Over the last several years I’ve reflected, written, and spoken extensively on the problem of biblical violence. So when I was recently invited to present a devotional at a board meeting, of course I decided to talk about the Bible and violence. In this episode of The Tentative Apologist Podcast I read that devotional reflection […]
theodicy
If atheists are offended by a theodicy, does that give them a right to be rude?
In my interview “God and the Problem of Suffering: An Interview with Paul Buller” Paul provides a brief summary of his theodicy according to which God allows at least some evil as a means by which moral agents can acquire moral virtue. The article prompted a long comment from The Atheist Missionary (TAM) which concluded […]
God and the Problem of Suffering: An Interview with Paul Buller
In this interview I discuss that most difficult of problems, God and suffering, with Christian apologist Paul Buller. Paul is a co-founder of the Network of Christian Apologists in Calgary, AB and the author of the book Suffering: The Heart of the Matter. But while Paul loves to pursue the intellectual side of Christian faith, his perspective on suffering […]
Stephen Colbert on providence and the problem of suffering
Stephen Colbert is one of the funniest and smartest comics/entertainers around. He was always engaging, thought-provoking, and hilarious playing his satirical conservative pundit on The Colbert Report. And he promises to carry that same brilliance into his new role in network late night in a couple weeks. Last week GQ published a fascinating profile on […]
God and the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald
The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was a mighty Great Lakes freighter which sank in a storm on Lake Superior in November, 1975, taking 29 sailors to a watery grave. The tragedy was immortalized in Canadian folk rock balladeer Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting 1976 hit “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“. I’ve listened to the song innumerable times […]
Christology, Anthropology, Theodicy. Inconsistency?
1 Corinthians 15:45: “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.’” The underlying premise of any self-respecting Christian anthropology is found in this maxim: Christology is anthropology. That is, if you want to understand the essence of humanity you should not look back to the […]
Animal Resurrection
Philosopher Dale Tuggy of the “Trinities” podcast recently posted a two-part podcast interview with Trent Dougherty on the problem of evil and animal suffering. (Part 1; Part 2). The second podcast focuses on Dougherty’s recently published book The Problem of Animal Pain: A Theodicy For All Creatures Great And Small. In the book Dougherty argues […]
Honor and the Problem of Evil
Let’s return to the brief testimony of the wounded soldier (Rory Hamill) that I recounted in “The Man I am Today: One soldier’s testimony and the problem of evil“. In the interview clip Scott Pelley noted that President Obama awarded Hamill with an honor. Hamill recalls: “He awarded me with a Purple Heart. It was amazing. It was an […]
7. The 59-Second Apologist: The Argument from Divine Hiddenness
The Argument from Divine Hiddenness, first developed by philosopher J.L. Schellenberg, seeks to argue that God doesn’t exist based on the existence of reasonable non-belief. In this episode of the 59-Second Apologist Randal offers a quick summary of the argument along with two replies. Click here to read J.L. Schellenberg’s forthcoming paper “Divine Hiddenness and Human […]
On calling God a murderer (Part 2)
I ended part 1 of this discussion with two questions, the first of which I will begin to address here: “when does the death of an individual constitute God’s killing that individual?” Note that by addressing this question we are not yet discussing God’s murdering anybody since killing and murdering are not the same thing. To […]
On calling God a murderer (Part 1)
Over the years I have often heard the charge made: if God exists, then he is a murderer. As a piece of rhetoric, I suppose such charges satisfy those making them. But as a serious accusation they commonly leave much to be desired. In this series of posts I’m going to discuss the complexities inherent […]
Do you dare place God on trial?
“He gave us the Law. And to debate the Law even on such a terrible subject … is a kind of prayer.” Do you know God well enough to charge him with covenant unfaithfulness? Do you dare place him on trial for the evils in the world? Can you conceive of that very interrogation being itself […]
You can’t judge a book by its cover: A Review of “Death Before the Fall”
Ronald E. Osborn. Death Before the Fall: Biblical Literalism and the Problem of Animal Suffering. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014. This book suffers from a serious identity crisis. On the face (that is, the cover) of it, the book purports to provide an in-depth theological analysis of the problem of natural evil generally and animal […]
The problem of suffering and the Napkin Note Dad
Pain, C.S. Lewis famously said, is God’s megaphone to wake up a sleeping world. The problem of evil is undeniable: why pain and suffering? And why so much of it? And why the seemingly random distribution of it? However, just as one can trivially go through life seeing cups as half empty or half full, so […]
