Page "Problem of evil" Paragraph 68

Professor of Religious Studies Bart D. Ehrman argues that different parts of the Bible give different answers.

One example is evil as punishment for sin or as a consequence of sin.

Ehrman writes that this seems to be based on some notion of free will although this argument is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible.

Another argument is that suffering ultimately achieves a greater good, possibly for persons other than the sufferer, that would not have been possible otherwise.

The Book of Job offers two answers: suffering is a test, and you will be rewarded later for passing it ; another that God is not held accountable to human conceptions of morality.

Ecclesiastes sees suffering as beyond human abilities to comprehend.