On Human Suffering
Theodicy
By: Peter Breboneria II
Theodicy is a “vindication of God’s goodness and justice” (Dein, 2013) in the midst of Coronavirus. Natural disasters, suffering, pain, and sickness could make us question God or even assume that God creates evil in this world. We might ask, “If God is truly loving and all-powerful, how could he allow COVID-19 to increase and cause thousands of people to suffer and die that include the vulnerable and the innocents?”
The term “theodicy” was introduced to philosophy by the German Mathematician and Philosopher by Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 when he published his work entitled, “Essais de Théodicée sur la bonte de Dieu, la liberté de l’homme et l’origine du mal (Essays of Theodicy on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil), shortened as Théodicée.
Before I present the perspectives on theodicy, let us look at the secular perspectives of religion.
Social Science
Classical sociologists’ theorists such as Marx, Weber, and Durkheim had similar concepts on religion or theodicy-an instrument to give knowledge and sense of purpose amidst human suffering and evil, ability to cope with adversities and establish social order. But Karl Marx considered religion as an “irrational ideology creating false consciousness”. Sociology theories overlapped psychological theories. Freud viewed religion as a source of strength of an individual battling against uncontrollable and unforeseen events. Allport believed that it provides answers to questions about human suffering, pestilence, and death. Social scientists show the importance of theodicy in dealing with the current crises (Boguszewski et al, 2020).
Theological Responses
The theological responses to this global outbreak, suffering, and death have been varied. At one end of the continuum, the spiritualization of the virus associates it with the “warning signs” of the biblical prophets and punishment of God or proclamation of spiritual victory, for example, forming Christian Nationalism as an emerging religious ideology. At the end of another continuum, theology involves science.
Bentley (2020) reviewed and considered two pieces of literature that deal with human suffering: the novel The Plague by Albert Camus, and the Bible. He argues that Christian responses to the COVID-19 outbreak are similar to the perspectives hold by Dr Rieux, Fr Paneloux, and Job. He presented three perspectives on his reflections: (1) a view that questions God “in the light of the suffering of the innocent,” (2) a view that subjects itself to “a state of surrender to ‘the God who knows best,” and (3) a view that reimagines “from the notion of the absurdity of life”. These viewpoints can “draw people closer to God in search of protection or causes them to give up on God altogether”.
The Plague was published in 1947 by French Philosopher and journalist Albert Camus as a reflection of the German occupation of France during World War 2. He used allegory and paralleled the Nazi forces to the “plague-carrying rats dying on the streets of Oran and bringing the dreaded disease to the local population(Bentley, 2020).
First Problematic Response: Gnosticism
In the Plague, Fr Paneloux started his sermons: “Calamity has come on you, my brethren, and, my brethren, you deserved it.” The priest compared the plagues to 10 plagues of Egypt in the Old Testament sent by God to rescue Israelites from the oppression of slavery for 400 years. He believes that plagues were not God’s will but a consequence of human evil action. He berated the inability of science to overturn God’s judgment. He presented the plagues as a warning and punishment of God as the result of sins.
As COVID-19 cases increases and crisis expands, Like Fr Paneloux, many are consulting the Bible for answers and sharing it on social media. The common theme was signs of the times (Matthew 24:7), absence of rain, and plagues (2 Chronicles 7:13). COVID-19 was presented as a sign of anger or warning from a punisher God who is calling the world for humble repentance.
Religious certainty is an extreme and bipolar response by interpreting the virus as God’s justice or election. We cannot underestimate this problematic response. There were popular faith leaders who made these pronouncements quoting the scriptures. Pastor Kenneth Copeland used Galatians 3:13 to ‘execute judgment over COVID-19’, linking it to the work of Satan. Some Pentecostal movements considered COVID-19 as a curse quoting Leviticus 26:14–16, Deuteronomy 28:15 and 22, and Isaiah 26:20–21. They believe that they could remove the curse or punishment by claiming victory through faith alone. They ignored physical distancing, wearing a mask, and sanitizing the hands holding on to faith as protection from the virus (Bentley, 2020). The American response was politicalized by allegiance to Catholic Trump’s Christian Nationalism– an ideology “that disregards scientific expertise; a conception of Americans as God’s chosen and protected people; [and]distrust for news media” (Perry, 2020). This is the far-right religious wing. In Poland, a Catholic clergyman admitted that “defeatist positions and surrender to the course of events may occur.” Namely, the pandemic ‘can be considered a punishment for sins(Sulkowski et al, 2020).”
Extreme religious ideology resulted from taking Bible verses out of context ignoring the historical, cultural, and narrative background, and aggressively threw it to the bleeding world.
Bentley (2020) evaluated the responses from the novel and Bible and presented two presuppositions:
First presuppositions: history can be evaluated within a scope of a biblical timeline. Life starts at the Book of Genesis and ends with the Book of Revelation. From the literalist view, every experience the people have now is between these two timelines-along with the “metaphorical three-tiered universe, composed of heaven, hell, and earth”. Every part of life needs to be interpreted spiritually for example, by relating the pandemic to the plagues of Egypt without looking at the context to make sense of the current event. All good comes from God. Everything that is painful comes from God as an act of warning or punishment or from the Devil who wants to steal abundant life. Black and white perception without considering the natural phenomenon.
Second presupposition: Life experience as a result of sin or a form of salvation “interpreting life within the tension of the sin and redemption narrative of Scripture.” Bentley (2020) presented the problematic response through a story found in the Book of Job. The Book of Job questions: “Why bad things happen to good people.” Job’s wife and his friends have a similar standpoint with Fr Paneloux arguing that Job suffers as a result of sins or disciplinary action to get him back on track.
Gnosticism in a post-modern world is a religious certainty that “absolutize the theories” learned by teachers or scholars of faith and “force others to submit to their way of thinking…intolerant of open inquiry…reducing Jesus’ teaching to ‘a cold and harsh logic that seeks to dominate everything'”. They are using their religious position to promote their own theories or ideas yearning for “‘a monolithic body of doctrine guarded by all and leaving no room for nuance’ replacing the simplicity of the Gospel”(O’Connell , 2021).
Second Problematic Response: Activism
In the Novel, Dr. Rieux focuses on the epidemic and how to control it. He did not take seriously the sermons of Fr Paneloux. He does not believe in God but “treats the ill with compassion, instituting protocols that may inconvenience society, but are for their own good.”
Pope Francis said that the pastoral mission and work, without Christ, are just social activism. He said, “Let us not forget that the condition of every mission in the Church is that we are united to the Risen Christ as branches to the vine”(Catholic World Report, 2018).
Best Response: Lamentations and Participatory Love
A natural disaster such as typhoons, climate change, tsunamis, earthquakes, etcetera was caused by earth movements. COVID-19 was caused by a natural process, transmitting from bats to humans through an intermediate host. Nature does not have the ability to recognize disasters or catastrophes. If a glass falls from the table and got broken, do you get angry? No. You just adjust and accept because of the law of gravity (Breboneria, 2020).
Albert Camus suggested, “that the question of theodicy could be reimagined from the notion of the absurdity of life”. Illness, poverty, affliction, and suffering have no metaphysical origin and are experienced existentially and randomly. The question is not “who” but “why.” “Why” is an open ended-question that “gives voice ‘through a humble use of reason’ to an existential crisis in the face of an enormous situation.” Why do bad things to good people? New Testament Scholar NT Wright stated, “Lament is what happens when people ask ‘Why?’ and don’t get an answer”(Bentley, 2020).
The adversities of Job shall not be interpreted as a judgment from God or redemptive action. He has done nothing to deserve the physical pain and horrible disease. He had mourned for his misery and protested to God. He had seen how the wicked prosper. In spite of personal disasters and unanswered queries, he realized, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding” (Job 28:28).
God created humans with the possibility to do evil because of free will. Humans chose to do evil, as a result, suffering, and death in this world. Without free will, humans won’t exist. But sin is not always the cause of adversities. The Lord is fully aware of our difficulties. He knows where we are coming from. He responded to suffering through Incarnation—He immersed himself in it until he died. He asked the Father, “Why have you forsaken me?” Despite pain and sorrow, he submitted to God’s will. He was humble and silent. Real faith, love, and perseverance can only be tested if we are facing a crisis and handling unlovable people around us. Of course, we do not plan for hardship. God is neither sadist nor masochist. The death of Christ was the consequence of the Lord’s choice to live in this sinful world. But God can turn bad things into good. Catholic Philosophy expert and author Dr. Peter Kreeft of Boston College stated, “The death of God himself on the cross. At the time, nobody saw how anything good could ever result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw that the result would be the opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy in history brought about the most glorious event in history. And if it happened there-if the ultimate evil can result in the ultimate good-it can happen elsewhere, even in our own individual lives. Here, God lifts the curtain and lets us see it. Elsewhere he simply says, ‘Trust me’”(Breboneria, 2020)
Lamentation is not enough. Thomas Oord (2019), the author of the book entitled “theodicy entitled, God, can’t: How to believe in God and love after the tragedy, abuse, and other evils” argues “that whilst Christians lament, we should also try to identify what God is doing in response to suffering. God’s response is love… Christ is the revelation of God’s selfless, participatory love, but also calls His followers to participate with God in creation in works of compassion, love, and care. These are practical expressions of God’s work in creation, which is not divorced from science, knowledge or human participation, but in which all of these are infused (Bentley, 2020)”.
Theodicy shall study further the meaning of lamentations, comfort, and participatory love that alleviate suffering. The book of Job presented consolation that worsens the circumstances instead of experiencing comfort.
To help alleviate human suffering, there is a need to discuss further existential insecurity in relation to religiosity, applications of theodicy, and conspiracy theories about the pandemic (Baker et al, 2020).
References
1. Dein, S., Swinton, J., & Abbas, S. Q. (2013). Theodicy and end-of-life care. Journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4118910/.
2. Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man & the Origin of Evil by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/346071.Theodicy
3.Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://iep.utm.edu/leib-ove/
4.Boguszewski, R., Makowska, M., Bożewicz, M., & Podkowińska, M. (2020). The covid-19 pandemic’s impact on religiosity in Poland. Religions, 11(12), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120646
5.New English version of Camus’ “The Plague” during Covid-19: how historical context can affect translation – cApStAn. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.capstan.be/new-english-version-of-camus-the-plague-during-covid-19-how-historical-context-can-affect-translation/
6.The Point of the Book of Job – Greg Boyd – ReKnew. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://reknew.org/2018/10/the-point-of-the-book-of-job/
7.Perry, S. L., Whitehead, A. L., & Grubbs, J. B. (2020). Culture Wars and COVID-19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 59(3), 405–416. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12677
8.Sulkowski, L., & Ignatowski, G. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Organization of Religious Behaviour in Different Christian Denominations in Poland. Religions, 11(5), 254. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11050254
9.Bentley, W. (2020). Reflections on the characters of Dr Rieux and Fr Paneloux in Camus’ The Plague in a consideration of human suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 76(4). https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i4.6087
10. O’ Connell, G. (2021, February 9). Pope Francis offers a roadmap for overcoming the pandemic—and the 7 other crises it exposed | America Magazine. America The Jesuit Review. Retrieved March 25, 2021, from https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/francisclooney/blog/pope-francis-gnosticism-inside-church
11.Without Christ, Church’s mission is just ‘social activism’ pope says – Catholic World Report. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/10/29/without-christ-churchs-mission-is-just-social-activism-pope-says/
12.Breboneria, P. II. (2020, November 1). Finding God in the Midst of Corona Virus – Utak Henyo. International Center for Youth Development-Utak Henyo. Retrieved December 25, 2020, from https://utakhenyo.com/finding-god-in-the-midst-of-corona-virus/
About the Author
Peter Dadis Breboneria II (Formerly Peter Reganit Breboneria II) is the founder of the International Center for Youth Development (ICYD) and the program author/ developer of the Philippines first internet-based Alternative Learning System(ALS) and Utak Henyo Program of the Department of Education featured by GMA News & Public Affairs, and ABS-CBN and MOA signed with Department of Education, Voice of the Youth Network, Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Philippine Music and the Arts. He was the International Radio/TV format Host for Youth Program at Veritas Asia, a giant Catholic media network. He started as a local Youth Radio host at Gospel Broadcasting Network, an evangelical station, and trained by Far East Broadcasting Network (FEBC Legazpi Branch). He garnered model youth awards at Ateneo de Naga University, Bicol’s premier university in 2008. He is currently studying at the University of the Philippines-Open University. He studied Pastoral Management and Leadership at the Loyola School of Theology, a theological graduate school in Ateneo de Manila University. The Philippine Normal University-The National Center for Teacher Education waived his entrance exam and majorship exam. You may visit his website at www.peterbreboneria.com
