The Question that Never Goes Away by Philip Yancey
“Why are you shocked and upset? What else should we expect
from an impersonal universe of random indifference?”
Suffering is a problem. Whether you are an atheist, extreme
fundamentalist or somewhere in between, there is a basic need to answer the
question of suffering. Why does it happen? What should we do when it happens? Every
religion will give you a different response, even in Christianity there is no
one accepted response to suffering. Scripture is filled with suffering and
people inadequate responses.
I have read many books on pain and suffering. C.S. Lewis is probably
the best thinker and author to approach the subject, but Philip Yancey is a
very close second place. Yancey has written several classics on suffering including
Where is God When it Hurts? and Disappointment with God. This newer
title The Question that Never Goes Away continues
the conversation.
Over the past decades, we have experienced some of the
biggest atrocities history has ever seen. Tsunamis have destroyed
civilizations. Terrorists have slaughtered thousands and terrified the world.
Gunmen have made our schools combat zones. In these moments, we have looked
around and simply yet forcefully asked, “Why?”
Unlike man theologians, Yancey does not try to answer the
question. It is foolish to do so. Some “Christian” personalities have blamed
these catastrophes on our unfaithfulness or the country’s sinfulness. This is
the same method fabricated by Job’s friends during his experience. It is
downright foolish to try to make sense of it all.
So what is God’s response to suffering? Fortunately we have
a God that has responded. How did Jesus respond to suffering? He definitely did
not dole out feel-good philosophies or convenient theology, instead he healed
people and suffered alongside them with compassion. Yancey adds, “No other
religion has this model of God identifying so deeply and compassionately with
humanity.” Usually, the people who observe suffering reject God, but the people
who experience suffering need God.
This is a short yet difficult book to read. Yancey does not candy-coat
the topic, he fills the book with devastating stories of sufferings, but it is
a good reminder that there is a problem but much bigger solution. Once you flip
the question around, things make a little more sense, “Where is no-God when it
hurts?”
I definitely recommend this book especially after you have
read Yancey’s previous works mentioned.
