This contribution revisits the Scriptures of both the Ancient and the New Testament looking for an answer to the problem of evil, of sin and of suffering. At the very beginning God had devised a world without evil and without suffering, yet man is dramatically faced with both of them throughout his historical existence. The connection between sin and suffering is underlined at more levels in the Scriptures: according to the sapiential tradition the wickedness of the wicked man is the cause of his own misfortune; according to the deuteronomic tradition, any breach in the covenant draws the most severe punishments on the people. The book of Job, instead, brings out the mystery connected with the presence of suffering and the songs of the Servant of YHWH open up to a new salvific perspective. Jesus cures the sick and chases the devils away to show that evil and pain are defeated by His presence among His believers. He then suffers to share in love the human condition. Finally, he shows that suffering is a way to follow him and get involved in men’s life also for his disciples.
(author: Giuseppe De Carlo)