Tonight, I was engaged in one of my main roles as a pastor… teaching. And it wasn’t on any ordinary run-of-the-mill topic either. It was on the rather thorny issue of “How can a good all-powerful God exist when there is so much evil and suffering in the world?” Envying me yet?
Frequently after teaching, I will come across someone who says in writing the same thing I say – but better. Rarely though does that discovery come so quickly. So, not two hours later, I read from N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope the following:
If creation was a work of love, it must have involved the creation of something other than God. That same love then allows creation to be itself, sustaining it in providence and wisdom but not overpowering it. Logic cannot comprehend love; so much the worse for logic.
Yeah, what he said.
oh snap….
good ole N.T. comin through in the clutch
The first time I read this it flew right over my head and to be honest, I didn’t give it much thought (actually, I tried to think about it, but just couldn’t get it). I came back several days later and it hit me for some reason. Kinda like “I created it, now go take care of it”, which of course we fail miserably. But, if that is true, then how do ‘natural disasters’ fit into the equation? OR….the forces that create those disasters (i.e. atmospheric pressure, jet streams and a bunch of other stuff I can’t explain)…are these just a part of the creation itself? . To fully create such a world, must He have had to create all of the peripheral stuff for it to fully function? Maybe so. I don’t believe He ever used the word ‘Utopia’…At least not in the translation I read. But then, I thought some more…if He truly created it with the purpose of stepping back to let us t.c.b….then that kinda hurts the thought of ‘God Intervening’ in certain situations…which I hear a lot. Is He involved (in circumstances) or is He not involved? For some reason, He doesn’t seem like a guy who would pick and choose. I better quit…before I confuse myself even more.