COURSE OVERVIEW AND DESCRIPTION:

Suffering has become a constant phenomenon in humanity’s existence. Daily, this can be seen and experienced on the media, on the streets, in our homes, in various countries, and also in our personal lives. When we observe worldwide famine, deaths, earthquakes, and other natural disasters on a global and personal level; we begin to ask ourselves a series of questions. If a perfect God created a perfect world, why is there imperfection in this world? If a good God created a good world, why is there evil in the world? Where does evil and suffering come from anyway? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? If a good God created this world, then why does suffering exists? If a good God exists, why doesn’t he intervene and stop all the evils in this world? The questions are endless and likewise the responses.

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According to LLU’s online course catalogue, the course RELT 557 Theology of Human Suffering, examines suffering and evil in relation to the creative and redemptive purposes of God for this world. During this quarter, we will focus on the formation of students’ theology of human suffering, as well as facilitate an examination of some of these critical concerns as it relates to human suffering in this word.