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The Problem of Evil and Suffering

• The problem of evil and suffering: An introduction
• The problem of evil and suffering: Christian Responses
• Black theodicy: Evil and suffering in Black Theology
• The freewill defence (St. Augustine of Hippo)
• An Irenaean Theodicy (John Hick)
• Jehovah Witnesses on the problem of evil and suffering
• The 'crimes of nature' (John Stuart Mill on the problem of evil and suffering)
• Process theodicy (David Ray Griffin)
• A Protest Theodicy (John K Roth)

Philosophy of Religion

• Arguments for the Existence of God
• The Problem of Evil and Suffering
• Atheism and Agnosticism
• Immortality and Life after Death
• Miracles
• Religious Pluralism

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Jehovah Witnesses on the problem of evil and suffering (Part 1)

Information: This is part 1 of an article looking at what Jehovah Witnesses believe and teach about the matter of evil and suffering. This information is based on a series of articles from the official Jehovah Witnesses website. This article assumes the reader is familiar with the traditional analysis of the problem of evil and suffering in western philosophy.

Introduction

On their official website, Jehovah Witnesses believe the problem of evil and suffering raises the following issues:

• If there is a God, why does God permit suffering to occur in the world?
• How can we justify the existence of God in light of war, cruelty, crime, poverty, sickness and death?
• If there is a God, does God really care about us?
• Why would a supposedly good God allow suffering to even occur?

Jehovah Witnesses acknowledge the reality of suffering (and evil) in the world, however they also believe that God never intended things to be the way they currently are. In fact, they believe that sometime in the future the world will be set free from suffering, and that it will (once again) be a place of perfection (or paradise). They also believe that the foundations for this are being set in place by God (and those who work on behalf of God in the world - i.e. Jehovah Witnesses).

An example of the type of literature published and distributed by Jehovah Witnesses - this one deals with the issue of suffering (Original source unknown)

Of course, believing that this world is not perfect and that in the future God will renew all things begs the following question:

'If God's purpose was to establish an earthly paradise free from suffering, why did [God] permit bad things to happen in the first place? Why did [God] wait six thousand years until now to correct what is wrong? Might all those centuries of suffering indicate that God does not really care about us, or even that he does not exist?' (An earth free from suffering, www.watchtower.org [Brackets mine])

The Jehovah Witnesses response to the the problem of evil and suffering is largely concerned to address the matter of why God did not to 'wipe the slate clean' and start again, when things began to go wrong.

It should be noted from the quotation above that Jehovah Witnesses believe in a young-earth creation theory of the world. This is the idea that the earth was created around 6,000 years ago, and is based on a literal reading of Genesis 1 where God is said to have created the world in six days. Some theologians believe that this view of the creation of the world is not only un-scientific, but also hinders a viable response to the problem of evil and suffering (for more on this see An Irenaean Theodicy (John Hick)).

Freewill

'God is a God of freedom... [God] knew that we would be happiest with freedom.' (The wonderful gift of freewill, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

For Jehovah Witnesses, understanding why suffering occurs (and has been allowed to occur) begins with the issue of freewill. They believe that freewill is a 'wonderful gift', and that we were created with it because God never wanted us to be moral robots. In fact, having freewill is said to be a fundamental part of our being created in the 'image and likeness' of God (Genesis 1:26). This means we have been given a real choice to live as we want. However, the freedom God gave us was never intended to give us the right to choose to do anything - something Jehovah Witnesses believe would led to social anarchy - but simply a freedom to choose between living as God has decreed, or not.

Jehovah Witnesses make a distinction here between total freedom (freedom to do anything), and relative freedom (freedom to act as God has decreed).

Now choosing to live as God has decreed may seem limited (and limiting) for some (and may even imply that we have little or no choice at all), but for Jehovah Witnesses choosing to live as God has decreed is the only way they believe we are ever going to be truly happy:

'We were created to be happiest when subject to God's laws for human behaviour. It is similar to being subject to God's physical laws. For instance, if we ignore the law of gravity and jump off a high place, we will be injured of killed.' (The wonderful gift of freewill, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

This means that as far as Jehovah Witnesses are concerned, God has created humanity in such as way that they would only be truly happy when they subject themselves to God's laws. In other words, humans were never intended to find happiness and success independently of God (or outside God's will).

So on the basis of these preliminary thoughts in mind, Jehovah Witnesses explain why there is suffering in the world.

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The misuse of freewill

Taking the events of Genesis 3 literally, Jehovah Witnesses believe that suffering has occurred in the world due to the sin of Adam and Eve (what is also known as The Fall). Basically, this is the idea that God gave Adam and Eve the choice to live as God has commanded them, or not. Although they were told that there would be dire consequences for disobedience (' you will surely die' - Genesis 2:17), Adam and Eve are said to have chosen to disobey God - in other words, they took the view that they knew best, rather than God.

'History has shown the correctness of God's warning to Adam and Eve.' (What has been the result of rebellion, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

This view of the origin of evil and suffering echoes The freewill defense by St. Augustine of Hippo. However, whereas the classic Augustinian freewill defence largely concentrates on the matter of disobedience (and the problems which have resulted from this), Jehovah Witnesses hone in on the idea that in choosing to disobey God, God's authority had been challenged by Adam and Eve and this is something God must now address.

Learning to be obedient to God

God wanted humanity to be obedient, because God saw that it was better for people to live this way. However, humanity chose to disobey God, and as such God is now faced with the task of trying to get people to see the error of their ways. So to do this, Jehovah Witnesses believe God must give humanity the opportunity to see that it is futile to try and find happiness apart from God. Therefore, just as God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose to obey or disobey God, so God gives humanity the freedom, the time and the space to continue to make their own choices. Of course, the consequences of this is that God must allow us to make mistakes, and also allow the world to be a place where genuine (real) evil and suffering occurs (due to our mistakes); all so that we might learn to subject ourselves to God's rule.

'Have humans proved to be better rulers than God? If we judge by the record of man's inhumanity to man, surely not... God's permission of human rule for six thousand years forcefully illustrates that man is unable to stop suffering... Worse yet, history has shown that humans independent of God's rule have increased suffering instead of eliminating it.' (What has been the result of rebellion, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

This second aspect of the Jehovah Witnesses response to the problem of evil and suffering echoes the Irenaean theodicy as presented by John Hick. In short, this is the idea that God allows the world to be a place where evil and suffering occurs, in order that we might progress as moral and spiritual beings.

God's long term plan

It is God's intention that humans come to learn that they cannot live happy and successful lives apart from God. However, as God created humans with freewill, this means God cannot force humans to decide this. Therefore, God must give the human race lots of time to come to realise that they cannot do better than God:

'God's permission of suffering has been painful for us. But [God] has taken a long-range view, knowing the good results that will come in the long run.' (What has been the result of rebellion, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

This also means that once humanity has 'learnt its lesson', that there will be no excuse for any rebellion in the future. Were the situation to occur that God's way of doing things was called into question once again, it would not be necessary for thousands of years of suffering to take place in order that people might 'learn to be obedient'. Rather, Jehovah Witnesses believe that once this world has been 'wrapped  up', and that God's rule has been re-established, that a form of legal precedent will have been set in place:

'Because Jehovah has permitted wickedness and suffering at this time, it will have already been amply proved that nothing that is out of harmony with [God] can prosper. It will have been shown beyond doubt that no independent scheme of men or spirit creatures can bring lasting benefits. Hence, God will then be fully justified in swiftly crushing any rebel.' (What has been the result of rebellion, www.watchtower.org [Bracket mine])

So if a rebellion were to occur again, God would no longer be bound by the limits of freewill, or the requirement to give people a chance to learn from their mistakes. God would simply be able to deal with the problem there and then!

Jehovah Witnesses on the problem of evil and suffering (Part 2)

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