The Little Friar

I could (which you cannot) Find reasons fast enough To face the sky and roar In anger and despair At what is going on, Demanding that it name Whoever is to blame: The sky would only wait Till all my breath was gone And then reiterate As if I wasn't there That singular command I do not understand, Bless what there is for being , Which has to be obeyed, for What else am I made for, Agreeing or disagreeing? -- WH Auden, from his poem "Precious Five"

A friend of mine has been tapped to teach a seminar on theodicy in pastoral care and theology next fall, and he's asked me to think through what I believe a seminar like that should include. Theodicy (a.k.a. " the problem of evil ") is one of those theological digressions that take place in nearly every introductory class of theology that I teach.  I once was very reluctant about that.  These days, though, I think it offers the most fertile ground for getting pastors to think theologically, so I find it -- sadly enough -- one of my most exciting topics.  Particular suffering of the sort encountered in pastoral ministry problematizes theology's preference for neat answers.  Any pastor who's ever walked into a hospital room knows this. My classes on theodicy tend to be a mix of Simone Weil , Marilyn McCord Adams , John Hick , James Cone , Sarah Coakley , GK Chesterton , Augustine , Aquinas , and Barth .  A serious theological discussion about theodicy will...

A pastor friend of mine called the other day to ask for my prayers.  He had been part of a youth confirmation weekend, in which the culminating event was an evangelistic rally.   We all know the sort.  Confess your sins, humble yourselves, and believe the gospel.   That  sort of rally.  Thing is, one of the youths, as a product of said rally, reached a spiritual crisis.  She saw herself as a sinner -- specifically an "unclean" girl because of sex -- who was a victim of sex abuse by an older teen, not in the group.   So that got me to thinking.   How do we resolve the theological dilemma of "taking up the cross" for victims? What does  kenosis, humility and "taking up the cross" look like for a person in locations of abuse and oppression? Since "descending" to a place of "lower status" presupposes that the person is "high status" and on the top.  Thus, to be a Christian in these locations is to let go of and to empty oneself of...

Nietzsche famously proclaimed in The Gay Science :  "God is dead".  According to Nietzsche, by our very own actions, we have made God unnecessary in our world.  Science, so it seemed, had progressed to provide atheological answers to the origin, purpose and even end of the universe and all biological life.  Psychology began exploring the depths of the human mind with scientific detail, largely now dispelling notions of "free will" in neuroscience.  Economics and sociology began providing scientific responses to how humans emerge in groups and interact.  So as Nietzsche saw it, we had progressed to that point when we had killed off God.  " God is dead.  God remains dead.  And we have killed him.  Yet his shadow still looms." Thing is, Nietzsche, even as an atheist, was doing theology.   We're all theologians -- even if we don't believe in God.  Whenever there's a tragedy, we grope for answers.   How can children be sold int...

My issue is theodicy.   First, just to get everyone up to speed, what is a theodicy?  A theodicy is a theological attempt to reconcile a loving and all-powerful God with the experience of human suffering and pain.  CS Lewis called it The Problem of Pain .  The lament psalms also speak to this situation.  Why would a powerful and loving God allow so much pain and suffering?  Answers to this question are forms of theodicy.  I'm a Christian because I have hope in God in Jesus.  That puts agnosticism out as a possibility.  I'm one who hopes so strongly in God in Jesus Christ, reconciling the world, that theodicy is a big deal.  Any theological account that doesn't do its best to work against the brokenness of the world isn't going to fare well under my critical eye.  My heart breaks for the poor, oppressed, imprisoned, rejected, and abused of the world.  So that got me to thinking:  What about my personality makes theodicy suc...