Why does God allow pain and suffering?

The reality of evil and suffering is perhaps the greatest challenge to faith in an omnipotent, benevolent God. To address this age-old question Bruce Miller ushers attention to Christianity’s three act story in which God who enters our pain, carries our grief, and ensures that suffering will one day end

A three-year-old boy was playing when his dad’s truck rolled down the driveway and crushed him to death. A beloved staff member died alone in a hospital room during COVID, his family unable to say goodbye. These aren’t abstract theological problems. They’re the raw, heartbreaking realities that make us cry out, “Why?” 

The question of suffering is perhaps the greatest challenge to faith in a loving, all-powerful God. If God exists and cares about us, why doesn’t he stop the truck? Why does he permit the devastating loss? These aren’t just intellectual puzzles. They’re the anguished cries of broken hearts that crave answers. 

The universal problem

Whether it’s personal tragedy, natural disasters, disease, or the weight of injustice in the world, we cannot escape suffering. For those who believe in God, this reality raises profound questions. How can we reconcile belief in an all-good, all-powerful God with the very real presence of evil and pain in our world?