Miracles From Heaven: The Problem Of Innocent Suffering

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In his review of the film “Miracles from Heaven,” Father Robert Barron examines the problem of innocent suffering. For many atheists, the thing that thwarts their belief in God is the problem of innocent suffering. Why does God allow good people to suffer? There is no one answer or argument that can answer this question, but you can try to understand it better by looking at it from multiple angles. “Miracles from Heaven” deals with the issue of innocent suffering and looks at it from different perspectives. “Miracles from Heaven” is the story of a devout Christian family from Texas who has three daughters. The middle daughter, Annabelle, develops intestinal trouble and is in great pain. No matter how many doctors her family takes her to, no one can diagnose Annabelle’s problem. Finally, they take her to a specialist in Boston who diagnoses Annabelle with a rare intestinal disease, which causes her intestines to be paralyzed so that she cannot digest food. Her family prays a lot, but her condition does not improve. Her mother, who is very devout, is shaken in her faith. Then, in a freak accident, Annabelle falls through a …show more content…

The first is that miracles are rare – we cannot expect miraculous things to happen all the time. The second is that God works through secondary causes. He does not intervene directly, but instead draws us into his providential designs. He acts all the time, just not in the ways we expect or maybe want. The third is God’s existence is not incompatible with suffering because so many great people in the Bible suffered, including Jesus. Suffering is a way of being drawn into the passion of Christ. The fourth and final important thing that the film says is that suffering tends to give rise to love. Throughout the film, people act caringly and compassionately on the behalf of Annabelle. This shows that suffering awakens love in