God's Problem
How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
One Bible, Many Answers
In God's Problem, the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus challenges the contradictory biblical explanations for why an all-powerful God allows us to suffer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this sometimes provocative, often pedantic memoir of his own attempts to answer the great theological question about the persistence of evil in the world, Ehrman, a UNC Chapel Hill religion professor, refuses to accept the standard theological answers. Through close readings of every section of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, he discovers that the Bible offers numerous answers that are often contradictory. The prophets think God sends pain and suffering as a punishment for sin and also that human beings who oppress others create such misery; the writers who tell the Jesus story and the Joseph stories think God works through suffering to achieve redemptive purposes; the writers of Job view pain as God's test; and the writers of Job and Ecclesiastes conclude that we simply cannot know why we suffer. In the end, frustrated that the Bible offers such a range of opposing answers, Ehrman gives up on his Christian faith and fashions a peculiarly utilitarian solution to suffering and evil in the world: first, make this life as pleasing to ourselves as we can and then make it pleasing to others. Although Ehrman's readings of the biblical texts are instructive, he fails to convince readers that these are indeed God's problems, and he fails to advance the conversation any further than it's already come.
Customer Reviews
Not God's problem, our problem
Ehrman goes through the various explanations, gleaned from the Bible, to explain why God allows/initiates suffering (pain, illness, etc.) yincluding some that I wasn't aware of. The explanations range from making God look weak - it's the Devil that causes it, to the sadistic - God kills Job's wife and kids to win a bet. It also becomes clear that the traditional explanations are contradictory not only with each other but an orthodox understanding of the faith and the nature of God.
He wears his learning lightly and the reader does not need theological training to understand the points being made. Ehrman relates his own struggles with the predominant explanations for suffering within the Evangelical community which reflect my own experience but I suspect his story and conclusions could alienate conservative readers, snake handlers, etc.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, this book is for anyone interested in why we suffer and the serendipitous nature of suffering and is willing to have their views challenged.