It’s the Sin, Stupid!

Sep 5, 2015 | Theology

nn_1_isis_iraq_140829David Brooks is one of the token kind-of-conservatives at the New York Times, and I enjoy reading him because it is interesting to read someone who is not a committed conservative philosophically, but has something of a conservative temperament. He is also from what I understand an agnostic or atheist, probably more of the former, so as a Christian it is also interesting to see where he goes with his almost conservative thoughts. In a piece last week titled, “When ISIS Rapists Win,” he asked a typically modern question filled with Enlightenment, progressive assumptions when confronted with the horrific evil of ISIS:

The ISIS atrocities have descended like distant nightmares upon the numbed conscience of the world. The first beheadings of Americans had the power to shock, but since then there has been a steady barrage of inhumanity: mass executions of Christians and others, throwing gay men from rooftops, the destruction of ancient archaeological treasures, the routine use of poison gas.

Eve the recent reports in The Times about the Islamic State’s highly structured rape program have produced shock but barely a ripple of action.

And yet something bigger is going on. It’s as if some secret wormhole into a different historical epoch has been discovered and the knowledge of centuries is being unlearned. . . .

This wasn’t supposed to happen in the 21st century. Western experts have stared the thing in the face, trying to figure out the cause and significance of the moral disaster we are witnessing. (more…)

An Arminian Response to the Problem of Evil

Jul 25, 2015 | Theology

Hart Book

I was asked to lead a book discussion at my church on the problem of evil, and I decided on this book mainly because I’ve loved the previous books I’d read by him, and also because of the Amazon reviews. After reading it closely and leading a discussion over four weeks, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Here is my Amazon review:

I hate to give the great David Bentley Hart two stars, but I’m afraid I must. I read two books by him previously, which prompted me to pick this book for a class discussion I was to lead at my church. He’s brilliant, and has a way with words that amazes me and often drives me to the dictionary, when I can even grasp the arguments he makes. As I like to say about a genius like him, he has a very big brain. But alas, being smart doesn’t mean you get everything right, and this book is a perfect example. (more…)