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Answering thousands of destitute refugees from civil strife and “Islamic State” atrocities in
Syria. On a small scale, a young former student of mine dies suddenly and
Questions unexpectedly, leaving a husband and two young children, the day before one son’s
birthday and four weeks before Christmas. And we are expected to believe that
About there is a good God in control?
Suffering When thinking about how to answer a non-Christian friend who asks a question like
Blind fate: Che sera sera; what will be will be. There is no personal higher
power. There is just blind fate. “That’s just how it had to be.” Stuff happens.
Get used to it!
Nature is all there is: We can detect causes and consequences. And that’s
all. Don’t imagine some hidden world. Get on with science and technology; try
to understand, try to control what we can understand.
God within nature: Perhaps there is something beyond – a world spirit inside
the universe in some way, a spirit moving along within time.
God the referee: God is like a referee or umpire. The game is a bit chaotic at
times. But every now and then God blows the whistle, intervenes with a
prophecy or a miracle. We just need more interventions.
Two gods, or even lots of gods: There are many invisible supernatural
powers at work in the universe – call them spirits, demons, gods and
goddesses if you will. Perhaps trees, mountains, and rivers have spirits
associated with them.
God the puppet-master: Suppose that there is just one real and sovereign
God, who rules the whole universe directly by his almighty power. He pulls all
the strings, and our decisions are not really decisions at all.
With all that in mind, here are three suggestions for how you might answer your
friend’s question.
Jesus makes known the God who is sovereign Maker of everything, who is
good, who is all-powerful, and who is Father, who governs all things and
weaves together even evil dark things into his good purposes. He
deliberately chose that Jesus of Nazareth should be falsely accused,
mocked, stripped, and executed, by wicked people with evil motives, in
order to achieve the biggest and best good thing human history has ever
seen. Jesus teaches his followers to pray, “May your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven”. God’s will is done on earth in one way now, with all the
puzzles that brings; one day it will be done in a different way, a wonderfully
perfect way.
This article is adapted from Where Was God When That Happened? which is available from Christian
bookshops and direct from The Good Book Company.
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