How Long, O Lord?: A Theological Perspective on Suffering
Manfred Brauch Wednesday, 1 December 2004
Having spent many years studying and teaching biblical theology, I once felt equipped to exegete relevant biblical texts on suffering and to come up with cogent "explanations" for why there is suffering in the world. But the more familiar I became with suffering the more I came to recognize that my confidence was grounded on the shifting sand of two faulty assumptions. First, I assumed that the issue of suffering could be cognitively dissected, that if only we thought carefully enough about the questions surrounding the issue, reasonable conclusions would surely emerge. The second faulty assumption was that a faithful study of the biblical texts would yield fully satisfying truths, and that divinely revealed insights would unambiguously enlighten our understanding. I assumed that inspired answers to the "why?" questions surrounding suffering would calm our troubled spirits and help avoid (or at least soften) the "crisis of faith" that human suffering so frequently evokes.
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