Suffering

The Enigma of Job

Mark Johnston
Aug 30, 2016
The book of Job is full of enigmas. The man who gives the book his name is an enigma. The book’s style is enigmatic. Its entire structure and drama raises all kinds of questions. And, of course, its central theme is the greatest enigma of all: theodicy – how do we relate a good and sovereign God to...

Mondays with Manton: Christ's Temptation (1)

Mar 28, 2016
Thomas Manton (1620–1677) was called "the king of preachers" at his funeral. Anyone that has ever used his expositions of James or Jude for their sermon preparation knows this to be true. He is consistently deep, thorough, and memorable in his exposition of Scripture. All told, his Works comprise...

John Bunyan: Prison & Prayer

Stephen Unthank
Jan 5, 2016
John Bunyan is no doubt best known for his Pilgrim’s Progress, a beautiful allegory of the Christian life, a book which has lasted the test of time. And in his own day Bunyan was well known as an excellent preacher. He often preached at John Owen’s church in London, where Charles Doe remarked that...

Rejoice in the Midst of Suffering?

Jason Helopoulos
Mar 14, 2015
We only need to read the headlines in the morning paper or turn on the evening news to have confirmed what we already know to be true, suffering is an ever-present companion in this world. As a result of the Fall, every individual throughout the history of humanity has known suffering and...

Rejoice in the Midst of Suffering?

Jason Helopoulos
Mar 14, 2015
We only need to read the headlines in the morning paper or turn on the evening news to have confirmed what we already know to be true, suffering is an ever-present companion in this world. As a result of the Fall, every individual throughout the history of humanity has known suffering and...

Joining the Resistance: Lament and the Kingdom [Part 4]

J. Todd Billings
Feb 22, 2015
In previous posts, I have suggested that the question of suffering before God needs to remain an open question - a question that we, along with the Psalmists, bring before God in the midst of our grief, anger, and confusion. All of this relates to prayer. But it also relates to action - action in a...

Divine Providence: Occupying The Mysterious Middle [Part 3]

J. Todd Billings
Feb 15, 2015
How can we avoid the extremes of monocausal fatalism, on the one hand, and open theism which insists that some events are "pointless" even to God, on the other? As I immersed myself in the Psalms after my cancer diagnosis, I came to see the value of the much-maligned "classical distinctions" in...

Avoiding the Dead Ends of Providence: Monocausal Fatalism and Open Theism [Part 2]

J. Todd Billings
Feb 7, 2015
As I explored in the previous article in this series, my cancer diagnosis forced me to join the Psalmists in prayer more deeply than I had ever done before. I prayed the Psalms - especially Psalms of laments - with others and in solitude. And I noticed that as they pray to the good and Almighty God...

Avoiding the Dead Ends of Providence: Monocausal Fatalism and Open Theism [Part 2]

J. Todd Billings
Feb 7, 2015
As I explored in the previous article in this series, my cancer diagnosis forced me to join the Psalmists in prayer more deeply than I had ever done before. I prayed the Psalms - especially Psalms of laments - with others and in solitude. And I noticed that as they pray to the good and Almighty God...

Lament: Self-Indulgent Whining, or Faithful Complaints? [Part 1]

J. Todd Billings
Feb 1, 2015
Who likes a complainer? Complainers are unsettling to be around. Holiday meals ruined by laborious and endless complaints about how life has shortchanged them - the car that broke down too early, the college that should have given admission, the nurse who should have done the job better. A few...