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The God I Don't Understand: Reflections On Tough Questions Of Faith (2008)

by Christopher J.H. Wright(Favorite Author)

4.1 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0310275466 (ISBN13: 9780310275466)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Zondervan

review 1: Generally excellent, although a few sections were wanting. Quite good in explaining (to my satisfaction) aspects of the Old Testament - as well as they can be explained. Otherwise, consider it mystery. Christianity has a lovely quota of mystery, and along with paradox, are things that strengthen my faith. Why? How would I know? It just does.No, I'm kidding. I think. Really, God and everything to do with God seems both intimate and "almost" entirely distant and untouchable. That seems about right.
review 2: So far I'm enjoying his discussion. I'm not always sure I definitely agree with everything, but that doesn't bother me. Mostly I feel privileged and grateful that the author was kind enough to share some of his inner dialogue and thoughts on these ... moredifficult and hairy issues.Every now and then I wish he would explain some of the logic behind arguments he doesn't agree with before dismissing them, so instead of just saying, some people think this, but I don't agree, it would be more like some people think this because of such and such reason, but I find this evidence/reasoning insufficient because of *insert reason why*. That way I wouldn't just have to take his word for it.also, passages like, "But there is no evidence that our planet has ever been geologically different from the way it is now, or that animals were ever nonpredatory, or that tectonic plates in the earth's crust were somehow stationary before the human species emerged and sinned." make me really nervous... because at the very least there is Biblical and archeological/geological evidence that the earth was in a very different state at one point-- namely before the flood. It is clearly stated there was no rain before the flood but that the garden was watered by a mist that came up over the land. Also, when the flood came the Bible says :"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." - Genesis 7: 11-12which sounds to me like some very big changes. Additionally, the *natural environment* would appear to have changed since in the geneologies in Genesis, after the flood, everyone suddenly had shorter lives. Also, about the tectonic plates, I'm no geologist, but there is Biblical evidence to at least question whether they were in fact always broken, since the Bible says the earth was divided in the days of Peleg (Genesis 10).anyhow, all that really makes it seems like I'm a lot more huffy about the whole thing than I really am. Like I said, I'm actually really enjoying the discussion. I'm just a little nervous about taking his word for things-- although to be fair, I'm listening to an audiobook, so these things might be explained in footnotes in the printed version.I really like his interpretation of the Revelations passages (horsemen of the apocalypse and opening of the scroll). He isn't so much focused on escatology, but uses the passage to explain the relationship between God and evil/suffering. less

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