How Can We Respond?

“How should we respond when terrible things happen?” It’s a question that I’m asked all too frequently these days. Our world is filled with senseless violence, abuse, coverups, disagreement, and brokenness. And while none of these tragic things are new, the media and technology of our present moment enable us to see and experience theseContinue reading “How Can We Respond?”

Book Review: Paul’s Message and Ministry in Covenant Perspective (Hafemann)

There has been no shortage of scholarship on Paul in the last 150 years, as theologians and biblical scholars alike have taken up writing about Paul en masse. Amid the voluminous tomes on the Apostle, certain voices ring out more clearly than the others, beckoning readers to take up Paul with fresh insight. Scott J.Continue reading “Book Review: Paul’s Message and Ministry in Covenant Perspective (Hafemann)”

Remembering 9/11

Fourteen years ago today, my dad and I were late leaving for school. It was a day like any other. I had even neglected some morning chore, so dad was already sitting in his truck listening to “J.T. in the Morning”, the local morning talk show in South Bend, IN. As I climbed into theContinue reading “Remembering 9/11”

Book Review: God’s Problem (Ehrman)

In God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Questions—Why We Suffer (Harper One: New York, 2008), Bart D. Ehrman examines the various explanations for suffering presented in the text of the Christian Bible. Ehrman, a New Testament Textual Scholar and James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the UniversityContinue reading “Book Review: God’s Problem (Ehrman)”

Book Review: God’s Problem (Ehrman)

In the book God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Questions—Why We Suffer (New York: Harper One, 2008), Bart D. Ehrman examines the various explanations for suffering presented in the text of the Christian Bible. Ehrman, a New Testament textual critic and James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies atContinue reading “Book Review: God’s Problem (Ehrman)”

Book Review: The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Butler)

Can God really be good? Will God really judge all non-Christians? How can you believe in a God who commanded genocide? These are questions which many people—many Christians—struggle to honestly answer, queries which have caused people to walk away from the Christian faith, problems that have eroded many hearts and minds. And, lest we beContinue reading “Book Review: The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Butler)”

Reflections on Suffering (Part II)

This article originally appeared on Conciliar Post. In my yesterday’s post, I reflected on some of the answers which have been offered to the “question of suffering,” the query about why there is evil and suffering in the world if there is a good and all-powerful God. In today’s post, I hope to begin craftingContinue reading “Reflections on Suffering (Part II)”

Reflections on Suffering (Part I)

This article originally appeared at Conciliar Post. Why do we suffer? This is a question which, unfortunately, we all must ask at some point in our lives. The 2011-2012 academic year was a year in which this question took on a special relevance in my own life, first in a theology class devoted to wrestlingContinue reading “Reflections on Suffering (Part I)”