This year, after nearly 20 years as both an faculty member and an academic administrator, I am on my first-ever academic leave and, as readers of the blog know, I am working my book on suffering and grace. But two months ago I was contacted and asked if I would consider […]
Theodicy
23 posts
This is the link to the sermon I preached a few weeks ago at Orchard Hill Church in Wexford, PA. The audio file is below as well.
Gen. 50:20 ואתם חשבתם עלי רעה אלהים חשבה לטבה This passage is the climax of the Joseph cycle, as his brothers realize that it is their brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery, who is now lord in Egypt and holds their fate in his hands. Gen. 50:18 Then […]
As we have walked our path of grief many have lovingly offered us their love and support and I always offer my thanks and deep gratitude. (I hope it is always, if you have ever sent me a note or given me a nod or spoken words you intended as […]
This is my most recent idea for the title of a work coming out of my recent writings and talks on suffering. (See the page A Biblical Theology of Suffering for those links.) The quote comes from Frederick Buechner and is oft cited. I have used it for years in […]
Concluding the text of the talk I presented at Cornell on 11 April 2015, “My God, my God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? A Biblical Response to Loss and Catastrophe.” I did not touch much upon NT texts for reasons stated (they related to a difference context than the one most of us […]
Continuing the text of the talk I presented at Cornell on 11 April 2015, “My God, my God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? A Biblical Response to Loss and Catastrophe.” There [Lamentations] we have what would seem to be a clear-cut argument: we sin and we suffer as God punishes us. […]
The last two portions of my Cornell lecture will be coming soon. But this past week I received an email from one of those in attendance asking for some clarification of my use of the terms “God’s will” and “God’s plan.” It seems appropriate to post my response now. Chris, Might be helpful to define […]
This is a continuation of my lecture given at the Cornell Graduate Christian Fellowship and Chesterton House in early April. My title was “My God, my God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? A Biblical Response to Loss and Catastrophe.” I have a recording of the lecture that I may make available if any are […]
A month or so ago I was talking to an old and close friend and we began discussing reviews of our work. This led to discussing how one reviewer misunderstood my conclusions in The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations: Vindicating God. Curious to look at it all again, I pulled up […]