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The problem of suffering: A father's thoughts on the suffering, death, and life of his children
Author Gregory Schulz is a husband. father and Lutheran pastor. Of his four children, son Stephen suffers from chronic liver disease and daughter Kyleigh is with the Lord in heaven.
74 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 25, 2012
This book is a quick read, but it is by no means an easy read. If that sounds paradoxical, it is a testament to the author's skill as a writer. Greg Schulz's personal experience is as painful as any I personally know of. In this book he juggles his various vocations of professor of philosophy, pastor, husband, and father as he relates what he has learned of suffering through the deaths of two of his four children. His simplicity of style in writing belies the very difficult problem of the question of suffering. Anyone can read this book, even if everyone (including the author) cannot fully fathom the depth of this problem. This is what makes this book a sine qua non on the literature dedicated to the problems of pain and suffering.
In contrast to C.S. Lewis in "The Problem Of Pain," Schulz demonstrates his maturity as a Christian by not explaining suffering. One wonders how Schulz could justify 100+ pages on suffering without offering an explanation, but that is the explanation. There isn't one. God is God. He teaches in suffering, but that's not an explanation. He disciplines in suffering, but that is not an explanation. No cleverly crafted philosophical statements (a la C.S. Lewis) or contrived platitudes (a la the rest of us) can explain suffering. It is God's school, plain and simple. God punished His Son for the sins of others. He punishes His children.
In the Greek New Testament, one word ties together the idea of punishment and teaching. Pilate uses it when he offers to flog Jesus, literally saying "Would you prefer I teach him a lesson?" That's as much as can be said. We cannot excuse God out of suffering. We recognize Him in suffering. We see Jesus also in suffering. And we learn. This side of heaven itself, that's the sum and substance of suffering.
That being said, Schulz's personal experiences, and the eloquence with which he writes about them, put the reader through an emotional roller coaster of the first order. He who can read this book without tears, several times over even, has no heart and no faith. In this brutal discipline, God teaches hope and reminds us that nothing this side of eternity is satisfying. Suffering is passed down from father to child. Suffering is taught from Father to Son. Suffering is learned in the short time of our lives as a necessary, stinging, precursor to hope and eternal life.
Pastors who read this review should familiarize themselves with this book, purchase extra copies of it, and get ready to give it at their own personal expense to those who need to hear what we find so difficult to express. When there aren't words, such a practice is still pastoral care.
If we could have heaven in this life, we wouldn't need it for the next. God grant us a suffering that teaches and the strength of faith to endure until there is suffering no more.
In contrast to C.S. Lewis in "The Problem Of Pain," Schulz demonstrates his maturity as a Christian by not explaining suffering. One wonders how Schulz could justify 100+ pages on suffering without offering an explanation, but that is the explanation. There isn't one. God is God. He teaches in suffering, but that's not an explanation. He disciplines in suffering, but that is not an explanation. No cleverly crafted philosophical statements (a la C.S. Lewis) or contrived platitudes (a la the rest of us) can explain suffering. It is God's school, plain and simple. God punished His Son for the sins of others. He punishes His children.
In the Greek New Testament, one word ties together the idea of punishment and teaching. Pilate uses it when he offers to flog Jesus, literally saying "Would you prefer I teach him a lesson?" That's as much as can be said. We cannot excuse God out of suffering. We recognize Him in suffering. We see Jesus also in suffering. And we learn. This side of heaven itself, that's the sum and substance of suffering.
That being said, Schulz's personal experiences, and the eloquence with which he writes about them, put the reader through an emotional roller coaster of the first order. He who can read this book without tears, several times over even, has no heart and no faith. In this brutal discipline, God teaches hope and reminds us that nothing this side of eternity is satisfying. Suffering is passed down from father to child. Suffering is taught from Father to Son. Suffering is learned in the short time of our lives as a necessary, stinging, precursor to hope and eternal life.
Pastors who read this review should familiarize themselves with this book, purchase extra copies of it, and get ready to give it at their own personal expense to those who need to hear what we find so difficult to express. When there aren't words, such a practice is still pastoral care.
If we could have heaven in this life, we wouldn't need it for the next. God grant us a suffering that teaches and the strength of faith to endure until there is suffering no more.
January 2, 2012
This is one of the best books I've read on suffering - precisely because it offers no explanation nor answer to it. Schulz tells it like it is, because he's been there. After losing his daughter and living with his son's chronic illness, Schulz knows that witty theodicies don't offer any real comfort or answer in the face of suffering. In fact, he demonstrates that a theodicy really isn't possible, because it is an attempt by man to justify God. This has it backwards. We cannot justify God. He justifies us. The answer to suffering is not a mere intellectual matter. Schulz points us to Christ and His suffering and death on our behalf and the Father's love and will to make Him suffer. Schulz points to our ultimate hope in Christ, who has made possible the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. Simple, yet profound.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews