Problem of Evil
Henry’s Mom: Did God Author This?
Category: General
Tags: Calvinism, Determinism, Henry, Jess in Process, Jessica Kelley, Love, Open Theism, Problem of Evil, Warfare Worldview
Many of you were touched last month when we featured some reflections on little Henry’s death. Well, Henry’s mother Jess has started a blog to process through some of her thoughts and we wanted to…
Is God Good?
Category: General
Tags: Free Will, God, Nature of God, Picture of God, Problem of Evil
Andrew Stawarz via Compfight This reflection by David D. Flowers seemed like a good addition to Greg’s recent blogs on free will. Here David talks about the problem of evil and how it is that…
Free Will: The origin of evil
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Determinism, Evil, Free Will, Open Theism, Problem of Evil
Topics: Free Will and the Future, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
In this continuing series on free will, Greg discusses how evil can only be accounted for if we acknowledge free will. This is especially true if you believe that God is good.
Sermon: Letter to Henry
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Death, Henry, Jesus, Problem of Evil, Sermons, Theodicy
We usually share a short clip from Greg’s sermons here, but we decided that a clip just won’t do this week. This last weekend Greg preached about the life and death of Henry and what…
Grieving with the God who Pulled the Trigger?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Current Events, Death, Evil, God, Newtown, Prayer, Problem of Evil, Theodicy
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
Lawrence Krauss recently wrote a thought-provoking, soul-searching essay for CNN Opinion entitled, “Why must a nation grieve with God?” Krauss was disturbed by a comment made by President Obama at a memorial service for the victims…
A Calvinist Take on the Problem of Evil
Category: General
Tags: Calvinism, Current Events, Death, Henry, Problem of Evil, ReKnew, Roger Olson, Theodicy
Carnie Lewis via Compfight Here’s a Calvinist view on the problem(s) of evil in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings. It’s the old God-as-author analogy. In essence, this is how Calvinism views God’s role…
Finger-Pointing and the Impulse to Judge
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bryan Fischer, Christianity, Current Events, Evil, Forgiveness, James Dobson, John Piper, Judgement, Judgment, Love, Mike Huckabee, Newtown, Problem of Evil, Satan
Topics: Following Jesus, Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
To no one’s surprise, yet to the sadness of many of us, several Christian spokespeople, including James Dobson, Mike Huckabee and Bryan Fischer, are blaming the shootings in Newtown, Conn, on abortion and gay marriage. This…
The Suffering of God
Category: General
Tags: Creation, Current Events, Doubt, Faith, God, Newtown, Pain, Problem of Evil, Suffering, Theodicy
NYC.andre via Compfight This seems like a good follow-up post from what Greg posted yesterday. Charisma posted this reflection on the problem of evil and the suffering of God. It’s a great summary of our…
When Free Will Meets Unfathomable Evil
Category: Q&A
Tags: Current Events, Emilie Parker, Evil, Faith, Free Will, God, Greg Boyd, Grief, Newtown, Problem of Evil, ReKnew, Robbie Parker, Satan, Suffering, Theodicy
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
In the face of tragedy Christians unfortunately tend to recite clichés that attempt to reassure people that, however terrible things seem, everything is unfolding according to God’s mysterious plan. We hear that “God has his…
Let Us Pray
Category: General
Tags: Advent, Darkness, David Smith, Grief, Newtown, Prayer, Problem of Evil, T.C. Moore
Per Ola Wiberg via Compfight It’s appropriate to pray and reflect and run to God when tragedies like the one in Newtown, CT take place. We wanted to share a couple of things we found…
Life and Death in Haiti
Category: General
Tags: Haiti, Poverty, Problem of Evil
Sometimes it’s important to hear about other lives, much sadder and difficult than our own, to reorient us to what is most important. In this season of elections that can be so divisive and in…
Thou Shalt Not Fear Science-Part II
Category: General
Tags: Problem of Evil, Warfare Worldview
Yesterday I called your attention to Bev Mitchell’s essay in which he integrated science and theology as he reflected on power and love. This is part II of his essay and it’s on the limiting conditions of…
Speaking of Tragedies
Category: General
Tags: Problem of Evil, Racial Reconciliation
Since we’ve been reflecting on recent tragedies and the varying responses to them, we thought we would add this voice to the mix. This article from the New Yorker points out the differences in media…
A Cross-Centered Evaluation of Responses to Tragedy
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Free Will, Predestination, Problem of Evil, Responding to Calvinism
I’d like to pick up where I left off on my previous post about Draper’s article entitled “Aurora shooting inspires various perspectives on God and belief.” Toward the end of his article, Draper reports on an…
Tragedy Strikes and Coherence Goes Out the Window
Category: General
Tags: Free Will, Problem of Evil, Responding to Calvinism, Theology
I encourage you to read Aurora shooting inspires various perspectives on God and belief, written by Electa Draper and published on the front page of the Denver Post Monday. The article shows how differently believers…
Responding to Von Balthasar on the Trinity and Suffering
Category: General
Tags: Apologetics, Problem of Evil, Trinity
Recently in his blog, The Dish, Andrew Sullivan pointed to an interesting article from The Other Journal called “Evil, the New Atheism, and the God of the Trinity,” written by Jacob H. Friesenhahn. One of…
A Natural Disaster With No One to Blame
Category: General
Tags: Problem of Evil, Providence
In a recent article from Relevant Magazine, Michael Hidalgo asks, “why are the leaders who claim that God acts through natural disasters so quiet all of a sudden?”
If God is already doing the most he can do, how does prayer increase his influence?
Category: Q&A
Tags: God, Prayer, Problem of Evil, Providence, Q&A
Topics: Defending the Open View, Hearing God, Prayer, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Question: If God always does the most that he can in every tragic situation, as you claim in Satan and the Problem of Evil, how can you believe that prayer increases his influence, as you…
Baby Universalism and Reasonable Infanticide
Category: General
Tags: Afterlife, Problem of Evil, Salvation
Here’s a perfectly random brain stimulator: In contemporary western Christianity it is almost universally assumed that deceased babies automatically go to heaven. I call this the doctrine of “baby universalism” (similar to “canine universalism” =…
“Unclean” Animals and the Corruption of Creation
Category: General
Tags: Animals, Problem of Evil
I’ve always been a bit mystified over the distinction between “clean” and “unclean” animals in the OT. I have read several attempts to justify this distinction on the grounds that the former were healthier —…