Five beliefs in this book answer the question why a loving God doesn’t stop evil. Starting with the belief God cannot stop evil singlehandedly, the book adds that God empathizes with those who hurt, heals the injured to the greatest extent possible, squeezes good from evil God didn’t initially want, and needs cooperation from creatures to overcome evil.
Awesome podcast:
Oord helps shares his view on why bad things happen to us.
Key points:
“God’s uncontrolling love makes it so that God can’t prevent genuine evil.”
“God isn’t sitting on the sidelines doing nothing.”
“God doesn’t permit torture. God doesn’t have the power to prevent horrific things.”
Many falsely believe this: The pain and suffering in the world is allowed by God for some greater good, some hidden purpose, some divine plan. Oord disputes this idea.
“God squeezes good out of the evil that God in the first place.”
“God does have a plan, but it’s not a detailed plan.”
“God can’t prevent evil single handedly.”
Dr. Oord is an ordained elder within the Church of the Nazarene.
Another awesome podcast on a related issue. According to Mark Karris, God is all-loving, but not all powerful. We should reconsider how we pray when so much of what we pray for should involve us as solutions.