If God really is a God of love, why then does God not intervene in all the suffering, hatred and pain in the world?
How can I believe that God loves me when my own life is littered with suffering and sadness?
How is it that a God who claims he wants relationship seem to be very absent in a world that feels like it is falling apart?
Is God really a God of Love when much of Scripture seems to present him as an angry and vengeful God?
Sometimes it just doesn’t seem to fit together or make any sense!
I am beginning to see that for many outside the Church and for increasing numbers inside, the traditional answers to some of the deep questions we ask ourselves about God no longer really satisfy, and yet people are craving real answers to deep questions about things of God.
Perhaps at times Christians (including myself) have been guilty of producing answers from fragments of the Bible like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. There are also times when Christians have been guilty of pat answers that gloss over the issues, falling back on comments such as: ‘It’s a mystery’, ‘It’s all in God’s plan’, ‘It’s all for the best’. These answers don't satisfy and at times can seem trite to the point of being offensive.
Some of us read the Scripture to try to find some answers, but sometimes reading Scripture can feel a bit like sitting in front of a huge jigsaw puzzle, trying to piece things together, when you are not quite sure what the picture is about in the first place!
The last few years have been exhilarating. Out of a place of pain and questioning I have come to a deep conviction that God really is love. It has been so life-changing and entirely liberating that, with the help of a deep-thinking friend, we have written a book. It looks at the Bible from beginning to end and paints a big picture of who God really is, what he wants with us and what on earth he is doing. As it unwraps His Story, it tries to grapple with some of the big themes that weave their way through human history. Its conclusions aren't new, but for me they are radically different to what I grew up with. I feel like I am now looking through a new set of glasses - and everything is now making much more sense!
The aim of this blog is to let you have a look through my new glasses.
Maybe, just maybe, it will make certain things clearer for you too.
Well down Ulrike - looking forward to putting on the new glasses
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Looks great! I know what you mean, I keep getting those Christianese pat answers to why there is suffering. Not enough faith on my part, it was meant to be. I would love to see your insights through your glasses.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Looking forward to reading more :)
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