...fundamental and cardinal role in the Christian faith. The cross serves as a reminder to Christians that God is with them in their pain, suffering and sorrow. It reinforces their strength of faith in times of great need, because the symbol of the cross reminds Christians that not only did God send His only son to earth to be crucified in order to save us from our sins, but also that both God and Jesus have suffered for our sakes and salvation. The history of the world has been characterised by great human suffering. One can reflect upon horrific events such as the Holocaust and the Twin Towers tragedy and wonder how God, who is supposed to love everyone unconditionally, can permit such inhumane catastrophes to occur. The answer which theologians have provided is that God does not will for these sufferings to befall us, but is present in our suffering and “really suffers with all who suffer in this world” (Johnson, 2007, 61). The symbol of the cross, which Jesus was crucified on, serves to remind Christians that they are not alone in their agony. It is an image of comfort for those in pain, because it brings to mind the sacrifice God made for us in sending His son to intimately share in the world’s pain. The cross symbolises that “God, who is love…freely plunges into the midst of pain and tastes its bitterness to the bitter end in order to save” (Johnson, 2007, 59). Therefore, the symbol of the cross is emotionally significant to Christians in turmoil, because it reminds them...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Suffering and Pain in the Christian Life Submitted to Dr. Albert Letting, In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of SEMI 500 B22 Introduction to Seminary Studies by Philip Mion January 22, 2015 Outline……………………………………………………………………………iii Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 C . S . Lewis’ Influential Experiences with Pain and Suffering………………2 The Weight of Pain and Suffering………………………………..……….2 C. S. Lewis’ Theological Foundations on Why God is God?………………….4 Divine Goodness…………………………………………………………6 Human Pain………………………………………………………………8 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………...
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...Lewis on Suffering and Pain in the Christian Life Submitted to Dr. Rodney Anderson, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion SEMI 500-B28 LUO Introduction to Seminary Studies by Abigail Strain September 28, 2014 Contents Introduction 1 What were the influential experiences of C. S. Lewis on the topic of pain and suffering? 3 A Heartbreaking foundation 3 C. S. Lewis Atheistic View 4 C. S. Lewis’ Conversion Experience 4 Theodicy 5 C. S. Lewis’ Views on Theodicy and Faith Theology 5 C. S. Lewis Theological views on Pain and Suffering and the Christian Life 6 Evangelizing the lost as seen through eyes of C.S. Lewis 6 Why Evangelize ? 6 Reaching the Lost in the Midst of Pain and Suffering 7 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 10 Introduction This paper will give the readers an understanding of C.S. Lewis’ views on pain and suffering. C.S Lewis’ works emphasize the quandary of theodicy, how pain and suffering originated and how it serves to mold and strengthen our life theology thus creating harmony within our souls (mind), The soul being your mind will and emotions (Deut 6:5), when these arise. C. S. Lewis was a complex individual who demonstrated his courage and shared his faith theology in the midst of his pain and suffering by writing the struggles he went through. Following his concepts on pain and suffering I will...
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...Guided Analysis: Suffering Worksheet Name: Joceline Cardenas Course: Christian Worldview Date: April 12, 2017 Instructor: Address the following questions, responding to each one directly below the question. Your total word count (including all questions and your answers) should be between 750-1,000 words. Include a reference page. 1. Describe a time when you experienced a significant period of suffering. How did you deal with that experience? How did you find comfort in the midst of suffering? a. I am very family oriented person. I have a great relationship with all my brothers and I am very close to my father. Yet going away to college is something I looked forward to for a really long time. Then when the day finally came, it felt odd. I...
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...“The last shall be first and the first shall be last”, Matt. 20:16. By James Peterson Mason in “V.I.P.” asks the question “who is the most important in a church?”(pg34). His conclusion; it is the suffering that are the most important. This approach to suffering is a practical application of theology. Mason’s Theology of suffering is interconnected to Christian attitudes, church community, and the idea of who is the most important. It is one that involves the attitude of the Church needing to be one of servant-ship, the sufferers being surrounded by the Christian community, and the fact that they should be put first. His theology of Suffering is that it is very much the problem of the whole community of believers, not just the one going through the suffering. Mason tackles a difficult attitude he finds in the church, an attitude that at its worst is hypocrisy and neglect. People who are supposed to serve the forgotten and hurting but have forgotten to care. The book of Job is Mason’s main reference for this idea and turns to the story of job and his friends for an example. “In Job we see five men (counting Elihu) whose lives are inconvenienced by the suffering of Job. Four of these men are subconsciously, so deeply resentful of this problem that they cannot see that it is really theirs as much as it is Job’s. . . . Their behavior is like that of a stubborn man who insists on walking around on a broken foot” (Mason, 35). From Mason’s own penmanship as well as the...
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...Testament Survey III 27 April 2010 Suffering Introduction Why do Christians suffer? Doesn’t God want us to have our best life now, which of course would have nothing to do with suffering? I’m afraid that this is not the case; in fact we as Christians are actually called to join Christ in His suffering. In this short paper we are going to look briefly at what suffering is and what is the purpose of Christian suffering, also the different types of suffering and what our response should be when we encounter it. Definition of Suffering “To feel or bear what is painful, disagreeable or distressing, either to the body or mind; to undergo. We suffer pain of body; we suffer grief of mind. The criminal suffers punishment; the sinner suffers the pangs of conscience in this life, and is condemned to suffer the wrath of an offended God. We often suffer wrong; we suffer abuse; we suffer injustice.” (Webster) Purposes of Suffering Trials are compared in first Peter to fire, and our faith to gold, the purpose of us undergoing various trials or suffering, is to prove whether our faith is genuine or not. Also it is in suffering, when we are in bad earthly circumstances that we are given the opportunity to show those around that our hope is not in this life, that we might be able to give them the explanation for the hope that we have, though we are suffering in the here and now. Types of Suffering There are many things which can cause suffering; many that everyone is subject to because...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY Pain and Suffering A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JIM ZABLOSKI SEMI 500- B15 LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY Donald Clark LYNCHBURG, VA February 3, 2015 Contents Title Page……………………………………………………….1 Table of Contents………………………………………………2 Introduction…………………………………………………….3 History and Beliefs……………………………………………..4 The Logical Consistency and Moral Judgment of God………..5 Conclusion……………………………………………………...9 Bibliography……………………………………………………11 Introduction One of the most frequently asked questions in today’s society is “why do bad things happen to good people?” Why does God allow suffering and evil things to happen? These questions are central to a Christian’s faith. These questions have not gone unexplored in the cannon of Christian philosophy. Job, Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and others have all considered and contributed to an ongoing dialogue surrounding these issues. For some, the stories of personal sufferings, persecution, and martyrdom provide them a rallying point and as well as constant reminders of the pain Christ faced at the cross and what it took to pay the price for sin; while others suggest that suffering are character-building endeavors. One thing is sure: suffering is an important and ever present element of the Christian faith. Pain and suffering are controversial subjects encompassing all aspects of their meaning from whether God allows it?1 Does God bring it about? Who and what are the intended recipients...
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...grief. Suffering in Hinduism is incorporated in their belief that everything exists within Brahman, they teach that suffering and evil become part of the diversity of the cosmos united in Brahman. They agree with Buddhism and say that suffering is brought by becoming attached to wealth and status. Suffering is seen as evidence of bad karma from previous lives in Samsara and is inevitably part of existence and not a problem for Hindu beliefs, as they can gain good karma again. Buddhism teaches that suffering is usually caused by the way humans become attached to material objects and their status in life. Suffering in their religion is placed at the core of...
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...anthropomorphic language which is used to describe God, many would argue that God does not act from volition because He does not have human attributes or limitations. Maurice Wiles argued that a God who intervenes selectively would not be worthy of worship due to his failure to act on a wider scale. Wiles argue that such a God would be guilty of being arbitrary (acting on random choices) and partisan (seeming to support a certain party or group). Wiles is concerned that a God who performs miracles, in the traditional sense, is picking and choosing who to perform miracles for, relieving suffering for some and allowing it to happen to others. He argues that the believer is subsequently left with two choices: to reject belief in miracles and petitionary prayer, or to accept that God is morally culpable for the pain and suffering of humans due to his failure to reduce evil by direct action. As a Christian, Wiles thought it was better to choose a God who does not perform miracles rather than to conclude that God is not morally good. It is clear that for Wiles belief in miracles would certainly mean belief in a God who favoured some but not all of his creation. Wiles was considered a figure of doubt...
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...of somebody's life; however it doesn’t have to be the determining factor in relationships. You can't ethically or morally, as a Christian, choose not to associate with someone just because the two of you don’t share the same beliefs. Totally distinctive perspectives and convictions exist between Christians and Buddhists Worldviews, that doesn't mean you can't be friends. However, Christians and Buddhist do share some of the same morals codes. Christians and Buddhists alike don’t believe in stealing, lying, murder, and pre-marital sex. As well as, you should treat others the same way you want to be treated. There aren’t numerous similarities between these two religions, though. Christians believe in one God, whose image they were made in, and that they suffer because of their sins. Entering Heaven is their ultimate goal, but in order to make it in, a person must repent of their sins and except Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Buddhists don’t worship a God, and they believe there is an endless cycle of births and deaths, they believe desire is the cause for suffering, and in order to abolish suffering they must eliminate desire. Buddhist are trying to obtain have several goals, to earn points with Karma, to end the cycle of reincarnations and their ultimate goal is to reach nirvana. These beliefs can be an issue when trying to present the Christian gospel to a Buddhist. I don’t have any challenges presenting the gospel to anyone. I personal feel that it is my obligation to...
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...responsible for what we decide to do with our life with little involvement from God. When God created the world he made it perfect. He then left his stewards to take care of and look after the world therefore a good God did create a world without suffering however it is the humans of the world that have designed a world full of pain and suffering. It is known that the Devil is the creator of evil therefore it may be possible to believe that it isn’t Gods decision but the devil has created the suffering in the world. Other people believe that this statement is false. They think that if there is no pain or suffering in our life then we won’t appreciate the good things when they happen. We would be emotionless because we can’t differentiate the good things from the bad things. Also, Christians say that God is omnipotent however if He really is all powerful then why doesn’t he intervene when a natural disaster, for example tsunamis and tornados occur instead of letting them destroy innocent people’s homes and villages. God is omniscient and can see what happens in the world therefore if he was a good God, he should change what is happening yet he doesn’t do anything. This suggests that God wants to create suffering in the world. If there was no suffering in the world, nobody would ever die and the world would become overcrowded and eventually wouldn’t be able to survive....
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...Throughout Luther’s treatment of the psalms, one can see that for Luther there is a relationship between the trial that one faces and suffering. This is to say that Luther understands that God puts the Christian to test to measure the depths of faith and to produce greater faith. In this way, God is seen as having control over one’s suffering/affliction that is experienced in one’s soul over salvation. As early as Psalm two in the Dictata Luther, referencing Isaiah, writes, “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In a moment of overflowing wrath I hid my face from you, but with everlasting mercy I have had compassion on you.”’ Luther continues to explain through the use of 1 Peter 1:16 and 2 Corinthians 4:17 that the saints, although must suffer various trails, are only as a means to prepare one for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Moreover, Luther states that the former is a word of “comfort for those who are in suffering, just as it is an educating and teaching word for the “kings” to know, namely, that “it was necessary for Christ [and Christians] to suffer and so enter into His glory.” For Luther this only takes place in the saints, that is those who are spiritual for they are the...
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...emotional response to a perceived wrong without regard for how it stands up against the rule of law. It can be acting in revenge. As Christians we are to respect the rule of law –God’s. We are to take our rightful place, no matter how difficult, behind the promise that God will exact the justice according to His knowledge and in his own time. Agamemnon Symbol For Justice The symbolism of nets is appropriate because it is a standard that presents itself as impartial. It offers no explanation of its reason for its existence. It works at the will of the one who secures it in its place. It is there to enforce the will of the one who has placed it where it is. Reference the quote by Clytemnestra “our never ending, all embracing net, I cast it.” It is HER will and her desire – the murderous net is cast by her. He may have been killed by her, but she is the one who is caught. Agamemnon Suffer For Truth Has Meaning I feel that Aeschylus is seeking wisdom or some sense of redemption in the suffering. If we are going to suffer, and let’s face it as humans we are going to suffer, then why not redeem the pain to payment for wisdom and knowledge to use; use for the betterment of ourselves, those around us, and for those who are yet to come along this same way. As Christians there is a greater meaning and depth, however, to human suffering. When we suffer, either justly or unjustly, we do so with an opportunity to find greater meaning, a richness to our...
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...painlessly kill a patient suffering from an incurable disease or an irreversible coma. It is illegal in many countries, but it should be a legal option for anyone. The topic of euthanasia is an intense argument and a matter of ethics and morals. Doctors and medical professionals debate...
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...In modern times persecution of Christians in Britain is not common however, the pain cannot be saved for Christians living in other parts of the world that often have to endure the “Nero type” experience in order to live out their faith in such circumstances the words and actions of Jesus remain an invaluable source of support. An example of a Christian who has recently suffered because of his faith is Oscar Romero a Archbishop from El Salvador had his life ended prematurely and brutally because he spoke out about great injustice carried out on the on the citizens of Latin America. The murder of father, Rutilio Grande who’s only crime was living in poverty alongside helpless peasants. An Example of this persecution is “Jesus prays in Gethsemane” Ch14v36-42, this example shows even when Jesus is in despair he will do what God wants him to. The message given from this is that in the time of great suffering you must stick to your faith at all costs. This is what Rutilio Grande did and his faith brought him death. In a way, modern Christians do have to submit to punishment, people could be made social outcast and be called names and take physical and verbal abuse off non-Christians just for their religion. Like when Jesus was summoned to the high priest he had to submit to questioning and suffering. When Jesus healed Jairus’ daughter in Ch5v21-43 the crowd laughed him and ridiculed Jesus for believing that the girl was just sleeping...
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