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Many studies on religious coping have explored the relationship between religious resources and health outcomes, particularly the mitigation or management of pain and suffering. However, Catholics hold certain positive beliefs about suffering that are largely incompatible with attitudes prevailing today. The doctrine of redemptive suffering holds that human suffering, when accepted and offered to God through prayer, can lead to redemption in the supernatural realm. This article draws on qualitative research involving 27 Catholic patients and examines their responses to pain and suffering with reference to the concept of otherworldly rewards proposed by the rational choice theory (RCT) of religion. We focus on Catholic patients' modes of thinking. The primary findings are as follows: First, when Catholic patients use religious resources to reduce pain and suffering, most of them demonstrate what RCT calls calculative reasoning. Second, regarding the belief in redemptive suffering, many Catholic patients do not take supernatural meanings seriously; in particular, they are not quite able to accept that "God's care and plan" can include serious illnesses. Those who finally accept the doctrine initially exhibit calculative reasoning and then gradually transform their negative thinking about suffering through the exercise of virtue. We conclude that otherworldly rewards and religious virtue both play roles in Catholics' responses to suffering, with the latter being particularly significant as it complements RCT in the study of religious action at the micro-individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses human failure as depicted in the Psalms in terms of interpersonal relationships and in the relationship with God, and based on this tenets how people can still take refuge in failure. Topics include how King David measured the distance from God in despair and wrote the Psalms; and how the Psalms presuppose an existing relationship with God, be it individually or collectively as a member of God's people, with whom God has made a covenant.

The article reflects on the failure of the conversation between Job and his friends at the time of his suffering. Topics include the efforts of friends to comfort and express sympathy to Job; the portrayal of the suffering of the righteous in the book of Job; the argument claiming how good behavior has good effects, while bad behavior has negative consequences; and how Job's suffering raises the theodicy question: if God is good, where does suffering of innocents come from.

The article discusses reimagined conception of Christian suffering with Julian of Norwich. It mentions that inadequate theologies of suffering exploit oppressed people's desire for justice by offering some metaphysical prize that will unfortunately not arrive within he oppressed person's lifetime. It reveals that Julian of Norwich's writings offer a sample of Late-Medieval beliefs, who was ordained as an anchoress after having received visions of Christ's Crucifixion.

This article argues that doing theology in the context of diaspora is inseparable from people's experiences in their materiality, contemporaneity, and heterogeneity. Diasporic experience, and in this case, the particularity of diasporic Hongkongers, not only helps broaden our horizons, but also provides new understanding of suffering and salvation, and casts light on the journey toward a theo‐diasporic space. In this space, theologians and church leaders are motivated to deepen theological reflection through the diasporic lens and destabilize epistemic structures that gives false hope and certainty. This ever‐expanding space inevitably deterritorializes our theological orientation and meanwhile, invites more vigorous discussion on diasporic subjectivity and its potentiality in the imaginative construction of theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that if the African church is to make a meaningful contribution to human survival, livelihood, and dignity in post‐Covid‐19, it must reclaim and reconstitute the Christ of the marginalized and excluded who joins them in their suffering, struggles, and hopes for a liberated and emancipated post‐Covid‐19 Africa. This requires a passionate commitment to rethinking the idea of Christ as a critical resource to mobilize the masses for transformation and bettering their social contexts. The article concludes that the apparent contradiction between Christocapitalist Christian faith and the historical struggles of the masses reveals the underlying contradiction within most churches' conceptions of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Suffering is that arduous, infrequent opening without reservations to the anomalous that resides within us, to that inexhaustible heteronomy that constitutes us and from which we try to escape by seeking shelter in intolerance for what is different, in submission to dogma, through servitude to the similar" (Kovadloff, 2008, p. 11). This article addresses the theme of suffering in relation to the capacity for agency by examining the experiences of a parish priest who played a key role in the emergence of Christian Base Communities in the central-western region of Mexico, particularly on the southern periphery of Guadalajara, Jalisco, during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Padre Juan's involvement led him to promote political and organizational process grounded in reclaiming "the preferential option for the poor." Christian Base Communities in Guadalajara functioned as catalysts of a diverse range of collective actions, while also serving as venues for ongoing conflict between conservative and progressive clergy responding to the proposal of a Church "incarnated in social reality" put forth by the Second Vatican Council. Padre Juan's adherence to this alternative movement has come with the consequences of persecution, exclusion, and punishment. His stances and practices have resulted in continual conflict with the Church hierarchy, placing him in a position of suffering, but hopeful, interconnectedness with the religious institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catholic Church's evangelizing and healing presence throughout the world also entails the unintended reinforcement of cultural forces of misogyny that contribute to the suffering of women. This presents an urgent ethical imperative for the church to examine and reform its patriarchal structures of decision-making, ministry, and worship. Ecofeminist epistemologies and Schillebeeckx's theory of the proportional norm are employed in a movement through the steps of a theological reflection process that the author learned in collaboration with women theologians from Latin America. The symbolic paradigm guiding the movement is the Lukan Gospel's bent-over woman, standing up straight and glorifying God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the outstanding poetic achievements of the French Counter-Reformation is the sonnet sequence of Jean de La Ceppède (1550-1623), the full title of which isLes Théorèmes sur le sacré mystère de notre Rédemption, and which appeared in a form whose combination of intense formal focus and broad narrative development is particularly appropriate to the subject. The collection, published in two stages (dating from 1613 and 1622) is at once erudite, physical, penitential and precise, under which broad headings it is discussed in the first part of this article, which concentrates on the detailed attention accorded to the specifics of Christ’s suffering body before and during the Crucifixion, often in a strikingly painterly fashion. Two other features stand out: first, the existence of frequently very extensiveAnnotations, in which the whole panoply of patristic and later erudition is applied to features of the episodes depicted; and, then, the potential for their evocation to serve as meditational and penitential stimuli for the poet persona and, through him, for the reader. The second part of the article turns to the status of the wounds of Christ in the post-Resurrection appearances, as a means of restoring to the risen body some of the previous physical beauty implicitly evoked in the earlier pieces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of suffering in 16th century Lutheran devotional books in relation to the impact of the Protestant Reformation on the theology of the human body. Topics include religious leader Martin Luther's views about suffering and penance, the role of the Passion of religious figure Jesus Christ in Lutheran views of suffering, and Lutheran practical advice on suffering.

The article focuses on the life and sufferings of Christian women mystics Catherine of Siena and Mother Teresa of Kolkatta, India. Topics discussed include mystical experience of Catherine and Teresa in relationship to Christology, Catherine's life as a 14th-century Dominican tertiary, Catherine's teaching on spiritual development, and Teresa's belief in redemptive suffering with Christ as consisting of her darkness. Also mentioned is Teresa's founding of the Missionaries of Charity.

Anthropology's approach to answering the question of the role of suffering in our lives is limited to empirical data and at best describes an individual's capability to endure it and make sense of it. Levinas was at odds to find meaning in suffering once it had exceeded certain proportions. Various cultures demonstrate greater and lesser capacities for integrating corporate suffering when it has crossed a significant threshold (e.g. Israeli Holocaust survivors, Canadian-Cambodian Khmer Rouge survivors, and their descendants). What is the role of ritual and productive suffering in revealing meaning in suffering? Some examples are drawn from the experiences of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. Drawing from Dr. Eleonore Stump's exploration of second-person narratives and relationships, a Christian philosophical-theological response is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores John bar Penkaye's "Book of Main Points" and the anonymous "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius," two texts written by Eastern Christians during the early Muslim expansion, using theodicy at the margins as a tool under which theodicy concerns itself with belief in God within a specific instance of suffering and oppression. Topics covered include theological approach used by the authors to understand Islamic conquest and the Muslim invasion as punishment for the Christian people.

An essay is presented on evolution of the universe based on the Genesis narrative of the bible. It offers view on God's relationship to the suffering endemic in an evolving cosmos, theologians trust that creatures themselves involved in risks including chaos, conflict and catastrophe. It describes theological proposals which suggests God's engagement, investment, and involvement in creation of universe.

Christian theology has constantly taken an interest in the question of suffering. I want to do so once more in the hope that my approach will help to deepen this reflection. My hypothesis concerns the identification of God with all victims of injustice and violence. I believe that developing this approach can benefit the theology of the God presented in Judaeo-Christian revelation. To this end this article looks at some contemporary theologies, European and Latin American. At the end I shall try to indicate some ways forward for reflection on this important theological question today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the reason for the positive disposition that Paul apparently exhibited with respect to his weakness and the sufferings that it entailed. He not only boasts of his weaknesses but even delights in them. He even makes a paradoxical declaration, 'When I am weak, then I am strong.' The article argues that the key to unlocking the paradoxical relation of power and weakness in Paul' s existential statement and in understanding the resilience of Paul in the face of the many sufferings that he had to endure is the assurance of the dynamic grace of Christ. Paul is made to understand through the divine response to his prayer, the only recorded oratio recta of the Risen Christ in the whole Pauline literature, that the empowering grace of Christ remains present and operative in times of weakness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on German theologist Martin Luther's theology of the cross in the Bremen Church Order (BCO) of 1534. Topics discussed include Luther's reference to the suffering and cross of Jesus Christ; the BCO, which states that the evangelical preacher condemns human righteousness, glory and wisdom, and bears witness to Jesus Christ; and BCO's chapter "About the Cross" which states that Christians may expect "Cross and Suffering" as part of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

From theological and philosophical viewpoints living life can be described as a mystery, which intensifies when suffering or adversity unexpectedly strikes. The martyrs' cry for justice in their suffering (Rev 6) sketches the typical situation of the mystery of theodicy. The penetrating question is not to dare giving a so-called "final" answer to this problem, but also not to shrink back as researcher to investigate the issue. The reality of human suffering has to be accepted. The sensitivity of the issue, narrated in the books of Job and Revelation, compels the researcher to be meticulously cautious and not to be too ambitious, particularly in drawing biblical and theological conclusions about God. After plotting different explanations to account for human suffering, the "why" question is theologically analysed. Coming to grips with the impact and hermeneutical functionality of divine mystery helps the researcher to get behind the mystery of divine theodicy. This is followed by the outcome of the research in the convergence of the function of divine mystery and theodicy in human suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on transformative suffering in terms of cultivation and exercise of virtues including edification and potentially transformative (PT) theologies. Topics discussed include claims in common to edificationism and PT theologies such as intrinsically negative character of suffering regardless of positive edifying potential, suffering being potentially edifying or transformative, and positive potential of suffering being contingent upon sufferers' response to suffering.

Gregory Nazianzen spoke of a suffering Christ ‘who became weak for us’ in the context of an oration, On Love of the Poor, which dealt at length with the extreme suffering the lepers had endured. The outcasts of the ancient world, lepers figured prominently in Jesus’ ministry as recorded in the Gospels. By juxtaposing their human suffering with divine weakness, Gregory implied that Christ had suffered with the lepers. The comparison not only gave meaning to the human experience of suffering, it also explored the extent of Christ's suffering in the divine economy. There was no affliction too grotesque for Christ to have assumed.Throughout his life, Gregory developed a notion of collective suffering which is relevant to understanding the magnitude of the suffering of Christ. It made the limitless suffering of humanity seem manageable and contained. It normalised the overwhelming sense of misery by expanding individual suffering into the suffering of the group, the suffering of the group into the suffering of neighbours and finally the suffering of neighbours into the collective suffering of the body of Christ. Christ then experienced the fullness of the human condition as the head of this body.The lepers served a purpose in this vision of collective suffering. By making the lepers a synecdoche for all human suffering, Gregory allowed Christ to assume their misery without his listeners having to imagine Christ suffering every aspect of their physical and emotional distress. This transference of collective suffering to the body of Christ worked in the following way: the individual suffering of the leper flowed into the collective suffering of the group, which connected with, and was incorporated into, the collective suffering of the Christian body. The result was a relationship of mutual imitation between Christ and humanity. It implied that human beings suffered with Christ, and that Christ suffered with human beings.By integrating literary techniques and contexts into theological analysis, this article examines the various ways in which Gregory construed the suffering of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Of the many problems which evolutionary theodicy tries to address, the ones of animal suffering and extinction seem especially intractable. In this essay, I show how C. D. Broad's growing block conception of time does much to ameliorate the problems. Additionally, I suggest it leads to another way of understanding the soul. Instead of it being understood as a substance, it is seen as a history-a history which is resurrected in the end times. Correspondingly, redemption, I argue, should not be seen as an event which redeems some future portion of time. God's triumph is over all of history, not just some future temporal portion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suffering can generate the disorienting experience of a deep void within and an accompanying question "Who am I?" I explore the way in which silent attending to this experience transforms suffering into an awareness of a luminous core of consciousness. There are remarkable similarities between the ways in which commentators from Christian and Hindu traditions account for the phenomenon of our luminous centre. The Jesuit theologian, Bernard Lonergan, and the Hindu sage, Ramana Maharshi, both point to the value of focused attention upon our experience of consciousness. Comparative theologian, Francis X. Clooney, helps us to navigate through the terrain of material drawn from such disparate traditions. We discover that silent attentiveness to the depths of our consciousness not only provides an embodied, existential answer to the question "Who am I?" but also opens out into the silent, luminous, loving presence of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the conversion of French philosopher, mystic and writer to Christianity. It provides the author's Weltanshauung or thought-world and offers a description of such words as affliction, necessity, obedience and decreation. Other topics discussed include her refusal to enter the Roman Catholic Church and her opinion on baptism in the church.

The article offers the author's insights on various phrases in the biblical book of Romans for people with sufferings. The author discusses five misconceptions about suffering which include that suffering is a competitive sport, the symbol of the cross as a God's way of silencing people about their suffering, and the experience of suffering which always means that something needs to be forgiven.

From songs, sermons and practices, this article examines the way Ghanaian Pentecostals address the question of evil and suffering. It approaches this from the perspective of common believers and leadership. The discussions reveal that there are multiple understandings, perceptions and interpretative tensions concerning how to cope with evil among Ghanaian Pentecostals. Whereas common believers approach it through what Opoku Onyinah calls 'witchdemonology', leadership considers this as inadequate. This is because common believers fail to understand the role of evil and suffering in human existence. As such they tend to promote the devil far above the Almighty God. According to leadership the presence of evil may not necessarily contradict God's goodness and purpose. The paper concludes with some Biblical propositions in an attempt to resolve the apparent tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the book "The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius is presented. It examines the self-representations of meaningful suffering by the author and how he orients his readers toward God. It discusses the implications of the first-person usage in the book and the relationship between Boethius' persona, life, and writings.

This article argues that the double negative form of the ‘disclosure formula’ in 2 Cor 1.8 (οὐ … θέλομεν ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν) is not merely a stylistic variation on θέλομεν ὑμᾶς γινώσκειν but performs the additional rhetorical function of disavowing any attempt on Paul's part to hide the story of his sufferings from the church in Corinth. The transition from 1.8–11 to 1.12–14 (which many commentators struggle to explain) thus becomes a smooth and obvious one, suggesting a close interconnection between Paul's defence of his transparency and integrity in 1.12–2.13 and his apology for his sufferings in 2.14–7.4. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the reconquest of Islamic territories on the Spanish March, Iberian lands witnessed a religious transformation enacted by the Christian victors and characterised by the resurgence of devotion to both old and new saintly figures. The present article explores how the music of saints represents, and thus interprets, issues related to violence and suffering so prevalent on the frontier. The chants for prominent saints in the area, Paul of Narbonne, Eulalia of Barcelona and Saturninus of Toulouse, are explored here in relation to how words and music interacted to illustrate the saints' position in relation to violence and suffering. Musical analyses trace how the topoi of orthodoxy in faith and confronting bloodshed with devout resolution are cast in the chants of earlier styles to those of the late twelfth century. Differences in musical depictions of these subjects underscore how the saints, in their changing sonic personae, were made to engage with the realities confronting Christian frontier communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Thomas F. Torrance and Karl Barth speak of the obedience of the Son as a condescension of the Son to become incarnate for our sakes. Thus there is wide agreement between them with regard to both the doctrines of atonement and the Trinity. Yet, despite the fact that Barth never wavered in his rejection of subordinationism and modalism and always affirmed the freedom of God's love, he also claimed that there ‘is in God Himself an above and a below, a prius and a posterius, a superiority and a subordination’,1 while Torrance unequivocally refused to read elements of the economy, such as the ideas of super and subordination and a before or after, back into the immanent Trinity. By comparing the thinking of Barth and Torrance on this issue, I hope to show why I think Barth illegitimately read back elements of the economy into the immanent Trinity, thus creating confusion where clarity would help us see that what God does for us in the economy is and remains an act of free grace which becomes obscured when any sort of hierarchy is introduced into the Trinity.Both theologians thoroughly agree that what God is towards us in the economy, he is eternally in himself and what he is eternally in himself, he is towards us in the economy. But, there is a difference between them over how to interpret this insight, since Barth thinks super and subordination should be ascribed to the immanent Trinity. While Torrance, like Barth, will argue that the incarnation and Christ's mediatorial activity fall ‘within the life of God’, he also insists that the incarnation cannot in any way be confused with the generation of the Son from the Father in eternity. Barth would agree; yet this important distinction becomes fuzzy when he ascribes subordination and obedience to the eternal Son as a basis for his actions ad extra.This article will develop in four sections. First, I will discuss the obedience of the Son as condescension for Torrance and Barth. Second, I will consider the implications of the Extra Calvinisticum for each theologian's view of the obedience of the Son and of the Trinity. Third, I will explore how each theologian attempts to avoid subordinationism and modalism indicating the problems which arise in Barth's thinking in connection with these views. Fourth, I will compare Torrance and Barth, showing that Torrance more consistently maintains God's freedom and love by not reading back elements of the economy into the life of the immanent Trinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Testament's two pictures of divine intercession, that of the risen Christ interceding at the right hand of God (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25) and that of the Holy Spirit interceding from within believers’ hearts (Rom 8:26–7), offer additional perspective on the difficult issue of how God comes in touch with human suffering. Romans 8:26–7 connects the Spirit's intercession with the experience of human suffering, and through its reference to groaning implies that the Spirit communicates something of the believer's felt experience of weakness to God. Hebrews links Christ's high priestly work, including his intercessory activity, with his experience of struggle, thereby implying that he brings the needs of weak and pressured believers to God with an empathy born of direct experience of suffering. These scriptural pictures open a fruitful path for theological reflection, suggesting that God comes to know human suffering not simply by unmediated divine knowledge, or even by the bare fact of the divine Son's incarnation, but also in a mediated fashion, through complementary actions of Christ and the Spirit best described as acts of intercession.Applying a model of thought which emphasises the intercessory activities of Christ and the Spirit to the problem of divine passibility has a number of advantages. First, it coheres well with New Testament patterns for describing the roles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Christ's intercession is rooted in his incarnation and distinctive redemptive mission, while the Spirit's intercession emerges from his redemptive indwelling. Second, its picture of God knowing human suffering through the mediated process of intercession suggests that God maintains his freedom and holiness even as he gets in touch with human suffering. Third, the intercession model may shed additional light on how the sufferings of the incarnate Son touch or otherwise relate to the Father. Fourth, the Bible's pictures of divine intercession suggest that God is brought in touch with two dimensions of human suffering: the objective reality of human affliction (mediated through Christ's intercession) and the subjective experiences of afflicted people (mediated through the Spirit's intercession). Finally, these scriptural pictures of intercession orient our thoughts about the question of passibility in a pastoral direction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, James D. Hunter offers an alternative to prominent Christian strategies to change the world and the theologies and theories of cultural change that support them. Rather than seeking to change the world, a goal Hunter considers misguided, Hunter's proposal for “faithful presence” seeks to honor God by “being fully present” to “each other…to our tasks…within our spheres of influence” (243–247). This review essay places this proposal in conversation with political theologies on the margins, noting important points of convergence and divergence. It argues that engagement with feminist theologies would alleviate a residual church/world dualism that persists in Hunter's reflections on culture; attention to feminist and womanist critiques of redemptive suffering would allow Hunter to more thoroughly embrace his concern for “the least privileged” and the “most disadvantaged” (271); and attention to King would allow Hunter to preserve an appropriate place for politics as Christian praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the problem of evil in early modern England, particularly in the years 1620 to 1660, examining Protestant theodicy and the doctrine of providence. It comments on themes including the suffering of God's children, the work of the Devil, and the prosperity of wicked people. The author considers divine benevolence and the application of theodicy to reports of battles and tales of judgements. The views of several Protestant writers of the period are considered, including Edward Cradocke and George Hakewill.

Forgiveness and hope are arguably key concepts in Christian theology, yet little has been written exploring the connections between these two words. For those who have experienced suffering inflicted by others, forgiveness and hope are important. This article draws together the reflections of Christians who have supported trauma survivors and the theology of Moltmann to re-examine the notion of forgiveness and hope in Christian theology. By so doing, the article proposes an alternative way of looking at the offering of forgiveness and explores why forgiveness is ultimately an act of hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article presents the author's insights on the Twenty-third Psalm, which is perhaps the most-known, beloved, and used of all the psalms. The author states that the Twenty-third psalm is written in the form of a lament, which is typically written in the five-part structure including an invocation of God, description of affliction, and profession of trust. Moreover, the Twenty-third Psalm is associated with funerals and is a traditional part of Yizkor, a memorial service for lost loved ones.

The article looks at books by Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo, including "Confessions" and "De Trinitate," examining his aesthetic theory of theatrical images of suffering and its relation to his theology. Topics include Augustine's aesthetic theory in relation to Platonism, his views on soteriology and the cross in relation to suffering, and his relation to the phenomenological thought of philosopher Martin Heidegger.

The church has an essential role to play in communities riddled with poverty, disease, and despair. Communities in informal-settlement areas suffer a great deal. Churches in these communities are often small and have few means for alleviating poverty. In the Bible, the community of God is a community of love. Although there are instances of retribution in the Old Testament, there are clear instances where the community of God experiences the implications of love for one's neighbour. In the New Testament, the essence of the church is to be the community of love. Congregations in Mangaung's informal settlements bring a message of hope by being the community of love in their area. The church can become the true messenger of God's hope in informal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]