Dr. Jim's WebLog

Why does God allow suffering? Big problem. David Hume said, "Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"

Here is an interesting approach to the problem. It should be noted that the Theodicy problem (the problem of evil in the world) is not a new flash that occurred to a University intellectual last year to disprove God's existence. It dates back hundreds of years and many very smart people have addressed it.

In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis addresses this problem. Letter 29, from Screwtape the senior demon to his nephew Wormwood, says "We [the devils] have made men proud of most vices, but not of cowardice. Whenever we have almost succeeded in doing so, the Enemy [God] permits a war or an earthquake or some other calamity, and at once courage becomes so obviously lovely and important even in human eyes that all our work is undone...this indeed is probably one of the Enemy's motives for creating a dangerous world..."

Small consolation to the families destroyed by a few minutes of earthquake. Nobody wants to be the way someone else gets to show their courage, or develop their spirit! But this is our world and we must all do what we can to make it better. See below for some links to help.