There
are many books in print trying to explain why Christians believe in
an all powerful good God yet find we have evil in the world. I have
read many of them. I think this one stands out.
Jones
writes that it took him over twenty years to write this book. It
shows. There is a deepness of thought and presentation that I have
not seen in other books on the topic. He has studied the subject
well, reading many books as well as pursuing Scripture.
A
few of his many teachings stood out to me. One was his questioning
whether there were any “good” people. The question of why bad
things happen to good people looses its meaning when we realize that
there are not any good people. Jones uses history and Scripture to
prove his point.
Another
part of the book I particularly appreciated was his teaching on evil
entering the world through Adam's sin. I understood his
explanation of why we are punished for Adam's sin. We are born with a
nature inclined to sin – related to why there are no good people.
Even though I had studied this topic, I found new insights from
Jones.
This
is a book for Christians. It explains why a good God has good
purposes for allowing evil. Jones writes about being prepared for
eternity, comparing the suffering here with the experience there.
Lest readers think he knows nothing of suffering, he shares his own
experience with excruciating pain from bone cancer.
Jones
does a great job of answering the arguments of critics, such as
atheists. He points out the fallacy of their arguments clearly.
I
highly recommend this book to Christians who want a biblically based
and well reasoned explanation as to why an all powerful and good God
allows evil. Jones wants our understanding to be shaped by what
Scripture says and he presents that well.
My
rating: 5/5 stars.
Clay
Jones (DMin) is associate professor of Christian apologetics at Biola
University. He has hosted a syndicated talk radio show and is the
chairman of the board of Ratio Christi, a university apologetics
ministry. He and his wife live in southern California. You can follow
his blog at http://www.clayjones.net/.
Harvest
House, 272 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My
comments are an independent and honest review.
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