God and Human Suffering

Hall is the best in treatment of the intersection of God in Suffering. A sound theologian and scholar who is incredibly readable, Hall manages to treat suffering from a non-dualistic viewpoint without abandoning a Christian faith foundation. He explains the negative exists in the service of the positive. He holds that suffering, presumably that resulting from the negative aspect of life, can help the human to reach a fuller potential and to develop a deeper sense of compassion. Hall is an excellent theologian and the only one I have found who holds a viable "provisional dualism." He was my main theologian in writing my M. Div thesis . . . I used other of his writings as well.

In contrast to many writers who gloss over one or the other, this author is true both to the reality of suffering and to the affirmation that God creates, sustains, and redeems. Creative in his view that certain aspects of what is called suffering-loneliness, experience of limits, temptation, anxiety-are necessary parts of God's good creation. These he distinguishes from suffering after the fall, the tragic dimension of life. Unique is his structure: · creation-suffering as becoming, · the fall-suffering as a burden, and · redemption-conquest from within. The author succeeds in moving the reader beyond the customary way of stating the problem: "How can undeserved suffering coexist with a just and almighty God?" He also evaluates five popular, leading thinkers on suffering: Harold Kushner, C. S. Lewis, Diogenes Allen, George Buttrick, and Leslie Weatherhead.

Of all the treatments of this difficult subject of God's presence in suffering, Douglas John Hall's is the most helpful that I've read. This is a serious theological treatment of a complicated and emotional issue. Hall brings biblical theological clarity to readers while also addressing other popular treatments to the subject. Unless we understand the theology of the cross and God's self-limitation in love as he relates to humanity, we will end up frustrated and ultimately lacking in our understanding. I highly recommend this book to all who want to seriously grapple with the question of suffering.