It would be one thing if God simply walked away from humanity when we spoiled his creation. Paul's letter to the Romans shows us that in fact God had to give us over the consequences of our rebellion - but that he has done so only to a degree. Giving us over fully to the consequences of disobedience would be exaclty what we deserve. Hell is the cosmic trash-heap earth and all it's broken reality could have wound up in. But he's stopped short of that. He's got something else in mind. But where does he start. This place is enough of a mess as is!

His strategy, in a word, is called Incarnation. Incarnation in a word means God showed his face at the scene of the cosmic disaster we refer to as The Fall (mankind's plunge into self-willed rebellion). His ultimate solution? Go to ground zero and risk everything to clean it up. We'd all struggle with a God who simply sat in heaven and let our sin scarred planet rot under its own self-destructive impulses. Instead, God came here in the form of a vulnerable human being. In word, that's the incarnation. And its a strategy he expects his followers to employ as well!

This week at Gathering we'll turn the corner on our conversation about suffering and evil to look at how Jesus is God's answer to the problem. John Parsons, director of the Omaha Street School will be our guest presenter. John's a guy who understands God's incarnational pain-relief strategy. Come give him listen, grab a lunch and join the conversation.

Labels: Gathering, John Parsons, Omaha Street School, problem of evil

"Until the evil man finds evil unmistakably present in his existence, in the form of pain, he is enclosed in illusion. . . . No doubt Pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul."
The Problem of Pain p. 95

Labels: C.S. Lewis, pain, problem of evil, rebel, rebellion

Some may ask "Just what is the Problem of Pain?" Here's a classic formulation of the problem of pain you'd find in any philosophy 101 class. It's a good starting point.

1 - God exists.
2 - God is omnipotent (all-powerful).
3 - God is omniscient (all-knowing).
4 - God is omnibenevolent (all-loving).
5 - God created the world.
6 - If 1-5 are true, the world should not contain evil.
7 - The world contains evil, therefore God does not exist, or does not possess one or more of the above attributes.

Source: J. L. Mackie - Evil and Omnipotence, 1955

Seems pretty air-tight at a first glance. What do you think? If you're a Christian reading this and you don't have an answer to it, you'd better watch your words in a conversation about evil and suffering. Do us all a favor. Think it through before you glibly quote Romans 8:28 to someone in the middle of a painful experience. There is way out of the logical trap, but it's not what you'd think at first.

Labels: logic, pain, problem of evil, Romans 8:28, suffering

Pain can make you jump. Ever had a doctor push someplace on your body, needlessly asking: "Does that hurt?" Of course it hurts! One time I had a rash of headaches my doctor discovered the source of by pressing below the temple on the right side of my head. Yeowch! TMJ! Muscle relaxers and massage therapy for two weeks before any sign of improvement developed. Pain tells us something is wrong. It sometimes makes us want to take a swing at our doctor. And it's a good thing we catch ourselves before we do!

Pain can make us take a leap away from God as well if we're not careful. Since our concept of God is one of competent benevolence (like the gentleman in our video says)its natural to take a swing at him too when we feel pain. Or, like yelling at a nurse we deem incompetent, it's easy to vent at Christians trying to speak up for God on the touchy subject of pain.

The Christian maintains that indeed we do live in a pain-wracked world. There's no denying it. The Christian also has to admit that it's a world God has created and allowed to be scarred by pain. But it's a big fat leap to conclude that just because God has allowed undeserved suffering that we can "no longer distinguish between good and evil." God can and does differentiate between good and evil. Contrary to our You-Tube presentation he is not obligated to immediately punish all wrongdoing on the part of his "chosen people" in order for his justice to be upheld by other means or on another time-table. God's judgment will be retributive on the unrepentant, but not always in this life. Sometimes doctors don't have pain killers or meds that work all that fast. Sometimes law enforcement takes it's time to catch the killer if they can also get the accomplices in the process.

Come join us for Gathering again this week as we turn the discussion from Natural Evil to Moral Evil. How can we live in a world where people work wrong on each other? Why does God allow people to wrong each other with such devastating consequences? Come hear a story about a Christ follower who experienced extreme cruelty from a parent, but is finding hope and healing.

Labels: Christians, cruelty, God, moral evil, pain

We've just launched a new series in Gathering here at CCC dealing with the Problem of Evil - and it got me thinking what a universal solidarity humanity shares through the experience of suffering. Everyone has a personal connection to suffering. Everyone! We'd better figure out why.

Researching the topic for our first session yesterday I stumbled over this guy on YouTube. He stopped me in my tracks! Something about the combination of his appearance and his keen mind drew me in. I wanted to sit down and talk with the guy to get where he's coming from.

Check out The Big Fat Thorn and give me your thoughts.

I'd like to respond to what he's saying and I'd like to hear from you. Does he have a point? Are we consigned to the conclusion that God cannot be the standard by which we discern the difference between good and evil? Is God the ultimate cause of evil?

Labels: answer, Christianity, innocent suffering, problem of evil