out-of-their-windows/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Greetings and welcome to the Daily Article podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Today is Friday, September 1, 2023. |
| 0:08.0 | I'm Chris Elkins with the Denison Forum, narrating today's article written by Dr. Ryan Denison. |
| 0:14.0 | Across much of this week, the daily articles have focused on how natural disasters like Hurricane Adalia can lead us to question God's goodness |
| 0:23.6 | and force us to wrestle with the existence of suffering in this world, particularly when it's the result of natural disasters or other factors outside of our control. |
| 0:32.6 | In yesterday's article, my father wrote about my experiences with cancer and the impact it had on |
| 0:38.7 | his relationship with the Lord. Today, I'd like to continue that discussion by taking it a step |
| 0:44.0 | further to discuss why such suffering is not only redeemable, but necessary in light of God's |
| 0:50.4 | goodness. To understand the necessity of suffering, though, we have to start with why it's |
| 0:55.1 | possible in the first place. The highest purpose for which we were created was to enter into a loving |
| 1:00.1 | relationship with the Lord and to worship him. However, that kind of relationship requires a free will |
| 1:05.7 | choice on our part, because love is, by nature, a choice more than an emotion if God forces it from us |
| 1:13.2 | then it would cease to be love and we know that's the case in part because otherwise |
| 1:18.1 | there is no good reason for him to have created us with free will not all |
| 1:22.2 | suffering is the result of sinful choices people make the hurricane this week is a |
| 1:26.2 | powerful reminder of that fact. |
| 1:28.1 | Yet, the truth remains that our free will is still the source of so much pain and suffering |
| 1:33.5 | in this world that if God's ultimate purpose for our lives did not require us to have such |
| 1:38.8 | freedom, then he made a mistake in giving it to us. However, just because we have free will does not mean that our |
| 1:45.4 | freedom exists without boundaries or limitations. After all, I have the freedom to jump off the |
| 1:50.5 | roof of my house, but the quick drop that follows will make it abundantly clear that I lack the |
| 1:56.1 | freedom to fly. Rather, free will is more like a menu of options from which we can choose. |
... |
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