X. LAW AND SUFFERING Discussion Aids Can anyone alter the laws of God? Can the Church? Can the Church within God’s laws make by-laws that are binding on her members? Illustrate from the law of marriage. Can the Church alter these by-laws? What is there in the nature of God’s laws that makes it impossible to change them? Illustrate the futility of trying to do so from the example of examination questions given in the text. Discuss attempts to change the moral law for the alleviation of suffering. Is suffering necessarily an evil? What constitutes evil? What is the only evil? In what two ways may suffering act? What is the function of suffering in life? What is to be said of attempts to alleviate it? How is suffering conquered? What is to be said of self-inflicted suffering? Discuss St. Paul’s text: “I fill up in my flesh, etc.” (Col. 1:24). What is the essence of our preparation for heaven? Practice: When you suffer, try with all your might to see the will of God in your pain. Meet the problem with prayer. 169