The Problem of Pain is Not the Problem

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Ligonier Ministries is highlighting a primer by John H. Gerstner titled “The Problem of Pleasure” here. I am looking forward to the series.


Gerstner is quoted in the first article:

As long as there is sin, there can be no problem of pain. A good God, if He is omnipotent, would have to make the sinner suffer. … Troubled by the non-problem of pain, most people do not feel the real problem. The real difficulty is the problem of pleasure. While in a sinful world, pain is to be expected, and pleasure is not to be expected. We should be constantly amazed at the presence of pleasure in a world such as ours.


The problem is not, “Why do good people suffer?” There are no good people. The problem is “Why do bad people experience pleasure?” The old problem is turned on its ear.

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