O sofrimento humano tem permeado e desafiado a teologia e ciências afins na tentativa de apresentar um entendimento racional ao problema do mal. As várias correntes religiosas, teológicas e filosóficas são objeto de apreciação neste estudo na tentativa de se condensar um arcabouço teórico que, à luz as Escrituras Sagradas, seja capaz de minimizar os conflitos que nascem do desafio de se compatibilizar o conceito de um Deus bondoso com a inequívoca constatação do sofrimento humano. A partir de uma premissa endossada pela teologia histórica e reformada de que Deus faz acontecer todas as coisas no mundo e na vida das pessoas, este estudo tem por objetivo elucidar a questão do mal e do sofrimento, bem como apresentar os possíveis benefícios que o sofrimento pode proporcionar ao indivíduo. Pretende- se apresentar uma argumentação bíblica que possa contribuir para dar uma resposta ao problema do mal e do sofrimento. Além disso, contextualizar o mal e o sofrimento no plano de Deus. As várias tentativas religiosas e filosóficas de darem uma resposta plausível ao problema do sofrimento acabam por criar barreiras intransponíveis quando confrontadas com a Bíblia. Cosmovisões errôneas acerca de Deus encontram fortíssimas resistências na Bíblia e contradizem conceitos solidificados ao longo da história da igreja. Algumas dessas cosmovisões têm assumido destaque no discurso teológico quando a questão do sofrimento é abordada. Embora o discurso mais conservador de que o pecado é a causa do sofrimento ele não explica todas as formas de sofrimento, nem a Bíblia aceita o pecado como razão única para o sofrimento. Não é possível enxergar o sofrimento sem olhar para o calvário. Não é intenção abrir espaço nesta pesquisa para confrontar as diferentes linhas teológicas quanto ao entendimento sobre os planos de Deus, mas apresentar um entendimento de como o sofrimento se encaixa no plano eterno de Deus. / Human suffering has permeated and challenged the theology and related sciences in an attempt to present a rational understanding of the problem of evil. The various religious denominations, theological and philosophical object are considered in this study in an attempt to condense a theoretical framework in the light of Scripture, is able to minimize the conflicts that arise from the challenge of reconciling the concept of a loving God with the unequivocal finding of human suffering. From a premise endorsed by the historic and Reformed theology that God makes all things happen in the world and in people's lives, this study aims to elucidate the question of evil and suffering, as well as presenting the potential benefits that suffering can provide the individual. Seeks to present a biblical argument that can contribute to respond to the problem of evil and suffering. Moreover, contextualizing the evil and suffering in God's plan. The various religious and philosophical attempts to give a plausible answer to the problem of suffering eventually create insurmountable barriers when faced with the Bible. Worldviews misconceptions about God are strong resistance in the Bible and contradict concepts solidified throughout the history of the church. Some of these worldviews have assumed prominence in theological discourse when the question of suffering is addressed. Although the more conservative discourse that sin is the cause of suffering he does not explain all forms of suffering, nor the Bible accepts sin as one reason for suffering. Can not see the suffering without regard for the ordeal. It is not intended to open space in this research to compare the different lines on the theological understanding of God's plan, but to present an understanding of how suffering fits into God's eternal plan.

Based largely upon popular periodicals, archival materials, conference addresses, and mass-market books, this thesis combines intellectual and cultural history to explore how the meaning behind the evangelical commonplace, "God has a plan for your life," changed in post-World War II America, ultimately exchanging an ethos of self-denial for self-fulfillment by the early 1980s. The term "Personalized Life Providence" (PLP) is proposed for the integration of three Reformation-rooted ideas-vocation, providence, and discernment-into the discussion of finding God's plan for one's life. Chapter one sketches the Anglo- American development of these concepts from the Puritan era to the early twentieth century, as they intersected with Common Sense philosophy, "Higher Life" teaching, the student-missionary movement, and inter-war fundamentalism. Chapter two begins the analysis of PLP's dissemination throughout Chicago-centered evangelical student-parachurch organizations in the 1940s. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Youth for Christ conflated PLP with personal holiness and, after the war, a resurgent American foreign-missionary movement, as displayed particularly in the texts of IVCF's Urbana conferences. Chapter three focuses on Henrietta Mears, Christian Education Director of First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, California. Mears's Sunday-School publications and college ministry reveal PLP's embrace of irenic neo-evangelicalism in the 1950s, coupled with a revised discernment process. Chapter four identifies the emergence of the "gospel of God's plan" from Mears's protégés, specifically Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright, Presbyterian minister Richard Halverson, and evangelist Billy Graham. Epitomized by the phrase, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," the first of Bright's Four Spiritual Laws, this gospel resonated with the religious revival, anti-Communist rhetoric, and psychological emphasis on self-actualization pervading American culture from 1947 to 1965. Chapter five argues that anti-Western sentiments in the1960s eroded PLP's evocation of missionary sacrifice in neo-evangelical circles. YFC encouraged teenagers to pursue culturally influential professions rather than traditional evangelism, while IVCF promulgated inconsistent teaching on discerning a foreign-missionary call in revolutionary times. Chapter six explores PLP's relationship to the widespread cultural shift toward self-fulfillment in the 1970s, as reflected both in evolving teaching on women's roles, career choice, and missionary service, and in PLP books styled after mass-market, self-help literature.