Walter Kaiser Jr is a distinguished Old Testament scholar with a high view of Scripture. The Majesty of God is a systematic and fairly detailed study of the book of Job, but Dr Kaiser whets our appetite at the very start by pointing out that Martin Luther considered Job as being ‘magnificent and sublime…
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Reconciling suffering with a God of love is a staple of philosophical debate, but it became a painful reality for Ole Kristian Hunt, an elder at Grace Baptist Church, Ulverston, in Cumbria. At just 26, he was diagnosed with cancer. In a moving testimony at Grace Evangelical Church, Carlisle, he traced the ups and…
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Just days before Easter 2018, Redouane Lakdim, a 25-year-old Moroccan criminal, opened fire on passengers in a car in southern France, killing one. Minutes later he fired on a group of police officers who were jogging near the castle in Carcassonne. He then drove to the town of Trèbes and stormed a supermarket, shooting…
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In responding to suffering, some Christians have wrongly thought that God can only meaningfully comfort us if he suffers with us in his divine nature and experiences our pain (ET Guest Column, July 2017). This is a tempting point of view, but it is the wrong answer to suffering, because God is transcendent and…
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Suffering is a reality we all experience. Although it is used by some to reject God’s existence, when properly understood, it confirms just how much we need God. But what kind of a God do we need? It is important that we find a thoroughly biblical answer to this question, because many sincere people…
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One thing common to all humanity is the perplexing experience of suffering. Notable examples, like wars and earthquakes, make the news headlines, but most suffering is not on the ‘news’. Yet it is known to all as it walks among our friends, family and communities: the loss of a spouse, the death of a…
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Last month we considered some rather extraordinary advice, namely, that Christians should 'count it all joy' when they 'fall into various trials' (James 1:2). Why should we be joyful in the face of trouble? Scripture gives us four reasons, the first being that trials are sent by God to refine and purify our faith,…
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