Tag Archives: theodicy

Tried with Fire: Death and Its Brood

Tried with Fire: Death and Its Brood

Kevin T. Bauder God did not create human beings to suffer or die. Nothing in the Bible teaches that pain had any place in the world God made. God fashioned humanity, both male and female, as part of His good creation. He gave them His blessing. He put them in a place of shelter and… Continue Reading

Tried with Fire: The Way Things Used to Be

Tried with Fire: The Way Things Used to Be

Kevin T. Bauder Human suffering is universal. We all feel pain. We ought to expect it, but usually we don’t. When suffering intrudes, we default to self-pity. Rather than saying, “It’s my turn,” we ask, “Why me?” Perhaps we ought to remember why people suffer at all. We should recall that God did not hardwire… Continue Reading

Tried with Fire: When Pain is Personal

Tried with Fire: When Pain is Personal

Kevin T. Bauder For just a moment, Carlos’s tearless gaze turned defiant. “I don’t understand it,” he said. “What I do know is that I’m just so angry. And I have no answers.” This conversation took place beside the casket of Carlos’s adolescent son. The teenager had been tinkering with the family car in an… Continue Reading

Tried with Fire: The Suffering of the Righteous

Tried with Fire: The Suffering of the Righteous

Kevin T. Bauder Discussions about the problem of evil quickly become abstract and theoretical. Skeptics raise questions about how a God who is supposed to be all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving could permit evil to exist. Religious thinkers offer certain stock responses. Perhaps God permits evil in order to achieve greater good. Perhaps He permits evil… Continue Reading

Providence and Evil

Providence and Evil

Jon Pratt Following last week’s Nick of Time essay entitled, “Fate and Providence,” I received the following email from a pastor: Dear Brother, I always enjoy and appreciate your writing. I struggle with this present [essay] however. Just recently a young lady started attending our church. Nine years ago she married her college sweetheart—(both from a Christian… Continue Reading