Healing and the Problem of Evil

There's a rather old, tired question still floating around. I've linked this post to another person's perspective on it - though I don't agree with them - just to show it's still on people's minds from time to time.

If God is all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful, why is there suffering/evil in the world?

I'll continue to refer to these "all" attributes later in this post:

1. benevolent/loving ("all-good")
2. omniscient ("all-knowing")
3. omnipotent ("all-powerful")
   

[This is widely known as the "Problem of Evil".]


I read an article today where a Christian minister rationalizes why God doesn't heal. The man does not specifically identify the assumptions made in said "old, tired question", but by researching him a bit, I've confirmed he subscribes to the traditional line of thinking, and these assumptions are specifically explained (and affirmed) on his website.

This man is a pastor, has a doctorate in theological studies, and wants to see people healed. He's frustrated (as many believers are) that healing is not apparently predicable. Many people strike up quite a bit of controversy because it effects their view of suffering around them, and how loved-ones often perish in seemingly unjust ways. These issues come into starker contrast when considering, "Why doesn't God heal me?", or "Why doesn't God heal this person I love?"

First, in Psalm 103:3, "He forgives all ours sins and heals all our diseases." Psalms aren't the best books in the scripture to be taken literally, so maybe "all" is a bit of an overstatement; other parts of scripture suggest that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not forgivable, and we see by practical experience that some people aren't healed. Then again, I'm generally optimistic, so maybe we're just missing something.

In his attempt to explain God not healing some of his parishioners, the man offers seven possible factors. One of them boils down to the oh-so-cliché "God works in mysterious ways", so I won't give it much airtime. The other six all in some way violate one or more of the three assumptions above, or suffer some invalidity on other grounds.

[Be advised, this is an exercise to demonstrate by example that even those who claim to believe the assumptions listed above clearly do not hold them constant. My own views are stated at the end, so skip the point-by-point titles if you like. I've also paraphrased some of the titles for brevity.]

1. Lack of Faith

[Violates God's benevolence.] So, you're telling me God won't heal me because the guy praying for me doesn't have (enough) faith? WTF, this from a "loving" God?! That's neither fair nor just.
Or maybe you're telling me God won't heal me because I don't have (enough) faith...

Scripture includes many examples where people clearly didn't have the faith Jesus expected of them. So what does he do? He gives them more reason to have faith! He does NOT condemn/refuse them for it. (Mark 9:14...) A father comes to Jesus to heal his dying/dead son, and says "I believe, help my unbelief", and Jesus heals the son. 'nuf said.

2. Sin

[Violates God's omnipotence.] Erm, so now you're telling me that God doesn't have power over sin? What's this business of the crucifixion then? I seem to recall something about forgiveness in that whole thing...

(John 9) Outside the temple there was a blind man who Jesus healed. He pretty much writes sin off as irrelevant to the man's blindness.

3. "because the sick don't want to be healed"

[Violates God's omnipotence.] Perhaps they're complacent in their sickness/disability. Yeah, I'll give you that. Some people have such issues.

But this requires that God either cannot or chooses not to override freewill (i.e. willingly or not, effectively diminishing His power), even if it's for the good of the person who rejects His love.

4. "you do not have because you do not ask"

[Violates His omniscience.] He supposed that if they don't pray persistently, the "door" isn't "opened". Didn't they knock, if even once? Yes, the scripture recommends persistence in prayer, but why would an all-knowing God require it? Didn't He hear you the first time? I assert that considering this as a limiting factor in healing violates the assumption of God's omniscience.

5. "the demonic cause of the affliction has not been addressed."

[Violates His omnipotence.] While there's scriptural precedent, every case I know of involved Jesus casting out the demonic power. So... what's the problem? God has power over the demons, according to scripture. If there are demons involved, why wouldn't He do something about them?

6. God works in mysterious ways

I don't buy it. I'm tired of this one, honestly. The day I fall back to this as an explanation is the day I write myself off as a fool. I won't claim to understand God fully, but chalking something up to "mystery" in this context is the same as giving up.

Personally, I will fervently pursue truth and understanding ... forever. If I don't understand something now, I'll keep studying, praying, and learning from my experience. Until I have a substantiated theory, I'll provide an honest best guess, not some "mystery".

I just don't think a loving God, who specifically identifies His offer of eternal life as knowing Him (John 3:17), would make Himself unknowable.

7. There's something to learn in sickness that you won't learn in health

[Violates God's benevolence.] Huh. That's like saying "Nope, keep suffering, it's good for you."... Go figure. A loving God, eh?

I can't think of a single biblical example where that idea is expressed. On the other hand, there's always the (overused) Romans 8:28, when all else fails.
Reminds me of a neighbor once who told me that anytime I hear "it builds character", it means yer gonna get shat on.

What I actually believe.

So I'm really attacking two problems here.

First, the Problem of Evil - I recognize evil and suffering in the world, but I do not hold all three of the assumptions it requires; thus it's not a "problem" to me.

Evil and suffering are products of lots of different things. The first three: you, me, and everyone else - we all treat each other poorly from time to time, sometimes downright mean and sinister. There's a degree of chance and accident to it as well - traffic collisions, for example - generally not intentional, though sometimes the result of bad decisions, can bring a lot of suffering. There may also be "otherworldly" forces at play, but I personally have not had recent encounters with them, so I can't attest to their activity.

I don't think God knows the future. I don't think God necessarily knows everything about the present either. The Old Testament describes Him searching the earth for righteous people - why would He have to search if He already knew either the present and/or the future?

I don't think God is really omnipotent either, at least not in practice. Yeah, He's sovereign, not subject to my will or anyone else's, but He rarely overrides the freewill of any person, in effect limiting Himself. And you can bet He's quite powerful even still, just that He doesn't always exercise it in full and we don't always notice.

I do think God is benevolent. I know He's occasionally changed His mind (several times in the Old Testament, and you might see the Old v.s. New covenants as an evolution of salvation...). I think He's regretted a few things which have gotten Him some bad PR in the past too, like destroying cities here and there, that sort of thing - probably not widely seen as benevolence. None the less, I suppose maybe He's learned, I've not heard of Him doing anything nasty lately - though I've heard people blame certain catastrophes on Him, which I think is undue.

Second, on healing, my experiences convince me it's certainly possible; I've seen it. I do not have a one-size-fits-all explanation for why it sometimes/often doesn't happen, or even a list of possible factors.

It just blows me away that people try to rationalize the absence of healing. You'd think people would spent more time trying to rationalize its presence, given modern skepticismscience.

I think people who try to rationalize or create systems for healing (or the lack thereof) are on the wrong track. I think healing, like a great many things in life is a case-by-case sort of thing. My experience tells me this: when God wants it, and I want it, and the other person/people involved want it, it can happen. My involvement has been simple - I pray, I listen, I obey. From there it's ... well, not particularly well understood, by me anyway, but seems quite simple from my angle.

I can only say that when I operate under this perspective, interesting things happen. I don't often pray for healing, but the few times I have, it's worked. I try not to overthink it.


PS: on occasions when a loved-one is ill, I pray for them. I do not necessarily pray for healing. I don't sincerely pray for healing unless I'm convinced it's the right thing. I don't always know that.