Pain: A Biblical Perspective

Several painful events over the last few years have led me to think about pain from a biblical perspective. Pain: A Biblical Perspective considers pain from bliss in God to bliss in Eden, to the fall into sin and the entrance of pain into the world, to a future in which pain is no more. Several Old Testament perspectives on pain are discussed: suffering for the sake of others; suffering for the glory of God; pain as God’s discipline; innocent suffering; the futility of life that ends in death; the need to repent of the pain we cause to others; and psalms of lament as a means of expressing pain to God. The New Testament perspective is that Jesus, in his life, death and resurrection, has dealt with the underlying cause of pain, namely human sin. Because of this those who trust in Christ can have hope for an eternal future without pain.