If God is both great and good, why is the world he created filled with so much pain and suffering? The aim of this paper is to serve as a resource for pastors as they endeavor to help church members “process” this critical question in a way that not only strengthens their personal faith commitment to Christ, but also inspires them to become personally involved in ministry activities that both directly and indirectly serve to promote justice in the face of injustice and mitigate the pain and suffering presently occurring in a world which, the Bible seems to suggest, the Creator has entrusted to his human image-bearers (Gen 1:26; Ps 115:16).

This is an academic paper prepared for the 49th annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies that was scheduled to occur during March 19-21 at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. Unfortunately, the conference had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. I’ve posted my paper here in any case. I hope those pastors and church members who read it find it helpful. Please feel to let me know if it does. Blessings!