Thank you for all of the responses to my last post. That entry easily had the most posts under it in the history of this blog. The response reminded me of a few things.
Theodicy (in my opinion) is the most difficult question for any faith to answer. We can try to explain away the trinity, the incarnation, and various other theological quandaries. But trying to reconcile a loving, all-powerful God with our experience of evil and hardship is extremely difficult, if not impossible at times.
But we are called to struggle nonetheless. And the responses show me that there are a variety of ways that we reconcile the question. Our struggles produce views that console, comfort, and encourage us. But others are bothered by the same views, and must work it out on their own.
Perhaps there is no “right” answer in determining how to combine God’s judgment, God’s grace, Nature’s power, humanity’s sinfulness, and a fallen world. Though it seems a mixture of all, each of us has different amounts of each in our explanations. And so it should be.
May God use our feeble attempts at grasping the unknowable to comfort those in dire need.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 comments:
And while you're getting a personal loan, why don't you go check out my blog that isn't updated often.
By the way, good thoughts Sam. Bringing that thought it's logical conclusion, should we then try to tell people what they would like to hear when it comes to why bad things happen? If comforting is the important thing, would that comfort them all the more?
Thanks for referencing the spam message before I could delete it. Now to trash it would make no sense in light of your comment.
As for your other question, I don't think telling someone what they would like to hear is the best thing to do, but working with them to see where the come down on theodicy and possibly reinforcing that view might be a possible solution.
For example, even if you come down on the "God judging" side of things, telling a person who lost a loved one because God wasn't happy with the state of things in NO probably won't bring much comfort. At the same time, eventually such a view should be expressed, especially if you think they could be in danger of similar judgment.
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