LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- Biblical scholar Dr. Frank Hansel has challenged Christians to view suffering through the lens of Scripture, telling thousands of church leaders gathered at Babcock University that God’s goodness remains unchanged despite pain and evil in the world.
At the West-Central Africa Division (WAD) Bible Conference and Leadership Summit held at Babcock University, more than 3,000 church leaders, pastors and scholars from 22 countries gathered to examine one of Christianity’s most enduring questions: Why does a good God allow suffering?
The summit, themed “Grounded in the Bible, Focused on the Mission,” featured a keynote presentation by Frank Hansel of the General Conference Biblical Research Institute, who examined what the Bible says about human suffering and the character of God.
Describing the subject as one of the most challenging issues in Christian theology, Hansel acknowledged that believers and non-believers alike continue to wrestle with the apparent contradiction between a loving God and a world filled with pain.
“This is one of the most difficult questions to answer. People always ask how a perfectly good God can exist amidst the pain and suffering in this world,” Hansel said.
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The Bible scholar explained that the challenge often stems from humanity’s limited ability to understand the nature of an infinite God, comparing it to trying to describe love to someone who has never experienced it.
He also rejected what he described as three common but misleading explanations for suffering.
These include suggesting that God is not completely good or all-powerful, arguing that evil is necessary to reveal God’s goodness, or claiming that God’s goodness is inconsistent.
He therefore explained that the Bible consistently presents God as eternally good despite the presence of suffering.
“The Bible does not minimize pain. But it does affirm that God’s character is not in question because of our pain,” he added.
According to the scholar, Scripture teaches that evil entered the world through humanity’s misuse of free will.
He argued that genuine love can only exist where people are free to choose, adding that the ongoing struggle between good and evil is temporary and will ultimately come to an end.
Hansel further addressed the belief in the immortality of the soul, saying such a teaching conflicts with the character of a loving God.
He maintained that the Bible does not support the idea of endless human suffering, stressing instead that evil and suffering will eventually be destroyed.
