Suffering

From the Latin sufferre, "to undergo," suffering is a situation of pain, sorrow, and/or anguish that is experienced physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Suffering can be personal and intimate as well as experienced by a group of people. This makes it difficult to distance ourselves from the emotional impact of suffering completely or consistently. Suffering can be the result of natural evil (e.g., earthquakes, diseases) or human evil (e.g., war, injustice).

For centuries, people have raised the question of why suffering occurs. This is referred to as the question of evil or the issue of theodicy (If God is all good and powerful, why do people suffer?). In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, one school of thought believes that if a person or group suffers, it is punishment for sinful behavior and actions and a manifestation of divine justice. In Islam, suffering is not a theoretical problem, but a very concrete and practical reality. For Muslims, suffering is part of what it means to live and is not seen as a problem. This is due, in large measure, to the fact that the Qur'an (the sacred text of Islam) emphasizes God's omnipotence, love, and compassion. Allah (God) controls all suffering, and faithful Muslims must endure it.

The Jewish and Christian traditions do not emphasize suffering as a result of natural disaster. Both traditions ask why humans suffer. There is considerable debate as to whether suffering is the result of human disobedience that results in punishment from God. The story of Job in the Hebrew Bible and the words of Jesus in the Christian New Testament Gospel of Luke contest this view of suffering as punishment. Both traditions recognize that some sins, especially those that are the result of human excesses that are sinful (e.g., substance abuse), may bring about suffering (e.g., poor health). This is not seen as a form of divine judgment but as a correlation between sinful behavior and suffering.

From the first Jewish narratives of creation in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, suffering has been seen as going against the goodness of creation. All forms of domination (e.g., classism, sexism, racism), hostility between peoples, and hostility between people and nature bring forms of suffering that signal a rejection of our connectedness to each other and from God.

For many Jews, Christians, and Muslims, suffering is believed to help contribute to one's moral character. For Christians, suffering is seen in the context of God's redemptive and sustaining love and of God's will. Some suffering is attributable to evil, but undeserved suffering must be endured by faith. Within Judaism and Christianity, contemporary liberation theologies challenge the idea that suffering may be good or redemptive. These theologies point to the suffering of those victimized by oppression and abuse. It is important to differentiate among suffering that is natural to life; suffering inflicted on others; and suffering that experienced as the result of injustice, oppression, or abuse. None of these are good or redemptive in themselves. Liberation theologies point to the suffering that result from choices made by a person who is trying to change or right a situation of abuse or oppression that contain the possibility of being good and redemptive.

See alsoEvil; Islam; Judaism; Judeo-Christian Tradition; Theodicy.

Bibliography

Bowker, John. Problems of SufferinginReligionsoftheWorld. 1970.

Jonas, Hans. Mortality and Morality:ASearch forGoodAfter Auschwitz. 1996.

Kushner, Harold. When Bad Things Happento GoodPeople. 1983.

Soelle, Dorothee. Suffering. 1975.

Townes, Emilie M., ed. A TroublinginMy Soul:Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering. 1993.

Emilie M. Townes