Overload
You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me. Why then did You bring me out of the womb? If only I had died and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been, brought from womb to tomb. Job 10:17-19 NASB
Why – Ah, life’s great question. Why? Why was I born? Why do I have to endure all these trials? Why don’t You, Lord, protect me? Why is the world such a mess? Why do You allow such misery? Why? Why? Why? And there doesn’t seem to be any reasonable answer, does there? Oh, we have a few proposals (not exactly satisfying).
“There is something painful and worrying which in itself, in every generation, leads many to outright heresy—it is the appearance of injustice in the world, the suffering of the righteous, and the prosperity of the wicked.”[1]
The traditional responses to this question fall between two extremes that can be identified with the two approaches presented in the book of Job. One approach, generally understood to be the position of Job’s friends, is that human suffering is usually the result of sin and can always be justified. A person’s efforts should, therefore, be directed toward revealing the righteousness in the judgments of “a faithful God, never false” (Deut. 32:4). There are various ways of justifying God’s judgments. The most common way of explaining suffering is as the expiation for sin. According to this approach, the “righteous” person is not in fact righteous; either he has hidden sins, or is not entirely righteous. Other explanations are that suffering purifies the soul in preparation for the world to come, or that the concepts of good and evil are different than how they appear at first sight.[2]
Consider the remarks of a contemporary rabbi: “Although it may sometimes seem to us that unholiness has the upper hand, we must realize that, on the contrary, this is only in order to pave the way for a subsequent increase of holiness in the world.”[3]
I object! I don’t see any rational way to justify the evil of the world. To suggest that it is all the result of personal and corporate sin implies that the God of the Bible is really a divine accountant, exacting balance sheet retribution for every action, unwittingly committed, or that His accounting stretches toward the future, requiring the innocent to pay for the guilty. I’m sorry, but it seems to me that a great deal of evidence points toward evil without obvious cause. For this reason, the second explanation, that evil is necessary to purify us, is even worse because we now face a God who deliberately causes suffering “for the greater good.” No, I don’t think the Holocaust was “for the greater good,” nor can I justify even a stillborn child’s death with this ethically offensive doctrine. In my book, this makes God a monster. Rabbi Freidman might wish that all of the suffering we endure leads to greater holiness, but I don’t see such justification in human history. In fact, if we believe that God will intervene at some point (as He has in the past), doesn’t that imply that things will be worse, not better?
Of course, there’s always the opt-out answer: God’s ways are not our ways so we just can’t understand why He does this. We’re not mentally equipped to grasp divine design. And that may be so (who could possibly know, however), but that implies that God created human beings with intentional incapacity precisely about the most important theological-rational question there is: “Why?”
Oh, you and I can decide to just obey, to put aside those haunting thoughts and pretend they don’t really matter. But we’ll have to pretend, because sooner or later we’ll confront some inexplicable evil and be forced into mental catatonia. Does faith require turning off your mind? Maybe it’s worth rereading December 28, 2022. CLICK HERE.
Topical Index: evil, faith, injustice, Job 10:17-19
[1] Amit Kula, “Justification, Denial, and ‘Terraforming’: Three Theological-Exegetical Models,” in The Believer and Modern Study of the Bible(Academic Studies Press, 2019), p. 413.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Rabbi Yosef B. Freidman, Daily Wisdom 3, Issue 749, Parshat Mikeitz, December 22, 2022\ Kislev, 5793
Hey Skip,
This topic cannot be put to rest and will probably never have full understanding in this life. It is especially difficult to query the why when God does not answer our prayers to intervene in the way we desire. Several years ago I read Harold Kushner’s ” When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” It gave me a new perspective of God and the moving of His power, the Spirit, in the world. It is probably not the 100% absolute final answer. But it can definitely be more comforting than “it was God’s will” or “God needed your mommy more in heaven than here on earth”. Over the years I have purchased several copies and given them to those who are hurting from loss and asking why. When I run out of copies or they are not local I send them the link. I do not remember you mentioning his book or that we have discussed it. Could be my poor memory. Would be a good one to discuss some time.
Sorry I have not been present for the weekend studies but I do not see 6am since I retired unless I did not sleep the night before. I still enjoy listening and will sign up for them all.
Take care my friend. Maybe one day we will cross paths again.
Skip, I pulled a quote from a writer quoted in the book by Kushner.
“We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end war; For we know that You have made the world in a way That man must find his own path to peace Within himself and with his neighbor. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end starvation; For you have already given us the resources With which to feed the entire world If we would only use them wisely. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, To root out prejudice, For You have already given us eyes With which to see the good in all men If we would only use them rightly. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end despair, For You have already given us the power To clear away slums and to give hope If we would only use our power justly. We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end disease,For you have already given us great minds with which To search out cures and healing, If we would only use them constructively. Therefore we pray to You instead, O God, For strength, determination, and willpower, To do instead of just to pray, To become instead of merely to wish. ”
Jack Riemer, Likrat Shabbat
Excellent!
I know the book but have not read it. It will go on the list. Thanks.