By Thomas Jay Oord
Survivors are given any number of reasons why God did not prevent their suffering. I find them most unsatisfying. Although usually offered with good intentions, most reasons fail to portray God as
consistently loving.
One common reason is especially unsatisfying. It says God allows suffering. God could prevent it single-handedly but chooses not to. Maybe God chooses to respect creaturely freedom, or chooses to uphold laws and processes of nature.
I can’t look in the face a survivor or someone dealing with trauma and say God permitted their pain.
I do find one answer to questions of God and evil satisfying. But it strikes many as audacious. It says God can’t prevent suffering and trauma single-handedly.
God can’t.
God suffers with those who suffer. And God tries to heal, to whatever extent possible. I think. God works with us to squeeze something good from the bad God didn’t want in the first place. And God calls us to help in overcoming evil with good.
These additional beliefs cannot on their own give a satisfying answer to why a loving and powerful God does not stop evil and trauma. But these in addition to saying God can’t stop evil single-handedly is satisfying to me.
Of course, this means some of our other views need adjusting. Miracles we see, for instance, occurred because both God and creation acted.
They don’t occur by divine fiat. We should think about prayer differently too. We should stop expecting God to answer prayers by controlling others. Our prayers influence God. But they don’t turn God into a dictator.
I get letters weekly from people who read my book, God Can’t. Most thank me for taking their pain and trauma seriously. And for offering a plausible way of thinking about a loving God’s role in it.
The “God Can’t” view may not satisfy everyone. But it satisfies me and many other survivors.
Thomas Jay Oord is the author of God Can’t: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils. He has authored or edited more than 25 popular and academic books.
The views and opinions of authors are their own, and not necessarily those shared by Shepherd Heart.