Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
One of the difficulties of theism is explaining how a good and all-powerful God can allow suffering. The attempt to explain this is called a theodicy. There are many different theodicies and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a sample here. My purpose here is not to evaluate the different theories but to ask if … Read More “Is There a Role For a Theodicy?” »
One of the areas of apologetics that none of us can avoid concerns the problem of suffering. If not ourselves, we all know someone who will suffer in a way that no easy answers are available. The common response to the problem of suffering by theologians is called theodicy. This is an attempt to explain … Read More “Raging With Compassion – Review” »
For many people, the problem of suffering is one of the greatest difficulties of Christianity. If God is all-powerful and all-loving, how can there be suffering? That is one of the questions that Harold Kushner wrote about in his classic from many years ago, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Peter Kreeft, in his … Read More “Making Sense Out of Suffering – Review” »
Two of the areas that I write on the most are Christian apologetics and disabilities. This makes sense. My faith journey includes a period of atheism and I am a skeptic by nature. In addition, I have two children with autism and so disabilities are close to my heart. But how do Christian apologetics and … Read More “How Apologetics Intersects With My Interest in Disabilities” »
For many people, the problem of suffering is one of the most difficult obstacles to faith. There are no easy answers to the problem suffering. But there is more to be done than just shrugging our shoulders and giving up. Before looking for the right answers, we should be looking for the right questions. Here … Read More “5 Questions to Ask When Discussing the Problem of Suffering” »
I was recently asked about why God allows natural disasters. This is a good question, as there have been some terrible disasters in recent weeks, including hurricanes and an earthquake. We should be reflecting on where God is in all this. But there is a difference between where God is in the midst of disasters … Read More “Why Does God Allow Natural Disasters?” »
The problem of suffering is one of the most difficult subjects connected to faith. One of the resources we have in discussing this is C.S. Lewis. Whitney Dotson tackles this in an article in the Christian Herald. Since we are only very young, we learn to become quite acquainted with physical pain. It exists even … Read More “Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?” »
Norman L. Geisler, If God, Why Evil? A New Way to Think About the Question. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2011. 173 pp. Pbk. There are many areas of apologetics that people find interesting. However, there is one area that is more personal and close to the heart and that is the problem of evil. From biblical times … Read More “If God, Why Evil?” »
One of the most difficult topics for any person is that of suffering. Why do people suffer? And how do you fit belief in God into this question? People have been asking this question from the very beginning. While there have been many books on this subject, one of the best that I have read … Read More “Suffering and the Search for Meaning” »
One of the important areas of apologetics is that of the problem of suffering. I separate that from the problem of evil. I consider the problem of evil to be things like crime, war and injustice. The problem of suffering I see as more of what a person goes through personally, whether by sickness, disability … Read More “When the Problem of Suffering is Not Theoretical” »
Any Christian response to the terrible bomb attack at the Boston marathon must begin with compassion and not pious platitudes. We must pray for those who are injured and those who have lost loved ones. We must go beyond prayer and help out in whatever way we can. If you are in the area, donate … Read More “God and the Boston Tragedy” »
As a parent of elementary school aged children, the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut has really touched a nerve. This is every parents’ worst nightmare. You assume that when you send your children to school that they are safe. No one expects that an armed individual would end the life … Read More “Why Did God Let This Happen?” »
I recently had a conversation with someone about what it means for God to be all-powerful and all-loving. Since I don’t want this to be just buried in the comments section, I thought I would bring up the main points here. First of all, I have to say that there is a difference when it … Read More “Love and Power” »
According to atheists, one of the most devastating arguments against the existence of God, especially the Christian God, is the presence of evil and suffering. But this is not just an outside criticism. Many Christians, when facing their own suffering or witnessing intense worldwide evil, wonder how a loving God could allow such a thing. … Read More “If God, Why Evil?” »
Some atheists believe that the problem of suffering is a devastating argument against belief in God. If there is a God, why does he allow so much suffering? Even Christians wrestle with these things. The easiest response is with regards to human evil. God sees human freedom as valuable and the natural result is that … Read More “Suffering and Human Responsibility” »
One of the most popular arguments against the existence of God is the problem of suffering. If there truly was something like the Judeo-Christian concept of God, one would expect that he would prevent suffering. There are responses to that challenge. But I would like to make a simple observation. Most of the people I … Read More “God and the Problem of Suffering” »
