Faith Well Grounded

I’m thinking lately on the problem of pain-- that of evil, that of misery, that of the overarching “wrongness” of the human condition. I’m tending to agree with C.S. Lewis that the problem of pain is a problem strictly for the Christian (in the philosophical sense, anyway).

“Pain” is not a problem for the naturalist/atheist, since it could not be expected that a random, self-created, amoral Universe would be mindful of its product. It shouldn’t be expected to care for its creation, or provide comfort as such. It can’t be expected to be mindful of us at all.

Part two in the e-dogg questions:

What follows is a second response to honest inquiries into the gospel. It has been "built" more than written- hopefully "led" more than built. Unfortunately, I fear that the heady subject and the "building" of the response may make it seem a bit choppy and disjointed, since I've gone from point to point to point within the overall subject. There is a lot to fit in here, and much more left out for the sake of brevity.

e-dogg raised two very good and important questions in one of the Miracles threads. I'll summarize them in this and the next blog. (e-dogg, if I have missed your points please chime in and clarify).

I'll try to provide the theology based on sound scripture. Since this is such a deep and profound doctrine, please don't expect my initial responses to be all-encompassing. I'm looking at this as an overview that should act as the springboard into a discussion that will hopefully get us to the sweet center of the gospel and God's immense love for us.

First, I need to apologize for my absence into everyday life for the past month or so. I was sick for a while. More recently, I have had tremendous opportunities to both teach and be taught. So, my blogging presence has been almost nonexistent. I hope to remedy this.

Now, onto part two of the discussion on “miracles”.

LaffingBoy asked the thunder-stealing question as to exactly what a miracle is. I will agree with Thomas Huxley, in that we are merely “beating the air” until we can agree on this. Let me offer a working definition: