I listened to a bit of BBC Radio 4 on the way into work this morning, and caught the middle of a conversation between John Humphries and his guest. His guest was a Rabbi and the question he was asking him was: "If God exists, why is there so much suffering?"
The programme is part of a series called "Humphries in Search of God." Where he has asked this question to a Christian, a Muslim and a Jewish leader. I listened to the previous programme where he spoke to the Archbishop of Canterbury and was disappointed with the answers the Archbishop gave. He was there to represent Christianity, but limited himself to talking purely as a theist. He only mentioned Jesus once in passing, and focused mainly on the philosophical implications of free will.
However, I was very impressed with some of the Rabbi's answers. This one in particular caught my attention. [I'm quoting from memory, so apologies for any inaccuracies]
Faith is in the question. If God does not exist then the Universe is oblivious to our existence. It is blind to our affliction and deaf to our pain. There is no question of suffering if there is no God. To ask the question shows that you are already grappling with faith.
I like that! It had occurred to me too, that those who disbelieve in God, still have a very clear idea of the kind of God they disbelieve in!
1 comment:
Yes, I found the Archbishop to be very disappointingly focused on simple theism. The interview with the Muslim seemed to focus much more on the Quran, which I suppose makes sense in some ways, but still wasn't very compelling.
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