Suffering

In this short, succinct and accessible account endorsed by many public figures including Martin Rees, John Morris tackles head-on the issues raised by theodicy - God and the problem of evil and suffering. He himself has a profoundly handicapped grandson, so speaks from personal experience. There was much public debate on the subject following the 2004 tsunami - in a similar vein to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The classic statement of the problem is that an omnipotent and omniscient God cannot also be good because he lets suffering continue - so he is either lacking in goodness or power or both. The God envisaged by the author is both personal and loving but one as restricted his/her power in order to guarantee creativity and freedom. He/she is, as Whitehead suggests, involved in the evolutionary process with a moral purpose to multiply goodness and bring growth out of agonising situations - suffering is then part of the package where virtue can be chosen for its own sake. In comparing the philosophies of other religions, Morris feels that the Christian suffering God is a real advantage. Many readers will be familiar with these arguments but the lucid exposition encourages them to revisit and perhaps rethink them. There can be no definitive answer, but as humans we should feel obliged to engage with the challenge.