David Kuo, author of "Tempting Faith" and former Special Assistant to the President in George W. Bush's White House is a great thinker & writer. He blogs today with a great post addressing this age old question. I highly recommend checking it out HERE - then lets discuss in the comments. Ready - GO!
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I think a better question is, "Why does God ordain that evil come to pass?" Including brain tumors.
The question "What do you mean by 'evil'?" should be asked first. I always find it funny when someone says a tornado is "evil".
One night several years ago my brother and I were at a bar/restaurant by the beach after tennis and a waterspout must have come off the water and passed right by the opened doors to the Parrot. There was a minute or two of total mayhem (I ran into the bathroom..if the twister didn't kill me the smell would :-). Afterwards we wandered outside to look at the suddenly calm weather, then went back in. I saw something green on the floor, and reached down to find two $20 bills rolled up and soaking wet. It was exactly what I needed for the tab and a tip - and it was my turn to pay!
Now how can you say that that tornado was evil?
I'll let you guys respond to that and I'll come back with more flaws with the problem of evil.
Good thoughts Jim - but If you read David's blog I think he is speaking more toward Poverty and Starvation.
Hi Matt
He asks why does God allow suffering. Poverty and starvation are what we allow most directly, but his cancer for instance is not necessarily a case of neglect or other evil.
The problem with the problem of evil is that it always leaps to the problem of suffering. Evil is a cause and suffering is an effect. Evil causes suffering but not all suffering is caused by evil. Hence my tornado point.
David's whisper meant this IMO: when others cause us to suffer, we absorb and later squeeze out that suffering on someone else. Thus a chain reaction is created, a negative chain letter. It is when we step out of the world and shift our focus to God that we get a glimpse of what it is truly like to not have suffering in our veins.
I believe David's whisper from God is authentic because it is exactly true. In God's presence nothing can overcome His glory (think Romans 8:28). It is because we reject His presence subconsciously out of ignorance, arrogance, or fear (to name a few reasons), that we suffer from suffering in the first place. Of course it is only a picture of Heaven for us, where suffering cannot enter.
Wittgenstein once wrote, "To the truly religious man, nothing is tragic". I think I finally found an application for that quote...
Thanks for the explination Jim - even if your daughters husband hates Wittgenstein - I like his quote ; )
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