Re: appendix

What's going to be a helpful answer to a person who asks the question "How could God let this happen?" depends a lot on that person's situation - whether it's merely a theoretical question or one coming from that person's own suffering, his/her religious beliefs, &c. But one thing we need to get at when that question is raised is, what "God" are we talking about. Is it the immutable, impassible God of philosophical theism or the biblical God who is with his people in their sufferings & whose fullest revelation is in the cross?

BTW, last night's CBS news had a short segment on this question with soundbites from representative of several religions - Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and, saving the dumbest for last, Christian. The Christian representative was the Episcopal bishop of D.C. who opined that the tsunami was just a matter of geology and that God didn't have anything to do with it: Deism 101.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: wallyshoes
  To: George Murphy
  Cc: asa@calvin.edu ; Steven M Smith
  Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 7:40 AM
  Subject: Re: appendix

    
  George Murphy wrote:

         A more serious problem is that while Hart refers to the Incarnation, he makes no reference to the cross as God's participation in the suffering of the world. While that doesn't provide a neat solution to the theodicy question, I'm convinced that anything said about the problem of suffering that doesn't appeal to the cross is worth little. Shalom
    George
    http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
     

  Christian to Christian that can make sense. But what do we say to non-believers who question the "goodness" of God? I have no good answer; do you?
Received on Fri Jan 7 08:54:47 2005