Abstract:
TO MAKE SENSE OF SUFFERING WAS ALWAYS PART AND PARCEL OF BEING HUMAN. Although the
inadequacy of theodicies to provide meaningful theoretical frameworks resulted in a focus on
practical responses, in this article a case has been made for the necessity to create theoretical
meaning frameworks to make sense of suffering. Brain research pointed to the brain’s
fundamental need for creating and maintaining meaning frameworks in the development of
purposeful responses to suffering.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : Brain research and the contextualisation
thereof in psychology is challenging the notion that the only adequate response to suffering is a
practical response. The brain’s fundamental need for meaningful frameworks is challenging
systematic and practical theology to develop theoretical frameworks to guide, motivate and
evaluate the adequacy of a practical response.
