SUFFERING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD - PART 1 (18 OF 34)
by Zach Terry
Scripture: John 8:31-59
This content is part of a series.
Suffering for the Glory of God - Part 1 (18 of 34)
Series: Jesus, the One and Only
Zach Terry
John 8:31-59
Introduction: If it were possible to ''sell'' people into the Kingdom of Heaven surely Jesus would have turned the disciples into Public relation gurus. Perhaps he would have developed a brand, registered Jesus.com, printed t-shirts and set out to develop a public approval rating that would have rivaled Wal-Mart or Coca-Cola.
He would have carefully studied the public thoughts and sentiments about Him and would have systematically torn down every obstacle that kept people from signing on the quintessential bottom line.
Suffering for example - Suffering is a major PR problem for God.
Natural disasters, human deformities, premature deaths, incurable disease, starving tribes, mass murders.
How can God be all powerful and loving and allow people to suffer? Some suggest that perhaps he is not all powerful at all! Or worse yet, Perhaps he is not loving!
Philosopher J.L. Mackie makes this case against God in his book, ''The Miracle of Theism''. He states it this way, ''If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is so much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exists. Some other god or no god may exist, but not the traditional God.''
Tim Keller answered Mackie in his book, ''The Reason of God'', ''We see lurking within supposedly hard-nosed skepticism an enormous faith in one's own cognitive abilities. If our minds can't plumb the depths of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can't be any!''
- Don't you see that the very fact that within you there is an idea of another place - where there is no injustice, no pain stands as an argument for the God you criticize?
- With what are you comparing the apparent injustice? There is within the human heart an innate realization that there is a God who is all powerful and l ...
Series: Jesus, the One and Only
Zach Terry
John 8:31-59
Introduction: If it were possible to ''sell'' people into the Kingdom of Heaven surely Jesus would have turned the disciples into Public relation gurus. Perhaps he would have developed a brand, registered Jesus.com, printed t-shirts and set out to develop a public approval rating that would have rivaled Wal-Mart or Coca-Cola.
He would have carefully studied the public thoughts and sentiments about Him and would have systematically torn down every obstacle that kept people from signing on the quintessential bottom line.
Suffering for example - Suffering is a major PR problem for God.
Natural disasters, human deformities, premature deaths, incurable disease, starving tribes, mass murders.
How can God be all powerful and loving and allow people to suffer? Some suggest that perhaps he is not all powerful at all! Or worse yet, Perhaps he is not loving!
Philosopher J.L. Mackie makes this case against God in his book, ''The Miracle of Theism''. He states it this way, ''If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is so much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exists. Some other god or no god may exist, but not the traditional God.''
Tim Keller answered Mackie in his book, ''The Reason of God'', ''We see lurking within supposedly hard-nosed skepticism an enormous faith in one's own cognitive abilities. If our minds can't plumb the depths of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can't be any!''
- Don't you see that the very fact that within you there is an idea of another place - where there is no injustice, no pain stands as an argument for the God you criticize?
- With what are you comparing the apparent injustice? There is within the human heart an innate realization that there is a God who is all powerful and l ...
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