A MONSTROUS GOD
10 minutes
Play the Stephen Fry clip (found here). Ask what the group agree / disagree with?
OTHER WORLDVIEWS
10 minutes
Explain that you will briefly explore different approaches to suffering (which are, inevitably, generalisations). After each explanation, discuss whether that worldview is workable.
Atheism - Ask: Does removing God make the problem of suffering go away? Richard Dawkins in River out of Eden says, ‘The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.’ If we remove God, there is no order to life or reason behind how we got here. There is no one to call on to help or blame. Even asking ‘why?’ misses the point; that imposes meaning on a meaningless universe. In an atheist outlook, you’re your only hope.
Eastern religions - Say: We suffer because of our craving, desire or attachment to this physical world. Because Hindus and Buddhists believe in reincarnation, this problem doesn’t end when we die. The solution is to get rid of earthly desires, suppress individuality and take ourselves out of the world. The Buddhist concept of Nirvana literally means ‘nothingness’. To eliminate suffering, we have to wipe out parts of our character.
Islam - Say: Islam claims that all events are directly controlled or willed by Allah. Allah is the only one powerful enough to save you from your suffering, but if he has willed it, you cannot question his will: that is blasphemy.
Many people think that God causes suffering. But the Judeo-Christian God is not a vindictive kid with a magnifying glass and an insect: Judaism and Christianity emphatically stress that God is good. The biblical perception of suffering is that it is very real but also very wrong: it is not life as God intended. We suffer because we’ve rejected God’s good plan for our lives; when we said no to God, suffering crept in, causing a broken world.
KEY POINT 1
You are not suffering because God doesn’t love you.
JESUS’ LIFE
10 minutes
Read The Magician’s Nephew extract (found here) (For context, Digory’s mother is dying of cancer.) Ask: what’s the shortest verse in the bible? (John 11:35, ‘Jesus wept.’) But Jesus didn’t just weep; the literal translation means ‘to snort like an angry horse.’ Jesus was furious at evil, death and suffering - the enemies of God. Stephen Fry asks why we should respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God and the answer is that we shouldn’t. These attributes describe someone else entirely (seen in 1 Peter 5:8): this is not the God that we believe in. Jesus’ life shows us that God not only knows about but actually experienced every human emotion.
JESUS WEEPS
5 minutes
Read out news articles and respond, ‘Jesus weeps.’ Sprinkle water over the articles, signifying Jesus’ tears. Close with prayer, thanking God that he cares (perhaps play a track like ‘God of this city’).
JESUS’ DEATH
10 minutes
Show a picture of Jesus’ death (examples here). Read the Jesus of the Scars extract (found here). Say: no other God has wounds. Jesus experienced the ultimate suffering, the one we’re most afraid of, death. Ask: why did Jesus have to die? Why couldn’t God just click his fingers and forgive everyone? Because all forgiveness costs something. Share an example of this from here.
Say: God’s forgiveness was costly. Someone had to pay for our rebellion, for the mess that consequently came into the world. Read Isaiah 53:3-6. Forgiveness is costly and Jesus paid the ultimate cost: his life How do we judge something’s worth? By its cost. How much did the world mean to God? Show the How much? picture (found here). Stephen Fry’s main objection in this clip seems to be God’s character, ‘He is monstrous.’ But that is not the God we see when we look at the cross. The crucifixion may not make sense of our suffering, but it does show us a loving God, broken for our sake, who can be trusted.
Use a red marker to draw a cross over the news articles. Thank God for his sacrifice and love (maybe end with worship e.g ‘The cross stands above it all’).
KEY POINT 2
God, whose own heart was pierced, draws close to the broken-hearted.
JESUS’ RESURRECTION
15 minutes
Play the Aslan clip from (found here). Say: Jesus’ life and death show us God loves us and is with us in our suffering, but his resurrection provides a way out. Because of the resurrection, death is not the end. Read 1 Corinthians 15:17-19.
Fry believes, ‘The moment you banish (God), your life becomes more worth living.’ But banishing God just removes hope. If this world is not as God originally created it to be, it is certainly not how he intends to leave it - read Revelation 21:4.
We don’t believe in the God that Stephen Fry doesn’t believe in either. Our God is not a monster; he is gentle enough to wipe the tears from our eyes.
WRAP UP
5 minutes
Show the crying child picture (found here). Ask: what do you think this child needs? She doesn’t need answers, she needs comfort. Christianity doesn’t give us a perfect answer to the problem of suffering but it does give us a person; a God who picks us up and holds us in our pain.
Ask your group to write a hurt (either theirs or someone else’s) on a plaster and stick it on the cross. Draw all the prayers together and maybe worship together (perhaps using ‘Cornerstone’).
