Facing Sufering. Roberto Badenas

Facing Sufering - Roberto Badenas


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      Series: Seeds of Hope

      Title: Facing Sufering

      Original title in Spanish edition: Frente al dolor

      Author: Roberto Badenas

      Project Development and Design: Editorial Safeliz Staff

      Translator: Darlene Stillman

      Copyrigh by © Editorial Safeliz, S.L.

      Pradillo,6 · Pol. Ind. La Mina

      E-28770 · ColmenarViejo, Madrid (Spain)

      Tel.: [+34] 91 845 98 77

      [email protected] · www.safeliz.com

      October 2013: First Edition

      ISBN:978-84-7208-443-4

      PRINTED IN CHINA

      IMP07

      The reproduction in whole or in part of this book (text, images or design)

      is strictly prohibited in any language, including computerized processing

      or the transmission of any part by any means, electronic, mechanical,

      photocopied, recorded, or other methods,

      without the previous written permission of the Copyright holders.

      Dedicated to all those with whom pain has united me:

      To those to whom I have caused pain,

      And to those who have made me suffer;

      To those who have shared their sorrows with me,

      And to those with whom I have shared mine….

      And especially, to the millions who suffer

      not being able to do anything for them,

      Apart from writing presumably on their behalf.

      Roberto Badenas

      holds a Doctorate in Theology from Andrews University (Michigan, USA). He is a specialist in Biblical Studies and professor of New Testament. From 1990 to 1999 he was dean of the Adventist Theological Seminary at the Adventist University of France (Collonges-sous-Saleve), and from 1999 to 2010, president of the Biblical Research Committee, and director of Family Ministries and Education (EUD, Berne, Switzerland). Before this book, Professor Badenas published many other texts in other languages (including numerous articles), and the books Christ the End of the Law. Romans 10:4 in Pauline Perspective (JSOT Press, Sheffield University, 1985) and Meet Jesus (Autumn House, 1995), also published in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan.

      Contents

      Introduction: An Ever-Present Enemy 10

      Part i. Awareness 15

      1 What We Mean By Pain 17

      2 Expressing Our Pain 29

      3 Heeding the Warning Signs 39

      4 A Hard Why to Accept 55Part II. A Clooser Look 71

      5 The Enigma of Evil 73

      6 Traditional Explanations 89

      7 God’s Silence 103

      8 Faith and Healing 119Part iii. Support 141

      9 Learning to Ease the Pain 143

      10 The Keys to Survival 161

      11 Aging With Serenity 177

      12 Being There at the End 189

      13 Facing Death 205

      14 Grief and Mourning 225

      15 Epilogue: No More Pain 207

      Introduction:

      An Ever-Present Enemy

      Few human experiences are as universal as pain. It is almost impossible for us to go through life without suffering from a health problem, without having an accident, without a friend or spouse, failing us, or without a loved one dying.

      Part One of the book, which is of an informative nature, outlines an awareness of the complexity of the issue and its various implications. Part Two presents a series of theoretical and practical reflections regarding the ultimate why behind suffering and attempts to understand its meaning. Part Three, with the layman in mind, provides simple resources to face suffering with compassion, effectiveness, and tact. The goal is seeking to avoid pain in the first place, and when that is unfeasible, to alleviate it.

      The ultimate objective of this book is to help face and cope with the reality of pain as much as possible.

      I am not an expert on the subject of pain. I have no doubt that many of my readers, through personal or professional experience, know more of the subject than I do. I write only as a witness, almost as a “suffering subject.” If my optimistic nature tends to dodge pain, my philosophical training, and above all my personal and pastoral experience, have made me quite sensitive to the subject.

      This book has been much more difficult to write than my previous books, and undoubtedly it would never have come to fruition without the collaboration of an excellent group of especially dear people. First I would like to thank my physician friends, José Manuel Prat, Miguel Gracia Antequera, Marcelle Lafond, and Caleb Mercier, who were kind enough to review these pages from a professional point of view, and who have provided me with much invaluable advice beyond their respective specialties. My gratitude also goes to my dear colleague Roberto Carbonell, hospital chaplain, who daily confronts suffering and death, for generously sharing his personal testimonies with me; to chaplain Dr. Mario Ceballos, for his helpful contributions in bibliography; to Dr. Angel Manuel Rodriguez, for his useful theological insights; to Dr. Herold Weiss for his intelligent


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