When theology defines the problem of suffering within the context of philosophical discourse, it inevitably locates the Christian approach to suffering in the wrong place. In philosophy, human suffering is an aspect of the problem of evil. Thus the crux of the problem is: How do we rationally reconcile a God unlimited both in power and in goodness with the presence of evil, moral and natural? Epicurus (341–270 B.C.) was probably the first to state the theoretical implications of this dilemma.
