Conflict Between Evil And Suffering
Evil and suffering has become the basis to critique the misrepresentation of God as a perfect being. This analysis stems from the idea that if God is good, and omniscient, why would he allow humans to struggle through the harsh conditions of evil and suffering. To gain further insight into this issue, the Abrahamic religion of Judaism offers that, humans experience evil and suffering because society has done something displeasing. Key biblical events such as the Fall, Noah’s Ark, and the Babylonian Exile show how the community of the Jewish people have disappointed God, and what consequences befell humanity. Outside the scope of a religious perspective, critical thinker Max Weber believes in a sociological reasoning behind evil and suffering
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These scriptures are the introduction to the relationship God has with humanity, and provides the first examples of disobedience that perpetuates the human struggle. The narrative of the Fall, also known as the story of Adam and Eve, is the prime origin story of why humans encounter suffering and evil. After the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God instructs them that they are to not eat the forbidden fruit. However, Satan persuades Eve under the guise of a serpent, to rebel against God and eat the fruit from the tree. This act severed the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God, and made them subject to the first experiences of suffering and evil. The punishments the God had bestowed upon them were, exile from Eden (Genesis 3:23), descendants of Eve would have painful childbirth (Genesis 3:16), descendants of Adam would have to face hard labour (Genesis 3:17-18), and that humans were no longer immortal, and would experience a physical death (Genesis 3:19). The suffering that humans now must face at the hand of evil becomes the agent to actively restore the intimate relationship that humanity once had with God. “If evil brought us to where we are… it is an essential task as humans and communities to overcome the evil in our nature” (Kahn 1). This idea of redemption now gives meaning to life and what is beyond death. Suffering gives society purpose to live a pious life for the ultimate achievement of being able to re-establish an intimate connection with God, and be free of their earthly
These scriptures are the introduction to the relationship God has with humanity, and provides the first examples of disobedience that perpetuates the human struggle. The narrative of the Fall, also known as the story of Adam and Eve, is the prime origin story of why humans encounter suffering and evil. After the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God instructs them that they are to not eat the forbidden fruit. However, Satan persuades Eve under the guise of a serpent, to rebel against God and eat the fruit from the tree. This act severed the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God, and made them subject to the first experiences of suffering and evil. The punishments the God had bestowed upon them were, exile from Eden (Genesis 3:23), descendants of Eve would have painful childbirth (Genesis 3:16), descendants of Adam would have to face hard labour (Genesis 3:17-18), and that humans were no longer immortal, and would experience a physical death (Genesis 3:19). The suffering that humans now must face at the hand of evil becomes the agent to actively restore the intimate relationship that humanity once had with God. “If evil brought us to where we are… it is an essential task as humans and communities to overcome the evil in our nature” (Kahn 1). This idea of redemption now gives meaning to life and what is beyond death. Suffering gives society purpose to live a pious life for the ultimate achievement of being able to re-establish an intimate connection with God, and be free of their earthly