The Problem of Suffering : A Father's Hope

The Problem of Suffering is a superb resource to share and to use with anyone suffering any form of loss. It is honest, straightforward, expressive, evocative of much reflection and insight, and linked closely to the suffering Savior. Author Gregory Schulz speaks as a Christian father, sharing the very personal, difficult struggle of dealing with years of pain, suffering, and questions. As he shares his struggle, he bares his soul with a jarring honesty seldom heard in the church. His protest is against "God's abusive actions," and it rings true to anyone who's suffering of body or spirit.

Also included is an epilogue of prayers and poems written by sufferers.

From the Foreword

Warning: After you've read this book you'll never be the same again. You will be challenged by its intellectual depth, encouraged by its spiritual consolation, and blown away by its honesty. Like a roller-coaster, it will lift you to dizzying heights of insight, plunge you down into the deepest imaginable human pain, then lift you out again into hope.

Pain and suffering come in different sizes and intensities for different people, but they come inevitably to us all. A lot of ink has been spilled over the centuries on the so-called "problem of evil," but there's not much help in that. Anyone who has personally experienced the mind-numbing and gut-wrenching impact of suffering, pain, or loss can tell you the last thing anyone needs in the midst of that mess is intellectual reflection and explanation. What you need is the honest truth. And such honesty is rarely pleasant.

Gregory Schulz is professor of philosophy at Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor and holds earned doctorates in theology. He is also a senior officer in the U. S. Air Force's Civil Air patrol where he teaches and is qualified in search and rescue.