Board index ‹ The Problem of Evil and Suffering

[Ketchup]

Is Pain evil?

If not, will there be pain in Heaven?

[jimwalton]

No, pain is not evil. It is an effect following a cause. It's not a moral entity.

And no, there will not be any pain in Heaven. There will be no causal mechanism to bring about the effect of pain.

[Ketchup]

My follow up question is, do only evil things cause pain?

[jimwalton]

No. Sometimes you scrape yourself on the corner of a counter, or accidentally walk into a door frame. These are not evil things, but they are sources of pain.

[Ketchup]

Accidents wouldn’t happen in heaven or Eden correct?

[jimwalton]

Accidents happened in Eden, for sure. The Bible never presents it as a perfect place or an environment of no pain and suffering, or even death. Eden is an ordered sacred space, like a temple, where God would meet with humans. There was nothing perfect or painless about it.

As far as Heaven, you are correct that accidents won't happen there. The nature of reality will be different, and the nature of our bodies will be different.