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Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?

War and Peace (God and the suffering in the world)

By on 25 May 2023

War and Peace (God and the suffering in the world)

Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?

Question to Chat GPT

We ask chat GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer, "Chatty" for short): Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?

Unbelievable, but true! Within less than a minute the answer is there (below in the box). If the program thinks for 3 seconds (the cursor stops and blinks), that's already a long time. Chatty's answer covers the field broadly, is concise and simply worded, and as a whole is well understood ...

Great! - But maybe also a bit boring and pleasing ... But let's have a look right now:

Chatty's answer to the question, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?":

The question of suffering in the world and why an all-powerful and all-good God allows it is a complex and profound question that has long been debated in theology and philosophy. There are various theological and philosophical approaches to answering this question. Here are some possible perspectives:

1. free will:

A common approach is to argue that God has given people free will in order to establish a genuine relationship with them. This means that people have the freedom to make choices that can have both positive and negative consequences. Thus, suffering in the world can be the result of human choices and actions.

2. testing and character building:

Another approach is to assume that suffering in the world is a test or opportunity for character formation. Through challenges and suffering, people can grow, develop compassion, and mature morally.

3. karma and rebirth:

In religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, it is argued that suffering is due to actions in past lives. Present suffering is seen as a consequence of karma, and the task is to step out of the cycle of suffering through spiritual practice and self-knowledge.

4. limited human perspective:

It is also argued that the human perspective is limited and that we are not able to fully understand the wisdom and plans of God. What may appear to be suffering may, from a divine perspective, have a greater purpose or deeper meaning that we cannot grasp.

It is important to note that these are only a few of the many approaches that have been proposed by various theologians and philosophers. Ultimately, the question of suffering in the world remains a complex and often unresolved issue that challenges different belief systems and convictions.

Actually, that says it all, doesn't it ...

Is there anything to add to these comments and if so, what?

The question of the identity of God

Creative Spirit of Man and God

The question "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" is related to the identity of "God," that is, the image that people have of God. This is a conception and therefore an inner, spiritual component. And just as man can put his knowledge, that is, his spirit into a program, so he himself attributes his own creative ability to a higher spiritual reality called "God." 

The Spirit of God, the Spirit in Matter and Chat GPT

Chat GPT as a product of the human mind 

Chat GPT's ("Chatty") answer to the question "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" is quite comprehensive. It is generated by a program created by the mind of man. This contains everything what the human consciousness has produced so or can at least access what is accessible in digital form, - and that is already very much! With it it can create nothing completely new, but it can work on what it finds, thus sort, rearrange and reshape.

Man as the product of the divine spirit

In contrast to the human consciousness (his spirit) the spirit of God as the all-embracing consciousness has unlimited creative powers. (From it the whole existence including the people is supposed to have originated finally).

Man, on the other hand, must struggle through in the limited material reality of separation ("here I, there YOU"; "I man, you woman"; "here the table, there the lamp ...").
The mythological life task of man, however, is to overcome this separation precisely in his limited reality in order to find the great, the whole. By uniting both in himself, spirit ("masculine") and living matter (body, resources, potential, "feminine") he achieves (divine) wholeness, fullness and eternal life. That is the goal.

The spirit of God, male and female: consciousness and life

God as a higher being who has created the existence includes everything what is. God is one, unity and wholeness. Thus God is also male and female. The male side of the spirit of God represents the loving consciousness and the female side of the spirit the living matter. Everything that is came into being from the connection of spirit and matter, father and mother.

God: spirit ( male ) and living matter ( female ) and new reality

Father and Mother, Spirit and Matter

God is one, unity and thus wholeness (cf. Ruach, Spirit of God - male and female.) From this unity of male and female, spirit and matter, new reality is created (s. Male and female and the creation of new reality).

Autocracy of a Male God

However, the question "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" is mainly related to the feminine side of God, which represents living matter. This has already been suppressed for thousands of years (at the time of Babylon), in that shifted the emphasis to legitimate autocracy of a "male" god.

The feminine side: suffering in and on matter

Suffering from death, disease, violence and exploitation affect the whole female-material side of existence, from the very beginning. 

To the great feminine belong: the woman, the people, the earth ...

Receiving and living reality giving birth to matter

The great feminine includes:

  • Women: They can absorb semen and give birth to new life.
  • The human body: It receives impulses from the consciousness ("male") and translates them into words, deeds and new reality.
  • The collective (group, people, the whole of humanity): It reacts to impulses (for example in the form of information such as news) with moods and actions. It also takes up the instructions of the ruler and shapes new reality according to them (carries out instructions, such as building roads).
  • The earth: It takes up seeds and lets grow. In addition it reacts likewise to most different impulses ("spirit"), for example from the cosmos (like solar activity) or to human behavior with global phenomena like climate warming or volcanism and cooling. (Thereby the "cosmos" means in the traditions more than the universe. The element of fire is attributed to it and therefore also divine-spiritual and initiating power, see. The four elements, meaning.)
  • Thewhole of creation: it is given over to transience and thus in the "underworld" (s. The Great Feminine in the Underworld).

 [S. Female wholeness, living matter - potential, reality and destiny..]

The female as living matter can absorb impulses of consciousness ("seed") and give birth to new reality and therefore belongs by definition to the unconscious (s. The conscious and the unconscious and Male and female, the two primordial forces of creation).

Strong femininity eliminated

Since Babylon, moreover, the strong female side of God has been deliberately eliminated from the traditions and mutated into monsters (cf. Introduction to the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic). Thus the only justification of the woman remained still in the figure of the gentle virgin and childbearer.
But even the earliest traditions speak of the great feminine, life itself, having fallen into the underworld. The latter is an image for the realm of shadows and death and unconsciousness. The reason for this is that the masculine, immature and power-oriented god of air claims the sole spiritual dominion (in heaven) for himself and has thus subjugated everything feminine. 

The feminine side of God: life itself ("Mother")

Thereupon, however, the Great Mother received the underworld (symbol of the unconscious and the life in matter), as her domain.. Thus, she became the mistress of life and death, the power in matter and the goddess of destiny.
She judges people and gives them what they deserve.

Austerity, Trials, Judgment and Destiny (Karma and Rebirth)

So 3 out of 4 points in Chatty's remarks concern this female side of God:

Karma and rebirth (3.): The Mistress of the Underworld as Destiny

The goddess as a great mother, in her 3rd aspect

The terms "karma" and "rebirth" belong to the Great Mother in the 3rd aspect of wholeness ("Grandmother"). She appears as a deity of fate and power in nature (forces of nature). As goddess of the underworld she is also mistress of death and life. She takes and gives (new) life.

Character formation and testing (2.) in the material reality (mother)

Living reality (mother, 2nd aspect of the goddess)

As a just judge, the great mother gives man what he deserves in the form of life circumstances (in living reality, as goddess in her 2nd aspect, living matter, from lat. mater = mother). The material circumstances of life can be hard and stony or shining like gold, as for example in the fairy tale Mother Holle ("Goldmarie" and "Pechmarie").

Limited human perspective (4th): Unconsciousness

Life in the unconscious (in the underworld)

Already the over 4000 years old Sumerian tradition thematizes that the Great Mother is in the underworld is. This means that the life itself lies outside of the consciousness of the human being, just in the unconscious (symbolized by the underworld). Therefore, man cannot fully grasp and understand life with all its facets (because, as mentioned, he lacks conscious access to it).

C.G. Jung: Matricide and Crucifixion of the Male Spirit

C.G. Jung left this strong statement about the conflict between the male and female mind [1]:

There is no consciousness without distinction of opposites. This is the father principle of the Logos, which in infinite struggle escapes from the primeval warmth and the primeval darkness of the maternal womb, precisely from unconsciousness. Shunning no conflict, no suffering, no sin, the divine curiosity strives for birth. Unconsciousness is the original sin, the evil par excellence for the Logos. But his world-creating act of liberation is matricide, and the [rational] spirit, which ventured into all heights and depths, must, as Synesius said, also suffer the divine punishments, the bondage to the rock of the Caucasus [image for self-sacrifice, crucifixion, absolute devotion]. Because none can be without the other, because both were one in the beginning and will be one again in the end. Consciousness can only exist with constant recognition and consideration of the unconscious, as all life must go through many deaths [or death].

The masculine side of God: consciousness ("Father")

Freedom as a component of love and trust

Now then to the male side of God, to the consciousness. To this belongs point 1 and the second part of point 2 of Chatty ("character formation"). 

Free will, character formation and compassion as part of consciousness (1. and 2.)

The conscious and free man in the image of God

The human being has a consciousnessthat is, the ability to reflect on himself and his environment, to abstract, to draw conclusions and to give himself instructions. In this way, they can create their own material reality (human consciousness and Male and female and the creation of new reality). To emphasize this, the ancient traditions say that man is "equal to God". He is whole in himself, namely creative spirit and also living matter (feminine: his body and resources), which acts as king in his own life (male, conscious) into a new reality. That is the goal. To this end, however, he must overcome the instincts and the ego which corresponds to the mythological path through the underworld corresponds to the mythological path through the underworld.

Kingship of God (the Spirit) in life

Free will is part of the human consciousness. So it is then also the mythological goal for the human being, with his consciousness over his urges and thus to reach the (eternal) freedom (of the spirit).

The path to the underworld for the integration of the unconscious mind

In the above quotation, C.G. Jung then also mentions the necessity of man to face the unconscious (his drives), which also belong to the feminine side, namely to the life in matter (mother). The conscious man, who has chosen the path of love, goes to the underworld for this purpose, that is, he faces his own shadows and his own death, the ego.

The Heroic Way: Suffering in the Service of Life (the Great Feminine)

This is the path of the true hero, which is the theme of so many traditions in different ways. He accepts suffering and even death for the cause that is greater than himself. Thus integrates the unconscious, life in matter, and attains authority over matter and kingship in his own life (cf. Dying and resurrection: In the Here and Now! and The holy wedding).

The question: WHY or WHEREFOR?

Prosecution of the proud consciousness (male): the question WHY?

So, because the female side of God is "in the underworld" and thus has almost completely disappeared from perception and has been suppressed, man now asks "Why"? With this he asks out of the understanding of his masculine-strategic and proud consciousness by even formulating a hidden accusation: "God allows it. It is his work. He is to blame! Because he does nothing about it ... he could ...".

Acceptance of the circumstances (female): the question WHY?

However, whoever takes into account the feminine side of God, asks less WHY, but rather: WHY? Behind this is a (humble) attitude of acceptance out of trust: "I accept the circumstances and trust that they are the way they have to be, even if I don't understand everything. Therefore, I see how I can make the best of it."

God give me the serenity to accept things that I cannot change,
the courage to change things that can be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.

(Reinhold Niebuhr)

Conclusions:

The law of cause and effect

So the question, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" can be answered with the law of cause and effect, which also comes into play in the realm of the spirit .

God in man: the divine man and the self

Thus, man is called to use his creative consciousness ("FATHER") through his living bodies, to use his resources constructively and thus to shape his life positively ("Mother").

The Holy Spirit of God: Wholeness and Unity of Father and Mother

This oneness of Father and Mother is in the form of the Spirit of God came to mankind, the event that took place on Pentecost celebrated at Pentecost.

The short answer

So the short answer to the question, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" is this:

It is not God who allows suffering. Rather, the human being himself with his consciousness has divine, that is spiritual creative power ("FATHER"). With it he also carries the RESPONSIBILITY for that what he does. In this sense he reaps what he has sown and has to bear the corresponding consequences in his reality ("MOTHER").

Here is a quote from the Bible (NT Gal 6:7):

Do not be deceived! God will not be mocked. For what a man sows, that shall he also reap.

So the question, "Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?" would be better rephrased differently, namely:

Why does man, who is called to divine life, allow so much suffering in the world?

Does God allow so much suffering in the world? (Tank in flower meadow)

Further contributions:

The Great Feminine, Life Itself, in the Underworld
The path through the underworld (integration of the shadows)

Male and female, the two primordial forces of creation.
God, wholeness, 3-in-1, male and female
Female wholeness 3-in-1: potential, reality and destiny
Male wholeness 3-in-1, father - son - spirit
Male and female and the creation of new reality
The conscious and the unconscious
The sacred marriage (integration of the unconscious)

The drive
The ego, the identity of separation

The human consciousness
The hero's path, the path of love
- Phase 5: The trial by fire - purification, dying of the ego
Dying and rising again: In the here and now!
The path through the underworld

Kingship in life
Authority over matter
50, Pentecost, authority and prophecy
Ruach, Spirit of God - male and female

The dark fairy as goddess of fate
Volcanoes, the mountain of fate and the great mother

Mentioned traditions:

The Babylonian Gilgamesh epub
- Chumbaba
- The Bull of Heaven

Footnotes:

[1] C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 9/I, "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious," p. 110, § 178.

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