Abstract
Some months ago, Stephen Fry caused a bit of a stir in an interview with Gay Byrne on Ireland’s RTE. When asked what he would say to God if he existed, Fry went on something of an accusatory and questioning rant, opening with, “Bone cancer in children, what’s that about?”. While Fry’s tone was more accusatory than many Christians would want to voice, his questions go to the heart of much Christian experience.
What may be surprising to some is that Fry’s questions have significant resonance with the biblical tradition. There is a deeply rooted biblical tradition of asking the creator, “why?”. The disjunction between the world around us and the belief in a good God has always been noted. One biblical passage that I have always deeply resonated with is Psalm 73. Noting the prosperity of the wicked and his own personal injury at their hands, the psalmist reflects, “when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task” (Ps. 73:16 NRSV). Indeed, processing the evils of this world does seem a wearisome task. Just reading the news can be an overwhelmingly depressing experience.
The Bible does not shy away from this line of questioning. The book of Job is perhaps the most poignant example, but for me, the declaration of this wearisome task in Ps. 73:16 is the text that best depicts this struggle. This section of the book of Psalms (Pss. 73-78) engages with this issue, and while, like much of the rest of Scripture, it doesn’t offer any straightforward answers, it does offer some resources for wrestling with it.
First, in response to the assessment of the wearisome nature of understanding the prosperity of the wicked, the psalmist enters the sanctuary of the Lord and “perceive[s] their end” (Ps. 73:17). So the Psalmist doesn’t solve the problem of the prosperity of evil, but does reflect on its temporary nature. It is not God’s final answer. Second, in Ps. 74, the psalmist is complaining about the triumph of God’s foes over God’s people and seems to get solace from reflecting on God as creator (Ps. 74: 12-17). Third, in Ps. 77, the psalmist is complaining about the absence of God and calls to mind the God’s faithful deeds towards his people in the past (Ps. 77:11-20). These three responses to the question of evil and suffering (and we may add apparent divine absence) are helpful lines of inquiry, but never finally settle the problem. Nevertheless, Scripture suggests that resource for understanding this painful mystery may be found in (1) hope that suffering and evil is not the final answer, (2) reflection on the reality of God as creator of the cosmos, and (3) reflection on God’s mighty deeds in the past that have been handed down to us in Scripture.
Personally, I am sympathetic to much of Stephen Fry’s enquiry (if not his accusations), but I am content to live within a faith tradition that allows me to voice my outrage and my questioning all the while giving me at least some resources with which to frame my questioning. In the face of this reality, perhaps I can not answer all my questions and doubts, but I can probably do no better than to cry out, with the writer of Revelation, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).