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If there is a God, why does he allow suffering?

From Rev Gav

I was asked, “When that time comes do you think all negative human emotion such as pain, suffering, fear, etc. will be gone (including boredom as there is nothing else) and there will be perfect peace forever in presence of God?” and here is my reply:

That’s a good question… and the short answer is ‘yes’ but… I think there’s definitely a lot more to explore on that topic. For example… Paul speaks of us being a ‘new creation’ in Christ (1 Cor) and that this starts when we find ourselves in God in the here and now, and not when we die. So, perhaps we can see our own selves as being part of ongoing creation, a bit like a pupa turning into a butterfly, we only have a sense of the beauty the future holds for us. What I am certain of is that somehow creation will continue. Also, it’s worth thinking about resurrection – which again is not reincarnation, nor simply being raised from the dead. The orthodox Christian view is that we will be resurrected, like Jesus was resurrected, with physical/metaphysical bodies. And… (my brain is whirring) what were the resurrected Jesus’ first words? “Peace be with you.” He had attained that divine peace of which you speak. The resurrected Jesus bore the scars of his past, ate food, and laughed with his friends, but was no longer in pain or suffering. So, perhaps rather than pointing to an ethereal (pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die disembodied existence) we can point to the resurrected Jesus and say, “It will look a lot like that.”