Commenting on a new blog essay that I wrote while on retreat last summer, a Facebook acquaintance who is a fellow graduate of the Great Books program at St. John’s College wrote the following. Him: I don’t believe in your God nor in the notion that God or any entity created the universe. The new Webb photos confirm my long-held conviction that the universe is a cold, mindless, soulless void without purpose or meaning, and that any characterization to the... Read more
Last Thursday I posted my second recent essay revisiting the problem of evil, arguing that the most common and popular solutions to this thorny problem don’t ultimately work. Why Traditional “Solutions” to the Problem of Evil Don’t Work In this final essay on the problem of evil, I suggest some strategic changes that provide an entirely different angle on the issue than most traditional attempts employ. The problem of evil arises when one assumes the omnipotence and omnibenevolence of God... Read more
Regular readers of this blog know that I am currently thinking through an old issue–the problem of evil–in a new way. More on that to come in future posts. Someone on a podcast said recently that “suffering is the cost of doing evolutinary business.” So, I would argue, are diversity, beauty, and the powerful attraction of imperfection. The theory of natural selection also challenges people of “traditional” Christian faith to rethink their assumptions. Over a decade ago, I spent a... Read more
In the most recent episode of their podcast “The Bible for Normal People,” Pete Enns and Jared Byas interviewed Thomas Jay Oord, a prolific theologian and philosopher, on the problem of evil. The problem of evil regularly shows up in my ethics courses in a unit called “Does God have anything to do with ethics?”; I found the podcast both entertaining and helpful in suggesting ways that everyone, including myself, might both frame and think about the problem of evil... Read more
One of the speakers at the Evolving Faith 2023 conference that Jeanne and I attended in Minneapolis last month was Amy Kenny, a powerful writer who I first encountered on a podcast while on retreat last summer. My reflections shortly after that retreat on this blog are also included in my book project The Freelance Christian’s Guide to the Liturgical Year that I just finished a first draft of. I consider myself to be well informed and well read, but every once... Read more
In the wee hours of this morning, the time changed from Daylight Saving Time to standard time. Are you okay? Still sane? Or has this annual event thrown your circadian rhythm out of whack out of whack so badly that you may never recover? I’m going out on a limb here—way out. I like time changes. This year Daylight Savings time began on March 12, shifting the clock to provide an extra hour of light in the evening and ended... Read more
By all measures, this has already been a successful sabbatical (there are still two more months to go). I have a full draft of both of my book projects completed; both are close to being ready for preliminary feelers to be sent out to possible publishers. I have also been able to continue sending out three posts per week on this blog without interruption while writing two books, often focusing on whatever portion of one of the books I was... Read more
If God is both all-good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil in the world? For many, the timeless and classic problem of evil has taken onnew and immediate relevance as thousands of innocent people die in the Israel/Hamas conflict and as eighteen innocent people were murdered by a shooter in Lewiston, Maine last week. I’m going to be taking a fresh look at this intractable problem here this week. Recent polls indicate that the problem of evil is... Read more
It’s Halloween week!!–one of my least favorite holidays of the year. I know that offends many people, but so be it. Still, the onset of Halloween brings back memories–many of them religion and church related. Maybe that’s why I don’t like the holiday! As a 67-year-old guy with no small children in my life, I don’t do Halloween. Often Jeanne and I celebrate the day by going to a late afternoon movie, followed by dinner, so we can be conveniently... Read more
A number of years ago, during the early years of President Barack Obama’s first term, a debate raged over his proposed “Affordable Care Act” which, once successfully made into law, became the signature achievement of his presidency. I recall a pointed debate the “Letters to the Editor” page of our local newspaper (this was in the days when there were still hardcopy newpapers and printed letters to the editor). One critic of the proposed act wrote “I’m against this! What,... Read more
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