In most of my posts so far I have spent much time thinking and mulling over different things I have learned before I finally arrive at a final post that I think completes what I think on each particular topic, or at least until a better explanation comes along. This post is very different. It is a direct response with little thinking and contemplation with the intention of revealing, what I think to be the many important different states of mind that I find myself in as I move through this journey.
Socrates in San Francisco is an organization devoted to living the examined life and holds debates and discussions on different topics. I recently listened to a discussion between NT Wright and Bart Ehrman on the topic of “A good God, A discussion on the problem of suffering and evil.” It was a good discussion, both Ehrman and Wright had very compelling arguments, although their arguments came from very different ways of looking at things. I would encourage all interested readers to listen to the debate in detail as they bring many powerful arguments to the table.
I have said many things about Wright in many of my posts and his background, but Bart Ehrman is a new authority that I would like to introduce. I have done some brief research on him and he is a New Testament Scholar and I believe he claims to be agnostic. He is a Professor and the Religious Studies Department Chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a prolific author with many new titles out such as Jesus Interrupted and God’s Problem.
In the discussion I believe Wright had a good philosophical argument for the existence of evil within the world while maintaining his position that there is a good and just God behind everything. Ehrman also had some good philosophical arguments for why there could not be a good God in the face of all the suffering and evil in the world. However, what Ehrman showed, which in my opinion, Wright did not, was a deep connection and embrace of the turmoil, pain and suffering within the world. His raw connection with the pain and suffering of the world resonated within me.
Much of what I have wrestled with so far has definitely involved some emotion, but not to the extent that this subject requires. I did not feel that Wright did a decent job of convincing the audience that he has a true grasp on the emotional aspects that accompany this subject. Ehrman showed significant emotion over the subject and showed that he had fully immersed himself into the subject and had allowed the gravity of the subject to weigh heavily on his heart. In order for someone to be able to argue and connect with humanity as a whole, I think one should use all the forms of epistemology or knowledge to convey their point. I think that is why I connected with Ehrman so much. He showed a more humanitarian view of the subject, which I think is necessary, especially on this topic, so that we as people within western culture that have wonderfully blessed lives in comparison to those that do not, can actually try to relate to those in very different life circumstances.
Ehrman ended the discussion with a narration of an event that took place during the holocaust and is documented in the Nurremberg trials. In one of the interviews a polish woman that was enslaved at Auschwitz gave her testimony of what she saw at the camp. For the interested reader they can hear the story in the last 3 minutes in the recording located on the Socrates in San Francisco website. If the reader should choose not read it because they do not want the images to haunt them as they do to me I understand. At the same time though, I don’t think that one can be honest about their faith unless they expose themselves to the realities of this world. What good is one’s faith if they have built their faith within a bubble that has not acknowledged the full depth of reality that exists within the world?
Needless to say this story shook me to the bone. Every time I think about it I question how God could allow something like that to happen. It is downright painful for me and I don’t know what to do with it. Eventually I will do something with it and figure out some way to make sense of it, or at least I hope I will, but I don’t know what that will be. What does that mean for me and my faith as a Christian? I don’t know. Does it mean that I must immediately reject my faith? No it doesn’t. Does it mean I have thought about tossing my faith out the window? Yes I have. Does it mean that this journey just became very painful? Absolutely. Since it became so painful should I stop and call it quits? Definitely not. If I have come this far, it only seems appropriate to continue with this search for truth and truly wrestle with this issue. It’s all part of the human experience and unless I do truly deal with the realities of this world I am not being completely honest with myself and the rest of the world in regards to what it means to be human. I think it would be disrespectful to those that have been subjected to such tragedies to omit their events from an honest search for truth within this universe.
A friend of mine, who also embarked on a similar journey a few years ago warned me about the turmoil it put him through. It eventually became so immense that it became too much for him to bear. I definitely feel his pain now because this journey has now become quite painful. However, based upon what I learned and discussed in my post on natural evil, this may all be part of the evil that demands us to ask God why. As painful as this may be, and based upon what I have come to understand about evil in general, I must continue through the pain if I am to eventually find an answer.
