{"id":870,"date":"2009-09-18T10:54:17","date_gmt":"2009-09-18T10:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2009\/09\/i-can-endure-all-things-in-him-who-strengthens-me--jack-rushton-on-theodicy.html"},"modified":"2009-09-18T10:54:17","modified_gmt":"2009-09-18T10:54:17","slug":"i-can-endure-all-things-in-him-who-strengthens-me-jack-rushton-on-theodicy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/09\/i-can-endure-all-things-in-him-who-strengthens-me-jack-rushton-on-theodicy.html","title":{"rendered":"‘I Can Endure All Things in Him who Strengthens Me– Jack Rushton on Theodicy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps you have read Bart Ehrman’s book, God’s Problem<\/u> and perhaps not. It deals with the issue of why there is suffering if there is a loving God. This issue is of course more of a problem for those who affirm both God is loving and sovereign on the one hand, and also that God has predestined all things from before the foundation of the world. I agree with the first half of that equation but not the latter half, which I think is an unBiblical world view, not unlike Islamic fatalism.
\nJack Rushton is a quadrapelegic who has some good wisdom on the problem of theodicy, and he also knows it is better to laugh than to cry about our problems in this fallen and evil world. For my money, Jack Rushton gives a much more powerful and apt response to the problem of suffering than Ehrman. He also bears witness to the irrepressible nature of the human spirit when one is in a personal relationship with a loving God. As Paul puts it “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the all surpassing power is from God, and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed but not in despair; …struck down but not destroyed…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4.7ff. excerpts).<\/p>\n

Kudos to Rick Roberts for sending me this link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps you have read Bart Ehrman’s book, God’s Problem and perhaps not. It deals with the issue of why there is suffering if there is a loving God. This issue is of course more of a problem for those who affirm both God is loving and sovereign on the one hand, and also that God…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n'I Can Endure All Things in Him who Strengthens Me- Jack Rushton on Theodicy - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/09\/i-can-endure-all-things-in-him-who-strengthens-me-jack-rushton-on-theodicy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'I Can Endure All Things in Him who Strengthens Me- Jack Rushton on Theodicy - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps you have read Bart Ehrman’s book, God’s Problem and perhaps not. 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A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. 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