up to die is no other than the preexistent Son of God” (Phil.
2:6ff., 2 Cor. 8:9, Rom. 15:3). According to Bultmann, the
incarnation is never accorded a meaning independent of the
crucifixion.
In fact, Christ’s death is seen as the merger of propitiato-
ry and paschal sacrifices. As a propitiatory sacrifice, Christ’s
blood expiates sin and achieves forgiveness for the believer
(Rom. 3:25). That Jesus’ death was viewed by the early
church as such a propitiation is seen in the liturgy of the
Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:24), not merely in Palestinian con-
gregations, but also in the newly evangelized Hellenistic
churches. Jesus’ death is also viewed as significant for the
congregation of the people of God as a paschal sacrifice ( 1
Cor. 5:7, Heb. 13:12). The vicarious nature of that sacrifice
is reiterated in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made him who was
unacquainted with sin to become sin in our stead.”
Christ died in the place of all, then, and for the sake of
all. According to Paul’s view, Christ’s death is not to be seen
either as a merely propitiatory or vicarious sacrifice, but as
a colossal cosmic occurrence. Salvation signifies release from
death and sin. This release from sin, in turn, is seen in terms
of release from the law. Hence, centuries later, Bultmann
could claim that the sacrifice of Christ’s death does not mere-
ly cancel the guilt and punishment of sin, but also is the
means of release from law, sin, and death. Bultmann believes
that Paul viewed the powers of the age in a gnostic light, and
in this sense the Redeemer becomes a cosmic figure and his
body a cosmic entity. Thus, those who are bound up with
him in one body share in a redemption from the sinister
powers of this world.
For Paul, apparently, Christ Jesus is the means by which
the suffering of this world, man’s inherent sinfulness, and
death itself can be overcome. By being at one with he who
suffered, a person is able to finally achieve a state that is free
both from suffering and from death. In 2 Corinthians 1:5,
Paul avers: “As we share abundantly in Christ’s suffering so
through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” More
explicitly, in Philippians 3:8–10, he asserts: “I have suffered
the loss of all things... in order that I may gain Christ and
may be found in Him... that I may know him and the
power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, be-
coming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain
the resurrection from the dead.” At present, he who is one
with—or in the body of—Christ will indeed continue to suf-
fer. He has the promise, however, that he will not be left to
suffer continually, but will eventually overcome that suffer-
ing through his faith in Christ. Christ himself is the evidence
that, as he overcame suffering and death, so may the wor-
shiper.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul exposes man’s plight—
bondage to the law of sin—which makes a man a miserable
wretch groaning for deliverance from the body of death. In
Christ, however, man achieves true freedom through the law
of the spirit of life. Thus, salvation is to be seen as an eschato-
logical occurrence insofar as it is not merely a historic fact,
but a reality that is continually being renewed in the present.
Hence, the prospect of overcoming sin, suffering, and death
is available to those who decide to reorder their previous self-
understandng and their past existence from one of egocen-
trism to one of radical surrender to the grace of God through
Christ.In short, according to Paul, it was necessary for Jesus to
have been incarnated, crucified, and resurrected—that is, to
have suffered and died—because this is the only way in
which the individual might believe that his own suffering
and death can, through faith in the risen Christ, be over-
come. A god who simply promises redemption cannot en-
gender the same depth of conviction as a God who not only
promises but, as it were, delivers. God’s birth into a human
body and his suffering, together with his resurrection, are ev-
idence of the possibility that believers, too, can hope to tran-
scend sin, suffering, and death.ISLAM. Islamic views of suffering may be categorized broadly
under two headings. The first is that of suffering as the pun-
ishment for sin; the second, of suffering as a test or trial. The
QurDa ̄n repeatedly stresses that all who do evil will be pun-
ished for their actions in this world and the next. This doc-
trine is associated with an emphasis on the perfect justice of
God, which is to be vindicated on Judgment Day, when the
evildoers will be thrown into the fires of Hell (surah 52). Sin
is associated with disbelief, which is the root of misconduct.
Unbelievers suffer as they learn of their mistakes. Thus, the
punishment of sin through suffering may serve an education-
al function—namely, to show unbelievers the truth of God’s
word. The idea that lack of belief is a root of evil reveals a
central precept of Islam on the subject of suffering. This pre-
cept may be expressed as the belief that evil is found within
man, and that subsequently the punishment of suffering is
also found there. It is written in the QurDa ̄n: “God dealeth
not unjustly with [unbelievers]; but they injure their own
souls.” Just as sin is inextricable from punishment in the
moral system of Islam, the unbeliever always condemns him-
self to suffer, for, in the final analysis, disbelief is the greatest
suffering—the suffering of the soul.Equally important to the Muslim perspective on suffer-
ing is the idea that suffering is a test of man’s belief. This
concept is premised upon the belief that the true Muslim
stands by his faith despite his woes. Suffering not only tests
men’s strength of faith, it also reveals their hidden feelings,
allowing God to look into the innermost depths of their
souls. The judgment of and distinction between the righ-
teous and the impious are central to God’s universe. As the
Qu’ran points out, God “hath created the heavens and the
earth... that he might prove you, and see which of you
would excel in works” (surah 11). Suffering is incorporated
into the fabric of the world and is instrumental to the pur-
poses of God. Suffering both separates good and evil men
and serves as the punishment and teaching for the unbe-
liever.8808 SUFFERING