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The age-old question of how a good God can allow suffering is
addressed by several authors in this compilation. The root of
all suffering is explored, as is the way suffering is
categorized and dealt with in Scripture. The final chapters,
written from lessons learned in personal suffering, were of
great value. Although this book can be a bit academic at times,
it is a helpful resource for those desiring to give thought to
this question.
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| QUOTES from McCartney's
chapters |
The problem of evil and the problem of suffering are tied
together. If God is good, then why does he allow evil? If God is
good, why do the righteous suffer, and not the wicked? The Old
Testament writers answered this question is eschatological
terms: God’s judgment was coming, and when it arrived, the
wicked in their ease would suffer the consequences of their sin,
while the oppressed righteous would be lifted up and given
relief from their suffering. [83]
God does not exempt himself from suffering but enters into it
fully in the person of his Son. And, mysteriously, the suffering
of God incarnate accomplishes our salvation! As a result, it is
no wonder that our worship as the people of God is consumed with
Jesus’ suffering and vindication. We worship the crucified and
risen One. How can we, as his beloved people, saved by his
suffering, refuse to drink when he offers us the cup of
suffering? [93]
Contrary to Jews who want power and Greeks who want wisdom, the
gospel of Jesus emphasizes God’s favor as manifest through
weakness, humiliation, and even death. Suffering, far from being
a mark of God’s rejection, is actually a mark of his favor and
blessing. [97]
Trials and testing of all kinds, including suffering, have a
purpose, and we should not defeat that purpose through
impatience, by abandoning obedience for the sake of comfort, or
by attempting an inappropriate escape from testing. [106]
Since suffering and trial are something brought on not
ultimately by an imperial officer or angry neighbor but by the
Devil, all the trials and sufferings he is permitted to send our
way are ultimately a testing that identifies us with Christ’s
suffering. [114]
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