Theodicy

The relationship of God (and God's subsequent activity) and evil is a subject that I cannot escape in my thought world. Evil, for me, is not merely a subject or intellectual problem.

Evil is evident in the young Jewish girl who's just had both eyes ripped out by a young German solider in a Warsaw prison camp. Evil is seen by the countless African women who've had their breasts cut off in the name of religion. Evil is felt by the thousands of innocent children who've died or live in starvation due to wars being waged by the countries of the world. Evil is experienced up close when Jesus, the embodiment of God and man within creation, is crucified by the religious and political leaders of the day. Evil showed up when 800 thousand Rwandans (the case study for successful Christian evangelism movements) died in one of the bloodiest genocides of modern world history.

Evil cannot be a mere subject, it must be discussed and addressed from within the realm of human relationships.

Recently, a trusted friend handed me Greg Boyd's God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict. It is a "meat and potatoes" book--if you are going to read it, pack a lunch. I finished late last night and was challenged in my personal outlook toward the world. This book got me thinking about some things I've written about in other places.

Regarding death, violence, sickness, decay, chaos, and discord (what Christians are taught to call "sin")--God's response to the obvious reality that humans participate in the brokenness can be understood in (at least) these four ways.


1. There is no God. Humans have created God in order that we might feel better per our existential and spiritual angst regarding identity, community, and belonging.

2. God created the world but is no longer involved. The world is in chaos but cannot or chooses not to do anything about the plight of creation or humanity. The end result is no different than #1 save the fire insurance of heaven.

3. God and creation are one and the same. God's way are a mystery and the in the fullness of time God will make sense of the suffering a) he's caused or b) he's permitted to happen. This sentiment is felt when people can say, after the death of a child, "God needed another angel" or . . . "God's ways are not our ways."

4. God created the world, though He is in some ways separate from the world (not separate regarding geography but in being and essence). Part of his creation (Satan, Devil, demons, powers, forces, dominions, etc.) stands at odds with him and we experience this battle in both the spiritual and physical realm--an important reminder to conservative Christianity which tends to only seem interested in the "spiritual" elements of life (ignoring the material teachings and actions of Jesus) and to liberal Christianity which seems hyper-fixated on the physical realm (ignoring the inner formation of the disciple, and the larger cosmic forces at work in the world).

God decides, by the power of Jesus' resurrection, to create a community of people who engage the "powers of darkness" as agents who foreshadow the coming day when sin, death, cancer, disease, poverty, and abuse are no longer. A community who pray for God's intervention. A community which believes that God is still about the business of victory, triumph, hope, and mercy.