"If there were no God, the world as it is would be all right. It is only the desire, the passion, the thirst for God which turns suffering into conscious pain and turns the consciousness of pain into a protest against suffering" (Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom). "The more a person believes, the more deeply he experiences pain over the suffering in the world, and the more passionately he asks about God and the new creation" (Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom). "Although 'theoretical atheism' was unknown in the Old Testament period, Israel was afflicted from time to time with the feeling that Yahweh had abandoned his people" (Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament). "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast" (Psalm 22:14-15, NRSV). "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested" (Heb. 2:18, NRSV). "We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:22-24, NRSV). Holiness Today, March/April 2008

 

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