Archpriest Nicholas Dalinkiewicz Holy Protection Cathedral – Melbourne 23 Dec 2013
The question: “Why does God allow or cause suffering?” is rather straight forward, but the answer is not straight forward because suffering is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon. Suffering can range from mild to extremely severe, ultimately leading to death. Oddly, no one ever asks the question: “Why does God cause death?” Death is accepted both by atheists and believers alike – it is a fact of life, just as birth is.
The question about suffering presupposes that God exists; if he does not exist, then the question is meaningless and there is nothing further to discuss. Given then that God does exist, the biblical narrative which describes how death and suffering came into existence through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, must be included in our discussion on suffering.
