Why Doesn't God Do Things Perfectly? - Book

From the back cover:

The World, Maurice Boyd contends, is not made for our individual safety and comfort. The truth is that troubles are not sent; they come because we live in the kind of world where bad things happen. And when troubles come, they come as impartially as the rain that falls on the just and the unjust, the sunlight that shines on good and bad alike. If we believe this, then teh sufferings that come our way will not cause a crisis of faith for us. Perhaps we will be able to see God as the burden-bearer, not the burden-sender.

Maurice Boyd defends the goodness of God in the face of evil and suffering. We sometimes allow ourselves, he says, to sink into believing that because life has its problems that life is itself a problem. We forget that life is greater than anything it brings to us. For all our complaining, we give ourselves away by bringing children into the world and believing it is a good thing to do. We celebrate birthdays and give and receive gifts because we believe birth is a gift. The conviction that life is good informs our moral values, excites our moral expectations, and shapes our moral questions.

If we can suffer defeats without being defeated and endure losses without being losers, then surely we can find ways to deal with life's difficulties without reducing life itself to a difficulty. This attempt to uphold and defend God in view of the existence of evil will challenge you, inspire you to think and reflect on what you have read, and encourage you to discuss the ultimate questions it poses and raises.

Format: Paperback ISBN-10: 0687070341 ISBN-13: 9780687070343 Sep 1999 Publisher: Abingdon Press 182 pages