Evidence · Case 06 · Problem of Evil
Paul’s letter to the Romans weighing present suffering
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Paul, who was beaten, jailed, and shipwrecked, writes that he counts the sufferings of the present time not worth comparing with the glory to come. He does not pretend the suffering is small. He sets it on a scale against what he believes is coming and finds it outweighed.
Sources
Romans 8:18, NASB
Objections & responses
- Paul chose his sufferings for a cause. That’s not comparable to a child born with a degenerative disease who chose nothing.
Fair, and Paul’s experience does not cover every case. His point is about proportion: whatever the suffering, the coming glory outweighs it, and he makes that claim for all believers, not only volunteers. Read this alongside Jesus’s explicit denial in Luke 13 and John 9 that suffering is proportioned to fault, so that Romans 8:18 is never heard as your suffering is small. It says the opposite: the suffering is real, and something larger is coming.