A good starting point

We all have our prejudices and preconceived ideas. Being human, that is inevitable. The problem with our preconceptions is that they may cause us to overlook evidence that is important in arriving at the truth.

In one of Dorothy Sayers' detective stories the investigator, Lord Peter Wimsey, is faced with a dilemma. All the known facts support the contention that a certain woman is responsible for the murder in question. However, Wimsey knows the woman's character so well that he is certain she could not have done it. In other words, there must be other facts that he does not know. So, working on the basis that she is innocent, he sets out to discover these other facts and, by building his case around them, eventually solves the mystery.

I believe it is helpful to approach the problem of suffering in the same manner. Assume that if there is a God he must be good. From this starting point see if there are other facts that at least make this view credible. Not all the bits of the puzzle may fit, but at least consider whether more pieces fit using this assumption than any other. As we look at the Christian viewpoint I will leave you, the reader, to judge whether or not this is so.