Does God Cause or Allow Evil?

http://www.gregboyd.org/popular/the-35w-bridge-collapse-and-the-book-of-job-blog-post-from-8-29-07/

When I created this blog it was primarily for the purpose of discussing Theodicy, which is commonly known as the so-called "Problem of Evil." Actually, "theodicy" is a word derivved from two Greek words Theos and dikaios. Theodicy, therefore, is best translated righteousness of God, or God's justification. In Romans 1:16-17, Paul indicates that the gospel reveals God's righteousness. The Gospel reveals the answer to theodicy!

The above link is to Greg Boyd's response to the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis nearly two years ago. Boyd's response is to a pastor that said God caused the bridge to collapse to demonstrate his glory. What do you think?

Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous will live by faith.'"

Clergy Sex Abuse in Baptist Life

http://kerussocharis.blogspot.com/

http://www.tiffanycroft.blogspot.com/

http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/

The above are links to blogs dealing with the topic of clergy sexual abuse Baptist Life. The first, is Wade Burleson's blog, which is covering the story of disgraced former SBC pastor Darrell Gilyard and his plea deal in a sexual abuse case. The others are the blogs of Tiffany Croft and Christa Brown, who were victims of clergy sexual abuse in their own churches as children and students. When they had the courage to report these acts, they were humiliated into forced "apologies" while their perpeptrators moved on to other churches, usually larger churches.

In the case of Darrell Gilyard, his sexual misconduct had a history of nearly 25 years. Only the late pastor E.K. Bailey dared to tell the truth about Gilyard's nature, and he was rediculed by other denominational officials for doing so.

The only way that clergy sexual abuse will end in any denomination, including Baptist life, is to tell the truth, stand for the innocent, and leave the results to God.

Matthew 18:5-10: "5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. 10 "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven."

Human Trafficking...in North Carolina!

http://www.biblicalrecorder.com/post/Human-trafficking-a-growing-NC-problem.aspx


Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Christians and Torture (again)

http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4052&Itemid=9

I have written before that I cannot believe that support for torture is greater among Christians than it is among those who are not active in church or who do not go at all. David Gushee's prayer is a masterful call to consider the contradiction between our faith and support for torture.

Dr. Gushee's prayer is incredible. I hope that you will take the time to read it, and, if you dare, to pray it. I appreciate what he said about torture, the corralation of support for torture and church attendance. It is interesting how through the history of the church, Christians have supported forms of torture and cruel punishment for their/our opponents.

However, the most important thing that Dr. Gushee noted is that we should not worry about churches being empty in the future. They already are. Our faith as a whole is empty. We do not have the Spritual or Moral Vision that a follower of Jesus Christ must possess in order to see injustices purported in the world. Our faith lacks consistency and substance.

I tend to be overly critical of the church, after being raised in Alabama and seeing first hand the effects of racism and hearing stories of how "Bible believers" responded, or failed to respond. I realize that when I point fingers, I have three pointing back. I merely want to ask, "Are you reading the same book that I read? Are you hearing the same Word that I am hearing? Are you praying to the same God that I pray to?

However, what are we missing that spurred on the disciples in the book of Acts? What are we missing that empowered the martyrs of the early church? What are we missing that fueled the writings of early church fathers like Augustine? What are we missing that motivated the Radical Reformers to abandon state supported religious institutions and reject their baptism, at the cost of their lives?

What are we missing that fuels the fire of Christians in Africa, Asia and South America?
Too me, we can no longer say that this empty religion is a symptom of "liberalism" or "fundamentalism." It is not something characteristic of only conservatives or moderates. It is not something symptomatic of denominations.

It is across the board. We are inconsistent in our applications of faith to real life. We are comfortable. We fail to think for ourselves. When we do, we are afraid to stand up for things that really matter. Furthermore, do we really believe it when Jesus says that for those who want to follow him, there will be a cross waiting for us, too?

Consistency Please!

In wake of another horrific massacre, this one in Carthage, North Carolina at a nursing home, I want to ask for some consistency regarding gun control.

Norman Jameson, the editor of the North Carolina Baptist Newspaper, The Biblical Recorder, took heat when he suggested that lawmakers who allowed Arkansas church-goers should receive the Darwin Award (for stupidity). Those who objected to Jameson's article suggested that civilian hand-gun possession actually deterred millions of crimes in comparison to 30,000 who were killed accidentally by hand-guns in one year. Therefore, gun control is not something that we should pursue.

Consider the "Liquor by the Drink" referendum in Taylorsville last summer. Of course I am thankful that alcohol is not readily available in the county. Having come from Birmingham and seeing the numerous amounts of damage done by alcohol, I am thankful to live in a county that limits sales and consumption of alcohol. I guess that since I don't drink, I don't feel deprived of anything significant either.

However, the logic of the opposition to the referendum argued that limiting alcohol availability might save lives. It was worth opposing, even if establishments able to serve alcohol could bring needed revenue to the county, if one life was saved.

Yet, the outrage over availability of fire arms is noticeably missing. What about: "If it could save one life, then it would be worth it?"

Today, I just talked to a family whose daughter was shot through the head as she was riding in a car on the interstate. This happened five years ago. After surgeries and years of rehab, she is doing better, but not fully recovered. The shooter was an unsupervised teenager who got a hold of a gun. How did he get a gun? How are so many available that people acquire them illegally? What about legal possession? What are the limits?

What if this Robert Stewart was unable to get his hand on the several firearms he carried into the Carthage nursing home? Or what if the man who shot Fred Winters, the pastor of FBC, Maryville, IL, had been screened prior to sales? What if we worked so hard to save just one life? What if we, like Jesus, laid down our rights to take up our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters?

What if we were consistent in the application of our moral logic?

Violence, Self-Defense and Matthew 5:38-48

Recent events in the news raises a question that I have struggled with for some time - violence in defense of justice.

First, a pastor, Fred Winter, was murdered in cold blood Sunday Morning during his church's 8 AM worship service in Maryville, Illinois. Second, a shooter went on a rampage in South Alabama towns, killing ten people, mostly family but some were random victims, before taking his own life. Third, general thoughts about inherent evil in the regimes of North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Sudan have raised questions for me. Furthermore, fundamentalist Islam, along with various sects of Mormonism, white-supremiscist Christianity and many other religious organizations that promote domination and violence cannot be ignored. Evil is all around. Violence is the weapon of choice (a cowardly means of coercion). Death is the creator of fear.

However, in response to this, the Bible teaches these things:
1. God is in control and is all powerful.
2. God loves the whole world and has demonstrated his love in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection for the benefit of all who would trust in Him.
3. God is a God who defeats evil through death and resurrection. As Revelation 5 indicates, when John turned to see the Lion of Judah, instead of a magnificent figure, he saw a Lamb, having been slaughtered.
4. God has the power and capacity to raise the dead. He has done this in Jesus and will do this for all who believe.
5. Jesus taught his followers, trusting these things above, to turn the other cheek and to love their enemies.

However, does this preclude defense of the other who is in need? I raise this issue in response to an article in the Biblical Recorder in which the editor, Norman Jameson, wrote that it would be crazy to allow concealed weapons in churches. I symapthize with this position. What message are we communicating to allow concealed weapons in a house of worship in which we profess to believe in an all-powerful and all-loving God? However, can we stand idly by when another is attacked and endangered by an assailent?

Critics of Jameson's editorial called Jameson's article and position "idiotic." (Interestingly enough, that violates Matt. 5:21-26). We should be thankful that only 30,694 people died in the United States to gun-related accidents as opposed to the 4 million estimated crimes foiled by fire arms. But what is the Christian to do?

One extreme is the position of the pacifist. A pacificist says that there is no room in the teachings of Jesus for violence in defense of justice. Matthew 5:38-48 is the primary scripture for such a teaching. Because a follower of Jesus is commanded to turn the other cheak in the face of injustice and to love one's enemies, violence is automatically eliminated as an option of retaliation for the Christian. This includes violence for self-defense, defense of another, and participation in war.

Regarding war, most Christians have held to a theory of just war. For a war to be just, there must be just cause for the war and justice in strategy and practice of war. These practices include negotiating surrender, limiting civilian casualties, etc. While many wars could fit under the heading of just cause (World War II is a prime example), no war in the history of the world has ever been practiced under completely just means. (I do not make this statement to criticize military. I appreciate their sacrifice and would never dishonor their legacy.) However, reading the criteria of a just war is like reading the rules for a basketball game. Just get an open field, a couple of referees, and make sure that everyone is nice and respectful as they are killing one another. And, by the way, make sure none of the innocent bystanders are hit with a bullet or sword. It really has more of a "pie in the sky" outlook than pacificism. It is unrealistic not only in the modern world, but in the pre-modern eras as well.

Matthew 5:38-48 at the very least calls Christ-followers to expect opposition and embrace suffering. It discourages self-defense and the right to retaliate. However, does it discourage using force to come to the aid of one who is in danger? I am not so sure. How can a Christian say that refusing to defend the life of an innocent victim is an act of love? Yet, how can killing the enemy fulfill this passage of scripture?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote The Cost of Discipleship as a convinced pacificist later became involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. As Hitler continued to incarcerate Christians and commit genocide against the Jews, and as he continued to invade neighboring nations in Europe, Bonhoeffer felt that the only thing that he could do as a Christian was to work for the eventual defeat of his country. Bonhoeffer's change of heart resulted in his arrest in 1943 and death two years later. His change of heart also demonstrated that pacificism as a rule is a difficult position to maintain in a world full of evil perpetraitors and innocent victims.

If life has taught me one thing, then it is the observation that it is easier to suffer than to watch someone else suffer and feel unable to help.

As a Christian, I believe at the very least:
1. Churches should use available means of security, including locking the doors during office hours, and silent alarms for after hours.
2. Churches should use security volunteers to patrol during services.
3. Churches should take whatever means of precaution necessary to ensure that potential criminals realize that the church is aware of potential threat.

As a Christian, I believe at our very best:
1. We should prepare ourselves to demonstrate love to our enemies, whoever they are and whatever their intentions might be. We must pray for them and be prepared to serve them.
2. We should not be so anxious to protect ourselves that we feel the need to bring concealed weapons into church. With the increasing technology for "stun" guns and tasers, we ought to consider these as alternatives to handguns.
3. Realize that we are at risk for violence. Violence happens. We can do things to deter it, to defend against it, but we will never eliminate it.
4. Pray for the end of war and work to reduce violence in the world.
5. Trust in the core values of our faith, that God's kingdom is imminent, and we will be a part of God's future regardless of the present.
6. Defend the innocent.
7. Pray for forgiveness for our inability to find the right answer to every situation. God loves us and knows whether or not we faced a moral dilemma, or that we were just trigger happy for our rights.

I would appreciate any feedback on any of these thoughts.

Tim

What Should We Buy?

Last night I saw on TV that the NBA is borrowing millions of dollars to bail out 15 NBA teams that are suffering budget shortfalls. While I hold to John Wesley's admonition to "earn all you can" I believe that Christians, including me, have failed to consider Wesley's complete maxim on wealth. He also said to "save all you can and give all you can."

Consider with me extraordinary salaries of professional athletes, actors and entertainers. While I love to hear the voice of a professionally trained musician performing songs which I can relate, as opposed to karaoke, are we spending way more on their albums than they are actually worth? Though I prefer movies to children's theater, must we buy the DVD? Though I love the book, do I need to own it? Could I not enjoy a high school football game as much as a BCS college football game.

During this economic crisis the University of Alabama has pledged millions to add 9000 seats to Bryant-Denny Stadium, the NBA is borrowing money, someone at an unamed university is requesting $60,000 to go find Noah's Ark, companies continued to pay millions for 30 seconds of air time during the Super Bowl, and the children who starred in Slumdog Millionare have been returned to the slums.

Have you considered that the bulk of our economy is based upon extravagance?

Have we learned our lesson in the United States? We cannot expect the economy to be fixed overnight, yes. However, can we and should we expect our country to remain stable if we return to the same "keeping up with the Jones's" and "hear we are, now, entertain us" attitudes of the last 30 years?

As I reconsider my own habits, I wonder if the following has any bearing on how I, as a Christian, should manage the wealth God has given to me.


"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." (Acts 4:32-35, NIV)