Suferinţa în interpretarea Moralei Creștine

Abstract

Suffering has been and will be talked about until the end of time. It is our historical condition, it encompasses us, it sometimes overwhelms us, it makes us anxious, frustrated and rebellious. We are born through suffering and we continue to experience it during our lives. Death itself is often looked upon as suffering. The fear of suffering and, generally, the philosophical reflection on the meaning of suffering have always given rise to one of the greatest questions of mundane human existence disseminated in each historical epoch: what for? why is suffering necessary? which are the reasons for its existence? What is the meaning of suffering when confronted with the fundamental and central belief of mankind’s religious consciousness, namely how does it relate to the existence of God? Isn’t there an irreconcilable difference between existence in suffering and the existence of God believed to be both Good and Omnipotent? Moreover, suffering invalidates the very plan of creation, where “everything was very good” and there was no room envisioned for pain or evil. And in more serious terms, how can one reconcile the suffering of an innocent person and the kindness and omnipotence of God, who is called Father? These are the questions that man has faced along his existence on Earth and on which he has spent very much time, thought and material things, hoping to find an answer. Testimonies are to be found in the various successful or unsuccessful attempts at providing answers from within the history of religions, philosophy, literature and varied human expressive arts during the centuries.