Suffering, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God: Towards a Theology of Suffering

A popular local Pentecostal chorus, well known around West Africa, begins with the lines, "Me I no go suffer, I no go beg for bread; God of miracles na my papa O! (I will neither suffer, nor will I beg for bread; for the God of miracles is my Father!).This seemingly innocuous chorus is reflective of the growing sentiment among many African Christians today who seek a life free from suffering because of their perceived favored status as children of God.Life, however, is full of crises and Christians are not exempt from them.How a Christian handles lingering crises such as suffering reveals much about their commitment, conviction, and allegiance to the Savior.Often, Christians from backgrounds that are animistic face extreme pressure and temptation to revert to pre-Christian practices in their quest for solutions to the problem of suffering.While they remain in their new faith, some may have no qualms about visiting a shaman or diviner for help, thereby slipping into the practice of dual allegiance.In their seminal study on folk religion and animism, Paul Hiebert, Daniel Shaw, and Tite Tienou advocate the development of a theology of suffering, among other issues, as a remedy to this reported predicament among African Christians and others from animistic backgrounds (1999:164, 165).This study is an attempt to develop a theology of suffering that will respond to the problem of dual allegiance, with the aim of providing a biblical explanation that will ultimately lead to worldview transformation.In order to thoroughly engage the beliefs that prompt people to turn to shamans/diviners, an understanding of the African worldview will be essential.Nonetheless, this will be preceded by a brief inquiry regarding suffering and its nature.