[Note: This is one post in a series on Greg Boyd’s book Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with his Father’s Questions About Christianity. The aim of these posts is to help you start conversations with people in your community. Invite someone to read this book with you and discuss it together. You don’t need to agree with each other or the author to benefit from doing this type of activity.]
For this session, we’ll cover Correspondences 5-7.
SUMMARY
Greg and his dad, Edward, continue their conversation with letters about issues of free will, the problem of evil, and God’s power. In correspondence 5, Edward asks about what might be called “natural evil” (i.e., earthquakes, famines, birth abnormalities, etc.). This is a powerful question that needs to be thoughtfully considered by Christians and doubters alike. How do we reconcile God’s existence with the imperfect world?
Greg approaches the question by pointing out how many natural disasters could be diverted or minimized if humans were not so greedy. For example, famines would be a nuisance but not a problem if we distributed food resources more generously across the world. Additionally, he incorporates the Christian belief in the existence of spiritual forces to account for some of the problems we face.
Notice how Greg acknowledges that belief in spiritual beings may be a bridge too far for his dad at this point in the journey. It’s a wonderful example of how we should willingly acknowledge when some of our responses in conversation are clearly based on presuppositions we’ve adopted but do not share with our friends.
In the 7th correspondence, Greg and his dad discuss the issue of God’s omnipotence (aka all-powerfulness). Greg offers an intriguing way of thinking about God’s power in relation to God’s creation. You should definitely read through it for yourself as it requires more space to explain than we have in this summary.
INTRIGUING QUOTES
I would argue that most of the pain and suffering in the world is the result of evil people, not nature, and that even the pain caused by most natural disasters could be minimized or eliminated if humans were what God created us to be. (Greg, May 29)
It seems like every question just leads to ten more questions. Do you think we’re getting anywhere, Greg? Not that I mind. My brain hasn’t had to work like this for decades, and I enjoy it. But I wonder if you’re going to tire of it. I’d certainly understand it if you did. (Edward, June 6)
Evil tends to propagate evil, individually and societally. And this is part of what is meant in Christian theology by “original sin.” (Greg, June 18)
Not that I buy your “cosmic warfare” business, but I can at least see how a person could intelligently believe it. (Edward, June 26)
CONVERSATION STARTERS
Do you believe in spiritual beings? If so, what do you think they’re like?
How do reconcile God’s power with the evil in the world?
What are your thoughts about human free-will? Do we have it? Or no?
If you’d like more questions, make sure you pick up a copy of the book. It has several questions for each correspondence.
Next week we’ll cover correspondences 8-10.