Ehrman

Ehrman’s Problem: the Conclusion–His Book’s Title Is Misleading

Although most of Bart Ehrman’s final chapter, “Suffering: The Conclusion,” is just a rehash, he does make one last point worth examining. When I teach on suffering I remind my students that whatever else we think about suffering, we should remember that Christianity is primarily about God the Son suffering for humankind. Ehrman gives his …

Ehrman’s Problem: the Conclusion–His Book’s Title Is Misleading Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 20: Everything But the Kitchen Sink

In my last post I pointed out that Ehrman begged the question for his major argument as to why the apocalyptic argument didn’t help us answer why God allows suffering. In this post I will address his next two arguments. I titled this post, “Everything But the Kitchen Sink,” because, frankly, his arguments appear rather …

Ehrman’s Problem 20: Everything But the Kitchen Sink Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 19: Begging the Question

Now we turn to Ehrman’s fuller critique of the apocalyptic solution. He writes, “For apocalypticists, cosmic forces of evil were loose in the world, and these evil forces were aligned against the righteous people of God, bringing pain and misery down upon their heads, making them suffer because they sided with God. But this state …

Ehrman’s Problem 19: Begging the Question Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 17: Humility Is Absent Without Leave

Ehrman calls the other answer to why God allows suffering found in the book of Job, “The Poetic Dialogues of Job: There Is No Answer” (172). Ehrman concludes that “God does not listen to the pleas of the innocent; he overpowers them by his almighty presence” (183). Ehrman writes that Job wanted a divine audience …

Ehrman’s Problem 17: Humility Is Absent Without Leave Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 16: Cosmic Issues He Doesn’t Understand

We come next to Ehrman’s chapter, “Does Suffering Make Sense?” In it he divides the book of Job into two separate answers and concludes, no surprise, that neither of them succeeds in answering our many questions. Ehrman even argues that the book of Job has two separate authors, but that’s just an assertion largely based …

Ehrman’s Problem 16: Cosmic Issues He Doesn’t Understand Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 14: He Misunderstood God’s Promises

Beginning on his first page of his chapter on “The Mystery of the Greater Good,” Ehrman relates his disappointment with God (125-126): If (IF!) there is a God, he is not the kind of being that I believed in as an evangelical: a personal deity who has ultimate power over this world and intervenes in …

Ehrman’s Problem 14: He Misunderstood God’s Promises Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 13—Spanking the Strawman… again

Chapter five of Bart Ehrman’s book, God’s Problem, is entitled “The Mystery of the Greater Good: Redemptive Suffering.” In it Ehrman writes, “Sometimes, for some biblical authors, suffering has a positive aspect to it. Sometimes God brings good out of evil, a good that would not have been possible if the evil had not existed. …

Ehrman’s Problem 13—Spanking the Strawman… again Read More »

Ehrman’s Problem 12: Our Answer too “Finely Reasoned”

Next we come to one of the weirdest aspects of Ehrman’s problem project. Ehrman grouses (121-122): I don’t know if you’ve read any of the writings of the modern theodicists, but they are something to behold: precise, philosophically nuanced, deeply thought out, filled with esoteric terminology and finely reasoned explanations for why suffering does not …

Ehrman’s Problem 12: Our Answer too “Finely Reasoned” Read More »