The fifth session of a six-week series on apologetics at Above Bar Church, Southampton. May 2010.

1. Above Bar Church Summer Bible School 2010# Apologetics
Apologetics 5: Suffering
1. The problem
i. A good, all-powerful God would not want people to suffer and would be
able to prevent them from suffering.
ii. Suffering exists.
iii. Therefore, God lacks either goodness or power, or both.
2. Suffering and evil are not evidence against God
a. God may have good reasons to allow suffering
We make many assumptions about what God is or isnʼt like, and about what he
should or shouldnʼt do. Human beings cannot tell what will be good in the long term;
only God can do so.
b. Suffering is a consequence of human freedom
i. God has created human beings with free will, so that we can choose to do
evil or to do good.
Freedom is essential for a genuine relationship, which is what human beings
were created for.
ii. Human beings have chosen evil, resulting, whether directly or indirectly,
in suffering.
Some human actions directly cause suffering; some actions compound
suffering; all suffering is a consequence of the Fall.
iii. Therefore, God can only prevent suffering by over-riding free will or by
destroying evil.
God cannot give us freedom and withhold it (ʻnonsense is nonsense, even
when you speak it about Godʼ – C.S. Lewis). The only option then is for God to
judge evil and those who perpetrate it.
© Tony Watkins# 1# www.tonywatkins.org

2. Above Bar Church Summer Bible School 2010# Apologetics
c. God works through suffering
The ultimate purpose of life is not to be happy but to know God.
d. God will eventually put an end to suffering
3. Suffering and evil may be evidence for God
a. The Judeo-Christian worldview provides the best explanation
i. Atheism: suffering and evil are ultimately meaningles
ii. Eastern worldviews: suffering is either bad karma (you deserve it) or an
illusion
iii. Judeo-Christian: Suffering and evil are the consequence of freely chosen
rebellion against God (see above)
b. Only the Christian worldview offers an answer to suffering
i. God has experienced our suffering in the incarnation and crucifixion
The crucifixion is the ultimate demonstration that there are higher things than
suffering.
ii. God will deal decisively with suffering and evil, as promised in the
resurrection
The new heavens and new earth will be free of suffering and evil, and will more
than compensate for anything we have endured in this life.
© Tony Watkins# 2# www.tonywatkins.org