Skip Goss, president of Skill Aviation, graciously offered to take me up. (He was in my group at Exploring Christianity earlier this year, and we have some mutual friends who are learning to fly at his prestigious flight school.)

We started off in Waukegan going south along Lake Michigan, circled Trinity’s campus a few times, and then continued south along Lake Michigan. We circled various parts of downtown Chicago and flew next to the Sears Tower. Viewing Chicago aerially from such a low elevation was amazing. We stopped for lunch at the Schaumburg airport, and we circled over Trinity’s campus again on our way back to Waukegan. This time I called Jenni at our campus apartment from a cell phone, and we waved at each other! My favorite part was flying about 150 mph just above the surface of Lake Michigan and seeing the massive lake-front homes.

Skip is a master-teacher, and since he invited questions about aircraft and flying, I pelted him with questions. Among other things, I confirmed that spatial disorientation is a relatively rare condition but one that every pilot must be prepared for. I keep thinking about a penetrating analogy that Jon Bloom shared on the Desiring God blog in December 2007: “What I Learned in a Spiritual Storm.”

• Bloom explains that when a pilot experiences spatial disorientation in a storm, he must fly by the instruments. He must trust the instruments.
• When we experience spatial disorientation in a spiritual storm, we too must fly by the instruments (i.e., God’s word). We must trust the instruments. The right response to evil and suffering is to affirm what God says in the Bible—even if we can’t exhaustively explain every facet of it—and trust him.

Read the whole thing.

Related: The Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil

God never does only one thing. In everything he does he is doing thousands of things. Of these we know perhaps half a dozen.

1. D. A. Carson. “Job: Mystery and Faith.” Pages 135–57 in How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. [Amazon | WTS Books]

Penetrating insight, pastoral warmth.

2. Layton Talbert. Beyond Suffering: Discovering the Message of Job. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 2007. [Amazon]

See my review.

3. Derek Kidner. “The Book of Job: A World Well Managed?” and “Job in Academic Discussion.” Pages 56–89 in The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes: An Introduction to Wisdom Literature. Downers Grove: IVP, 1985. [Amazon | WTS Books]

Pithy.

There is a way of using theology and theological arguments that wounds rather than heals. This is not the fault of theology and theological arguments; it is the fault of the “miserable comforter” who fastens on an inappropriate fragment of truth, or whose timing is off, or whose attitude is condescending, or whose application is insensitive, or whose true theology is couched in such culture-laden clichés that they grate rather than comfort. In times of extraordinary stress and loss, I have sometimes received great encouragement and wisdom from other believers; I have also sometimes received extraordinary blows from them, without any recognition on their part that that was what they were delivering. Miserable comforters were they all.

Such experiences, of course, drive me to wonder when I have wrongly handled the Word and caused similar pain. It is not that there is never a place for administering the kind of scriptural admonition that rightly induces pain: justified discipline is godly (Heb. 12:5–11). The tragic fact, however, is that when we cause pain by our application of theology to someone else, we naturally assume the pain owes everything to the obtuseness of the other party. It may, it may—but at the very least we ought to examine ourselves, our attitudes, and our arguments very closely lest we simultaneously delude ourselves and oppress others.

–D. A. Carson, For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word (vol. 2; Wheaton: Crossway, 1999), entry for February 17. (This book is available for free as a PDF from TGC.)

I compiled lists of what to say and not to say to people who are suffering in an address on the logical and emotional problems of evil. Abbreviated forms of those two lists occur at the end of this four-page essay. Would you add anything to those lists?

This summer my church, CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hosted a “Difficult Issues Series” on Wednesday nights, and on June 10 I addressed this topic: “Do We Have a Free Will?”

1. MP3 (1 hour and 45 minutes including Q&A)
2. Handout (7-page PDF)
3. Condensed Essay (4-page PDF, which Reformation 21 reprinted today)

Here’s the basic outline (the handout is more detailed):

Introduction

Question 1. Why should we study “free will”?

Question 2. What are some challenges with studying “free will”?

1. What is “free will”?

1.1. Will

1.2. Constraining and Non-Constraining Causes

1.3. Incompatibilism vs. Compatibilism

1.4. Indeterminism vs. Determinism

1.5. Libertarian Free Will vs. Free Agency

1.6. God’s General Sovereignty vs. God’s Specific Sovereignty

2. What have noteworthy theologians thought about “free will”?

The nine headings in this section reproduce the chapter titles in R. C. Sproul, Willing to Believe: The Controversy over Free Will (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997). I added the dates for each person in parentheses.

2.1. We Are Capable of Obedience: Pelagius (c. 354–415)

2.2. We Are Incapable of Obedience: Augustine (354–430)

2.3. We Are Capable of Cooperating: Semi-Pelagians (John Cassian, c. 360–435; Council of Trent, 1545–63)

2.4. We Are in Bondage to Sin: Martin Luther (1483–1546)

2.5. We Are Voluntary Slaves: John Calvin (1509–64)

2.6. We Are Free to Believe: James Arminius (1560–1609)

2.7. We Are Inclined to Sin: Jonathan Edwards (1703–58)

2.8. We Are Not Depraved by Nature: Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875)

2.9. We Are Able to Believe: Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952)

4. How does “free will” relate to the origin of both sin and conversion?

4.1. Is libertarian free will the reason for the origin of sin?

4.2. Is libertarian free will the basis for the origin of conversion?

5. Concluding Applications on the Free-Will Debate

5.1. Praise God for sovereignly planning the universe and for flawlessly executing his plan.

5.2. Recognize that other orthodox Christians who disagree with you on this issue are not the enemy!

5.3. Since it is unlikely that all living Christians will agree on the issue of free will, promote unity on this issue as much as possible.

5.4. As in all areas of controversial doctrine, hold your view with humility.

6. Recommended Reading

This annotated bibliography of over twenty-five books and articles (1) places asterisks by the most highly recommended resources, (2) hyperlinks to every resource, and (3) ranks the level of difficulty of each resource.

[Clipped Introduction]

The MP3 is missing the first couple of minutes from the introduction in which I essentially said this:

When David Vecchitto asked me earlier this year if I’d like to serve CrossWay this summer with an address in the Difficult Issues Series, he asked if there was a particular topic that I would like to address. I suggested addressing the topic of “free will” largely as a result of serving in Exploring Christianity last fall and earlier this year. As you know Exploring Christianity is one of the ways our church shares the gospel: it

creates a relaxed and informative environment for people from all walks of life to find out more about the Christian faith. It’s an opportunity to gather with other people over eight weeks to explore what the Bible says about our relationship with God. Exploring Christianity intentionally creates a setting where it is easy to ask difficult questions about big issues.

After eating dinner together and hearing a gospel-message, we break up into small groups throughout the building for an hour-long discussion where people can ask anything about Christianity. Nothing is off limits.

I was impressed with the thoughtful, difficult questions that non-Christians would ask. I also observed that non-Christians and Christians alike would often give the same answer to certain difficult questions like the following:

1. Why did God allow sin in the first place?
2. Why does God save some people and not others?
3. Why does God send people to hell?
4. Why can living like a Christian be so frustrating?

Related: “The Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil” (which Reformation 21 reprinted in June 2009)

1. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 1
2. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 2
3. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 3
4. Making Sense of Suffering – Part 4 (Gospel Reflections on Trials and Tribulations)

DAC also led a pastor’s session on “Preaching and Biblical Theology.”

HT: Erik Raymond

Related:

1. D. A. Carson MP3s
2. The Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil: This links to a handout that lists recommended resources on suffering, including this annotation:

* Carson, D. A. How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. [1. Outstanding, clear, practical, pastoral. The entire book rewards thoughtful reading, especially chapters 11–13. Chapter 11 condenses and updates the major argument of his Ph.D. dissertation completed at Cambridge University in 1975 and reprinted as Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension (2d ed.; Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2002).]

Here are a few examples of where I’d raise questions:

1. BAL: These are not things God planned or caused, they are, in light of Genesis 3, the result of man’s disobedience in the Garden.
   ADN: Is this a false disjunction? Doesn’t Scripture affirm both?
2. BAL: I am not saying that we may not learn valuable lessons in our suffering, but that does not mean that is why the suffering came to us. God may bless, but if He does, it is in spite of the suffering, not because of the suffering.
   ADN: Does this square with Jesus’ suffering on the cross?
3. BAL: We must ask the question: if God allows evil to bring about a good, is that good a necessary good? If it is a necessary good, then the evil that brings it is necessary and the only way it could be necessary is if God planned it. This makes God responsible for evil, something I think is clearly contrary to scripture because God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If on the other hand the good is not necessary then we are back to asking the question why the evil?
   ADN: Is this trying to relieve logical tension by over-qualifying or denying what Scripture says about God’s sovereignty? (See 3.6 here.)

This summer my church, CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has hosted a “Difficult Issues Series” on Wednesday nights, and last night I addressed this topic: “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering and Evil? A Biblical Approach to the Logical and Emotional Problems of Evil” (MP3 | Handout PDF).

The MP3 is about 75 minutes long (and it doesn’t include the Q&A that followed), and the handout is 10 pages. I am especially indebted to Drs. Carson, Feinberg, Frame, and Piper. Here’s the outline:

1. Introduction

1. What is evil?
2. What are some examples of evil that are (almost) universally outrageous?
3. What is the problem of evil?
4. Why must Christians address the logical and emotional problems of evil?
5. What are some challenges to solving the logical and emotional problems of evil?

2. What are some unbiblical/inadequate solutions to the logical-intellectual-philosophical problem of evil?

1. Evil is not real.
2. God is not all-powerful.
3. This is the best possible world, and evil is necessary for its perfection.
4. Evil is a result of peoples’ free will, so God is not accountable for evil.
5. Evil is necessary for people to mature (i.e., build character).
6. God is the indirect (not direct) cause of evil, so He is not accountable for evil.
7. God is above the law, so He can do what seems evil to other people.
8. Non-Christians have no right to question whether God is both all-powerful and all-good.

3. What does a biblical approach to the logical-intellectual-philosophical problem of evil include?

1. Bad things do not happen to good people; good and bad things happen to bad people.
2. The problem of evil is an argument for God, not against Him.
3. God is not obligated to explain the problem of evil to anyone.
4. God (not our sense of justice) is the standard for what He does.
5. God ordains and causes evil, but He cannot be blamed for it.
6. The logical problem of evil (including providence) involves mystery, requiring that Christians maintain doctrinal tensions in biblical proportion.
7. God uses evil for a greater good.
8. There was no problem of evil before the fall, nor will there be one in the eternal state.
9. God uses natural evil to illustrate how bad moral evil really is, and the right response is repentance.
10. The most significant problem of evil is the cross.

4. What does a biblical approach to the emotional-religious-existential problem of evil include?

1. People who are suffering typically are wrestling primarily with the emotional problem of evil (not the logical one).
2. Understand how people initially react to suffering.
3. You shouldn’t say certain things to people who are suffering.
4. You should do certain things to people who are suffering.

5. Conclusion

6. Recommended Resources

1. Books [23 resources]
2. MP3s [8 resources]

The handout includes a more detailed outline, and the recommended resources section asterisks the most highly recommended resources, hyperlinks to every author and resource, and ranks the level of difficulty of each resource.

Updates:

1. The address is condensed as a simple four-page essay for CrossWay Community Church’s Exploring Christianity outreach.
2. Reformation 21 reprinted this article in June 2009.
3. Related: “Do We Have a Free Will?” (which Reformation 21 reprinted in August 2009)