Psalm 119:50 – Experience
In difficult times, personal experience with God provided comfort and strength despite theological doubts. Sustained by God’s presence and creative Word, we found life amidst affliction.
A Robust Theodicy?
As I conduct interviews on theodicy with various authors, I’d like to suggest this: We need a theodicy (and in fact a full theology) that is as comfortable in Job as in Deuteronomy. This would be the expression of a faith that isn’t forgotten in good times or repudiated in bad. Here again is the…
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Marketing Jesus
Shortly after I separated from the Air Force I was chatting with a gentleman while waiting in line for something or other. On realizing that I was a veteran, and in fact had been somewhere that would qualify me as a veteran of a foreign war, he started a pitch to get me to join…
Thankful for the Gift of Suffering for Jesus?
Because you have been graciously given this on behalf of Christ: not only in Him to believe, but also for Him to suffer. (Philippians 1:29, excessively literally) I’ve been meditating on two texts as the new year begins, Philippians 1:27-30, and Ephesians 5:1-2. I’ve been kind of ignoring this suffering thing so far. But last…
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Football: I suspect God was indifferent to the ultimate outcome
Bruce Epperly, author of the recently released book Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job, questions the view that God determines the outcome of football games (or, I suspect, any other sport), rewarding the faithful and punishing the unfaithful. The title to this post includes his money quote from his post, Is God a…
Quote: Prayers Make a Difference, But
“I think my prayers make a difference, but they’re not omnipotent.” Listen to the whole interview by Doug Pagitt with Dr. Bruce Epperly, author of the recently released book Finding God in Suffering.
Interview with Dr. Bruce Epperly
On Tuesday, January 6, 2015, I will be interviewing Dr. Bruce Epperly on his newly released book Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job. I’ve just completed a trailer for this event: You can watch the actual event here:
From My Editing Work: Claim Your Identity as a Theologian
From the forthcoming book Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job by Bruce G. Epperly. The book of Job invites us to claim our identity as theologians. Job shouts out to us, “You are a theologian” because we have experienced the pain of the world and are trying to make sense of it. Job…
Piper: Suffering is Judicial
This is via a summary by Adrian Warnock, but I doubt Adrian would get a whole section wrong. There are a large number of things in this message that are right on target, and a few also with which I disagree. But the reason I’m posting a brief response is this: As has become standard…
Of Necessity and Suffering
I’ve appreciated much of what John Piper has said about the prosperity gospel. Prosperity theology strikes me as not just false (Biblically and experientially), but particularly dangerous because it either drives one from faith and its actual benefits, or creates a very shallow Christian at best, ready to be driven away at the first difficulty….