‘When God Stops Making Sense’ →

Peter Enns has been set free from Patheos and is writing on his own site:

Here on earth, tsunamis take out coastlands and tens of thousands of lives. Mudslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, and volcanoes hit with little or no warning. Our environment is hostile, and we know, despite what an occasional crackpot T.V. preacher says, that God doesn’t cause these disasters because America has ceased being a “Christian nation.”

Sentient beings kill and eat each other. The entire evolutionary process is fueled by suffering and death on a massive scale.

So what kind of God is this, who abides by this clash of interests–a God who is good and just, expecting the same from us, but whose universe operates by a different standard?

In light of this question, Enns likes Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Psalms.

The question then is whether the non-sense leads to disbelief in God or becomes an invitation to seek God differently–even through confrontation and debate, as these biblical books model for us.

I too love these books. Within the narrative arc of the Bible these authors challenge the majority position on life and faith. It’s like they open their eyes to the reality of the world in which they live and ask a whole new set of questions.