In this NY Times article, Dr. Stanley Fish discusses two very different books written by two authors whose spiritual journeys seem to criss-cross in some ways, particularly on these topics.
"Bart D. Ehrman is a professor of religious studies and his book is titled “God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer.” A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Ehrman trained to be a scholar of New Testament Studies and a minister. Born-again as a teenager, devoted to the scriptures (he memorized entire books of the New Testament), strenuously devout, he nevertheless lost his faith because, he reports, “I could no longer reconcile the claims of faith with the fact of life . . . I came to the point where I simply could not believe that there is a good and kindly disposed Ruler who is in charge.” “The problem of suffering,” he recalls, “became for me the problem of faith.”
"What impels him is not the fascination of intellectual puzzles, but the anguish produced by what he sees when he opens his eyes. “If he could do miracles for his people throughout the Bible, where is he today when your son is killed in a car accident, or your husband gets multiple sclerosis? . . . I just don’t see anything redemptive when Ethiopian babies die of malnutrition.”
The horror of the pain and suffering he instances leads Ehrman to be scornful of those who respond to it with cool abstract analyses: “What I find morally repugnant about such books is that they are so far removed from the actual pain and suffering that takes place in our world.”
He might have been talking about Antony Flew’s “There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.” Flew, a noted professor of philosophy, announced in 2004 that after decades of writing essays and books from the vantage point of atheism, he now believes in God."
-via NY Times
I don't have the time or energy right now to write a lot about this although I found it quite interesting - and I have to get back to work -
The comments to this piece are as interesting as the piece itself...click above to read.
2 comments:
Hi, I wanted to thank you for pointing this book out to me. Pain and suffering is something that I've been writing about at deeperdevotion. I'll definitely have to check it out.
Glenn,
Thanks for your comment. I've had a few readers email me asking for books on these subjects - and glad this is useful information to you!
Post a Comment