Randy Alcorn does an admirable job of attempting to vindicate God's goodness, power, and knowledge despite the existence of sin and suffering. His work thoroughly addresses such topics as the origin of sin, the characteristics of sin today, as well as the consequences of both Adam's sin and our own, and the subsequent effects on health, morality, and all of life.
The best feature of the book are the section headings in each chapter, which help to structure the points Alcorn is making. Without these headings, the sheer length of the book, and difficulty of the questions addressed, would be overwhelming. Furthermore, the chapters are short and specific enough to be used in an encyclopedic fashion, as an alternative to reading the entire book.
Alcorn takes a moderately Reformed view of the question of God's goodness, power, and knowledge in terms of the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Interestingly, and helpfully, Alcorn clearly prioritizes passages which reflect God's perspective on the issues connected with evil and suffering, rather than man's perspective. His basic conclusion on the issue is that God created the world, knowing and allowing evil and suffering to mar it, in order to fully demonstrate His character and more fully glorify Himself.
Despite a clear theological focus, Alcorn also includes human interest stories and asides which illustrate and involve the reader in thinking through what is at stake in the various topics discussed.
Although lengthy and at times more in-depth than the average church attendee might prefer, Alcorn does an excellent job of presenting an orthodox defense of the character of God, while addressing the heart-rending experiences and frustrations of the grief-stricken Christian who honestly and thoroughly considers the world in which he lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment