When Suffering Persists

by Schmidt, Frederick W., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780819218292
• ISBN10: 0819218294
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: Morehouse Pub Co

Summary

Sometimes pain passes quickly and small losses are easily absorbed. But when suffering goes on and on, for people of faith, the resulting crisis can be deeper and more destructive than the loss itself. We look for ways to comfort those who are hurting. But sometimes, in spite of our good intentions, the clichés and simplistic theology we offer only add to the pain and misery. In When Suffering Persists, Frederick W. Schmidt presents a pastoral exploration of ways to understand suffering theologically, offering an approach that ministers to both mind and spirit. He questions the value of our usual comforting words and examines the pat explanations we give one another. He provides instead a theology that takes seriously the devastating character of suffering, allowing for real help to those who continue in pain. Morehouse Publishing.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Having Suffered
My Stories, Yours, and Ours	1	(16)
Running the Risk of Conversation
Why We Need to Develop a Theology of Suffering	17	(22)
Cold Comfort
Answers That Might Work, but Probably Don't	39	(22)
God Is Great, God Is Good
The Origins of Cold Comfort	61	(22)
A Theology of Candor
Toward a Theology That Acknowledges Suffering Persists	83	(28)
Embracing the Suffering of Others
Creating a Caring Community	111	(14)
Notes	125