Could God eliminate all pain and suffering? why didn't he?

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broken_gaara

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could God have made the world without pain and suffering?and why didn’t he?
 
Skeptics always ask, “If there is a God, then why is there evil and suffering?” (I always thought it was a stupid question.)

Well, consider the opposite:

If there is no God, then why is there so much good in the world?
 
The two questions don’t really ask the same thing.

Could God eliminate all pain and suffering? IF (and only if) pain and suffering are totally without value of any kind, that is, totally and completely evil and in of themselves. . .then it would seem that God–being good–could eliminate them.

But then you ask a very different question –
Could God have made the world without pain and suffering? Why didn’t He?

And the answer is: He did. He made a world without pain and suffering. It was not God who brought sin into the world but Adam and Eve. And, in fact, in the fullness of time (because humans live in a ‘temporal’ world–in God’s eyes of course it could have been immediately 'afterward) even though humanity had disobeyed Him and chosen evil–God gave His Son to redeem the world.

Do we still have pain and suffering in the world? Yes. Just as when a child breaks a window and is sorry, the child is forgiven but the window remains broken, the effects of sin, including pain and suffering, exist. In THIS world. But pain and suffering were embraced by Jesus and they also were given a redemptive character. They can mean something. They can be given --offered–to the Father in humility and obedience. Thus, they have a meaning, a worth and a value. Even the random acts can bring good. The abduction of a girl named Amber was an evil and a tragedy . . . but from that tragedy came Amber Alerts which have helped to save other children and families from tragedy. Pope John Paul II suffered dreadfully in his last years and yet he accepted the pain and the limitations with dignity and with love. . . giving us an example of how to face illness and death with Christian fortitude and resignation.
 
shoewindow3000 said:
Skeptics always ask, “If there is a God, then why is there evil and suffering?” (I always thought it was a stupid question.)

Well, consider the opposite:

If there is no God, then why is there so much good in the world?
Click to expand...
great idea, now how can we form an argument on it?
 
God can do ANYTHING! God DID create the world without any pain, without any suffering. It was Adam and Eve, our first parents that decided to disobey God, therefore doing wrong, and therefore creating pain and suffering. This did not come from God.

It was GOD who gave His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, up for our sins. Dying on the Cross our sins have been forgiven. God did not have to do that, but He loves us so much … He wants to give us the chance to be with Him Eternally in Heaven. It’s hard to imagine the suffering Christ endured for us. It is only right for us to prove our love to God and our thanksgiving to Him by taking up our own cross and bare some pain and suffering.

This is not always an easy thing to do, but it does help when you have a situation where you are experiencing pain and suffering, to know that you can take up your own cross and follow in the footsteps of “Our Lord, Jesus Christ”. It makes the difficulties, the pain, the suffering a little easier to handle.
God Bless and keep us all,
Angel Face 🙂
 
Angel_Face said:
God can do ANYTHING! God DID create the world without any pain, without any suffering. It was Adam and Eve, our first parents that decided to disobey God, therefore doing wrong, and therefore creating pain and suffering. This did not come from God.

It was GOD who gave His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, up for our sins. Dying on the Cross our sins have been forgiven. God did not have to do that, but He loves us so much … He wants to give us the chance to be with Him Eternally in Heaven. It’s hard to imagine the suffering Christ endured for us. It is only right for us to prove our love to God and our thanksgiving to Him by taking up our own cross and bare some pain and suffering.

This is not always an easy thing to do, but it does help when you have a situation where you are experiencing pain and suffering, to know that you can take up your own cross and follow in the footsteps of “Our Lord, Jesus Christ”. It makes the difficulties, the pain, the suffering a little easier to handle.
God Bless and keep us all,
Angel Face 🙂
Click to expand...
Angel Faces answer is absolutely correct. Gods original plan was for us to have no suffering and to not have to experience death. The fly in the ointment was we were also given free will. Being human our original parents fell prey to the serpents advances and rejected the good that God had picked for them, they wanted more. What a happy day for the serpent, or so it would seem. It turns out to be an ever happier day for us. Would we have ever been able to understand just how much God loves us without the fall and The Father sending his only Son to suffer and die for our sins?
Once we grasp this reality our lives should never be the same. So whenever we struggle with death and suffering we should embrace it and offer our suffering with Jesus’ suffering. Those that get angry with God when death and suffering enters their lives need to understand that their anger is misdirected. Their anger should be directed against the serpent, the evil one, the father of lies for he is the reason we find ourselves in a fractured world.
 
You can’t simplify the things that are utterly beyond human comprehension. Part of faith is trusting that God loves you.

Remember that suffering sanctifies the soul.

Here is a little “rule” to know:

If it is bad for the body, it is good for the soul; If it is pleasing for the body, it is harmful to the soul.
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church

1505 Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the “sin of the world,” of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion
 
shoewindow3000 said:
You can’t simplify the things that are utterly beyond human comprehension. Part of faith is trusting that God loves you.

Remember that suffering sanctifies the soul.

Here is a little “rule” to know:

If it is bad for the body, it is good for the soul; If it is pleasing for the body, it is harmful to the soul.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. Pain and suffering (both physical and mental) is an opportunity to bring us closer to God. We must turn to him in times of need, and this does sanctify the soul.

Most of the saints knew this and rejoiced when they suffered.

To those suffering now:
Rejoice O Virgin Mary! Rejoice a thousand times!

John Marie Philomena
 
The answers above cover this pretty well, but I like the short answer that I stumbled across recently:

“God doesn’t want to make us happy. God wants to make us holy.”
 
shoewindow3000 said:
Here is a little “rule” to know:

If it is bad for the body, it is good for the soul; If it is pleasing for the body, it is harmful to the soul.
Click to expand...
Hey kids, let’s play “swallow the chemicals under the sink!” If you start to feel a bit nauseous, remember that this is good for your soul!

Though what you state above is the Christian mantra, Christians never seem to follow it except on rare occasions (they usually take those opportunities to popularize their doctrine by wallowing in their martyrdom). You can say all you want, but in the end, you embrace modern conveniences as they come (evidenced by the fact that you’re using a computer) and do not wish to die, however good it is for the soul.
 
broken_gaara said:
could God have made the world without pain and suffering?and why didn’t he?
Click to expand...
Because we cannot have everything for nothing: advantages without disadvantages, freedom without responsibility, good without evil and success without failure… There is a price to pay for every gift we possess…
 
In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen. “Pain is Gods megaphone”
 
Most of the reasons given here reflect the idea that all pain and suffering did not enter the planet until the fall.

Some say it’s purifying, or a wake-up call. This would answer the moral evil/all pain and suffering. But when you say all pain and suffering, does that exclude natural evil and non-human animals?
 
redhen said:
Most of the reasons given here reflect the idea that all pain and suffering did not enter the planet until the fall.

Some say it’s purifying, or a wake-up call. This would answer the moral evil/all pain and suffering. But when you say all pain and suffering, does that exclude natural evil and non-human animals?
Click to expand...
There is good reason to believe that before the fall there was no natural evil and no suffering of non-human animals.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
The two questions don’t really ask the same thing.

Could God eliminate all pain and suffering? IF (and only if) pain and suffering are totally without value of any kind, that is, totally and completely evil and in of themselves. . .then it would seem that God–being good–could eliminate them.

But then you ask a very different question –
Could God have made the world without pain and suffering? Why didn’t He?

And the answer is: He did. He made a world without pain and suffering. It was not God who brought sin into the world but Adam and Eve. And, in fact, in the fullness of time (because humans live in a ‘temporal’ world–in God’s eyes of course it could have been immediately 'afterward) even though humanity had disobeyed Him and chosen evil–God gave His Son to redeem the world.

Do we still have pain and suffering in the world? Yes. Just as when a child breaks a window and is sorry, the child is forgiven but the window remains broken, the effects of sin, including pain and suffering, exist. In THIS world. But pain and suffering were embraced by Jesus and they also were given a redemptive character. They can mean something. They can be given --offered–to the Father in humility and obedience. Thus, they have a meaning, a worth and a value. Even the random acts can bring good. The abduction of a girl named Amber was an evil and a tragedy . . . but from that tragedy came Amber Alerts which have helped to save other children and families from tragedy. Pope John Paul II suffered dreadfully in his last years and yet he accepted the pain and the limitations with dignity and with love. . . giving us an example of how to face illness and death with Christian fortitude and resignation.
Click to expand...
Well Put & to the point.

Pain & suffering allow us to engage in acts of Mercy & Charity & thus fulfill an important mandate. It allows the Love of God to be made manifest through us in this world. Remember it was Man NOT God that brought about these ills. But God allows us to be instruments of his Love & mercy so that He can alleviate these or he can allow us to use them to help ourselves better understand the sufferings of Christ Jesus. I seem to recall St Paul reflecting in like manner.
 
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