Theological Bites
We handled the second theological question in the book of Job and it was about the Retribution Principle, we now turn to the third question which is: How can suffering and Pain exist in the world of a sovereign God?
In the book of Job, God is presented exactly as most of us know him (except for a few details). He is the God who is in charge to the extent that even Satan has to seek permission from him (God) to do his (Satan) will (Job 1:9-12). A novice theology would quickly conclude that the sovereignty of God is the cause of pain and suffering since even the devil has to request permission from him.
This answer would serve its adherents until the very God shows up hanging on the cross with his body shattered and bleeding to death. The cross reverses the idea that God is the cause of pain, suffering and death since we see him victimised as well. The question then remains; If God is this power and this sovereign, how do suffering and Pain fit in?
Such a dilemma is not independent of questions like; How can an all-good (Absolute Good) God allow evil to not only exist but exercise its ill-will on creation? Okay, if God is all loving and all powerful why doesn’t he act out his goodness to suffocate the evil in this world?
We are not the first to attempt these questions. Long before Jesus himself was born (341-271 B.C), a certain philosopher from Greece by the name Epicurus was already asking these questions. Epicurus argued that we should subject belief to empirical evidence and logic. With this view and perspective about the issue of suffering in the presence of the Christian God (as we know him), Epicurus raised what we know today as:
I mentioned earlier that for one to have issues with pain and suffering, that individual must have a belief (conscious or subconscious) in God (read primary all-powerful cause) and a particular understanding of that God. Pain and suffering minus God or some sort of origin of everything are neither bad nor good. It wasn’t any different with this Greek Philosopher known as Epicurus. Whether he believed in God or not, he could only construct a paradox with God in perspective and here his questions:
- How can an all-good, all-loving allow evil to exist?
- Is God all-powerful?
- If he is, then either God wants to abolish evil and cannot or God can abolish evil but he doesn’t want to.
- If God wants to abolish evil and cannot, then God is impotent or actually defeated by evil.
- But if God wants to abolish evil and does not want to, then God is evil.
- For if God wants can abolish evil and God really wants to abolish evil, then why is there evil in the world?
The issues raised by Epicurus are deeply embedded in the hearts of many (believers inclusive). According to the book of Job, it is only the sixth character (Mrs. Job) that demonstrates this better. This is what she said “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die.” (Job 2:9 RSV). Her only escape from pain and suffering was death and her husband could not die unless he denied the source of life. In other words, it was all in the hands of God and it was God directly or indirectly responsible for her husband’s pain.
It is due to this dilemma not exclusive to Mrs Job and Epicurus but to most of us suffering believers in God that we have the book of Job. This psychological and logical dilemma is the one that has led the theologians to develop the concept of ‘Theodicy’.
The Concept of Theodicy
Theodicy is a combination of two Greek words; Theos which means ‘God’ and Dike which means ‘Justice’. To use Professor James Crenshaw’s words;
“The term stands for an explanation of why a perfectly good, almighty, and all-knowing God permits evil. The term literally means “justifying God. Belief in only one God makes Judaism and Christianity particularly vulnerable to the problem of theodicy, for there is no one else to blame for evil. “The devil made me do it” won’t do, for an all-powerful God could easily negate the devil’s work.”
What we have in the book of Job is a God who is in charge of everything and everyone including the Devil himself. Even the Devil had to ask for the permission to exercise his evil will from God. The Book of Job mentions Satan only seven times and only in two chapters of the forty-two chapters of the book. It is obvious that the cameras are focused more on God than they are on the devil, the usual suspect.
Theodicy begins at the point of questioning the contribution of God to our suffering and pain in this world before it even questions how evil could co-exist with an almighty God. When you read the book of Job objectively, without any bias, you will realise that in one way or another God is responsible for the pain and suffering in the world. For us to do proper apologetics (defence of God) we need to be fair enough and recognise the involvement of God in all this.
The book of Job does not shy away from the fact that with all the pain and suffering in the world. God in one way or another has a stake in it. We now begin by the first defence of God (Theodicy).
God’s Permissive Sovereignty
To understand the problem of pain and suffering we need to start from the place where we must evaluate our understanding of who God is. The last chapters of the book of Job are about this issue. A sufferer must have a proper understanding of who God is if that victim’s faith and psychology are to be stable. God is sovereign and this means that God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, angels, and demons. He is supreme and everything is under his charge (please read Isaiah 40:12-25, Revelation 21:6, Colossians 1:16, Romans 11:33, Jeremiah 32:17, Psalm 103:19; Psalm 115:3; Psalm 135:5-6; Job 9:5-10; 26:7-14; 37:2-24; 38:8-41). When you read those verses and more, you will realise that they are teaching what is known as the Absolute Sovereignty of God.
It is within the Absolute Sovereignty of God that the Permissive Sovereignty of God is exercised. An all-power God is a God of love who at the same time has created man in his image with the freedom to choose even against God himself. That God-given freedom to choose and exercise personal will is not restricted to man but even to evil (read Satan). The devil exercises his will within the confines of God’s Permissive sovereignty. God permits evil to exist and exercise its will to the maximum.
There are two reasons for this:
- God permits this because of who he is. He is the God of love and love is democratic. In love, people are free to do whatever they want, when they want and live to enjoy the fruits of their choices or suffer the consequences of the same.
- God permits evil and suffering to exercise its ill-will to the fullest before ‘conscience’ beings like us so that we can be clear on what really is good and what is evil (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-7).
Am sorry let me pose from here, I will continue with this discussion in the next presentation.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Pr. T.I.M WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
@iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 
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