God has "hedged" him in He continues, "God commands us to pray 1Thesand prayer is one of the deep desires of the redeemed heart.
Asking us to trust in Him, He is there to remind us that we are not alone. I was not, however, prepared to envy them. One of the most important concepts of this book was that we all suffer in one way or another and that does not mean we are being punished for some sin we have committed.
In the grieving process, Job has moved on from confident trust to a nagging fear that he may have been duped. They may be the wrong questions? And some of the Psalms, especially Psalm 88 paints as gloomy a picture as Job does here.
Each booklet, taken from the best of Just Between Us over the years, is packed with relevant topics, practical help, and biblical guidance to refresh your relationship with God and encourage you on your faith journey. We need to acknowledge that this is a part of the Christian life, too.
This book was first published in and again inand then re-issued again after the September 11, attack on the twin towers in New York. Why the sudden change of tone from that which had been expressed in and? We trust God that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs all the suffering that we will endure on this earth.
There are many more such questions in Job that we will uncover. The answer is obvious, of course. He of whom it is written that he was "deeply distressed and troubled overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" Markunderstands the complexities of human psyche to a degree that is altogether sublime.
But God can intervene in human tragedies, and display His glory and power. I had often heard of the book, and seen it referenced in other works, but didn't get to reading it until this one came into my hands. Pauls works as a licensed clinical social worker Christ the author of our highest dream. This is the at a family mental health agency and in private prac- book's most helpful point-one that is often diffi- tice in Stamford, Connecticut.
Redemptive suffering is the God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy struggle to consent to our own de-centering and the By Larry Crabb openness to a re-centering in Christ. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, I found this book to be quite helpful in pastoral conversation and counseling.
I recommended it Meaningless suffering is deadly to the human spir- to two people who are in the crucible of shattered it. Those of us who have cared for people in trauma dreams: a counselee whose husband is dying of can- and loss have often heard the question "why" and cer and a friend and church member who continues understand the danger inherent in a search for expla- a two-year battle with melanoma.
For the church nations for suffering. The quest for hasty answers member, the book "profoundly" and accurately is often an escape from pain and a faith structure articulated his own discovery through suffering and that will not hold up through the grief.
Answers that the transformation that brought him into a joyful defend God's transcendent providence rarely give intimacy with God not possible before his life was relief. More likely, they induce invalidation and shattered.
He readily acknowledges the deeper bless- alienation. When the person has moved beyond the ing that has come through suffering, particularly the initial stages of grief and into processing the pain, spiritual intimacy he now enjoys with those he loves.
Larry Crabb, the popular Christian author of theodicy. This opened her to the possibility with God's activity seen as discipline and at times that God was not the author of her shattered dreams even punishment. While clinging firmly to a loving, and to the realization that God was suffering with supportive, and merciful God, she voices her emerg- her.
This threw her off balance, and she played with ing struggle with why he is letting it last so long. She enjoyed a taste of transformation and She realized God looked at her not with This raises a difficulty with Crabb's book. In tack- punitive contempt, but with delight as she accepted ling theodicy, he seems to vacillate between seeing an emerging sense of freedom and joy, even in the God as an impassible providential antagonist and midst of her suffering.
While rambling at times, in general his clinical knowledge of grief, his personal reflections, and The Task of Theology Today: the stories he relates help the reader bring his point Doctrines and Dogmas. His musings on Ruth have the same effect. He "psychologizes" the text. It could also be argued that he overlooks a greater message that The Task of Theology is a publication of the Yahweh's faithful love extends to all, including the Australian Theological Forum, which is "an indepen- outsider, who ironically exhibits true faith.
As it is, dent theological body that is ecumenical in outlook Crabb's tact reinforces the popular focus on indi- and seeks to facilitate the engagement of Christian vidual salvation and blessing.
In light of September theology with other disciplines in addressing areas of 11, such a theology strains to provide a response that social and cultural concern" ix. This volume con- resonates. Seldom are we encouraged to link our tains papers from the Forum's July colloquium personal suffering to the greater story of God's cos- on the role of doctrines and dogmas in contempo- mic redemption in Christ, a perspective that can fur- rary theology and is the first in a series dedicated to ther dethrone our basic egocentrism.
A theology of examining various aspects of theological inquiry in the cross a fa Moltmann does not reveal an antago- our time. The essays are written from a variety of per- nistic God removed from our suffering, but allows spectives and offer a handful of "tasks" to which any us to welcome a suffering God who through Christ relevant theology must attend.
Gunton points to the mystery of God's presence in our suf- suggests that doctrine is essential to theology as the fering and God's redemption of the world when all boundary of the "garden" within which theology is idolatrous dreams and ideologies inevitably shatter. Carl Braaten offers a Lutheran perspective Crabb's treatment of suffering may leave the in his contribution, "The Role of Dogma in Church reader itching for more biblical and theological clar- and Theology.
The counselee who proposing a revival of Trinitarian theology as a medi- um for re-engaging the systematic task in a construc- struggled to make sense of a loving God who disci- tive manner for the church. Stylianos Harkianakis, plined her through pain experienced an oppressive who represents the Orthodox tradition, argues in sense of guilt over the "selfish" need to take time for "Dogma and Authority in the Church" that dogma herself and take a break from the constant care of best serves theological inquiry when understood in her dying husband.
Her reading didn't resolve this its four-fold sense as: 1 truths taught by the church; dilemma, but intensified it. These three essays discuss the role of dogmas As with any collection of this sort, the quality and doctrines in general, affirming the positive func- of the contributions varies. The pieces by Gunton, tions they play in the contemporary theological task.
Braaten, and Rae rise to the surface, in my opinion, The five remaining papers begin from the opposite providing substantial insight into the question of the viewpoints, considering a variety of specific theologi- status of dogma and doctrine in present-day theol- cal concerns and assessing their impact on the larger ogy.
No matter how you complete it, at its root lies the issue of pain. When a loved one dies, we receive a terminal diagnosis, or natural disasters strike, people often wonder whether God is the cause of suffering and why he doesn't immediately take away the pain or fix the situation. As a result, we become angry at the once-beloved God who betrayed us.
In this Gold Medallion Award-winning book, Philip Yancey uses examples from the Bible and from his own experiences to show us how we can learn to accept--without blame, anger, or fear--that which we don't understand. He answers questions such as: Why is there such a thing as pain? Is pain a message from God? How should we respond to suffering? How can we cope with pain? Does faith help? Yancey speaks to everyone for whom life sometimes doesn't make sense. With compassion and clarity, Yancey brings us one step closer to finding an answer when our pain, or the pain of those we love, is real and we are left wondering, where is God when it hurts?
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