Feeling Bad for God, Dogfish Head, and Urine as Bad Medicine for Stingray Wounds

I've been feeling bad for God lately. Poor God gets a bad rap. Really. I mean it. I do feel bad for God.

I might not feel bad for God like I feel bad for an abandoned puppy, and certainly not like I would feel bad for Tsunami victims, or cancer patients. Yet I still find myself feeling bad for God - in a sort of "what did He ever do to deserve this?" kind of way.

Since before Easter I have been meditating on the subject of the "weakness of God," and "the foolishness of God." These were my topics for my sermon on Palm Sunday, and since then I have continued considering the topics.

The weakness of God, and the foolishness of God are not commonly referred to by many Christians, because it somehow seems blasphemous, and well, rather foolish to call God (the BIG God who created all things with the word of His mouth - the HUGE God who destroyed the earth in a flood - the AWESOME God who will one day judge all people - THAT God) foolish or weak.

But Paul talked about the foolishness and weakness of God, so I figured I would give it a shot. Then I wondered if he talked like that before or after he got shipwrecked, thrown out of towns, or was told that he would just have to put up with that thorn in the flesh. But, I still thought, well heck, he's an apostle and he talked about it, so I can think about it some, and maybe give a sermon a try too.

So, I'm still here. Even after May 21st and all that rapture talk. Haven't even had a fender-bender since then, let alone a shipwreck. Well, not yet.

So getting back to the subject. Thinking about the world, and all it's problems, and all these mad people who seem to blame God, and have been doing it for centuries, or I guess that would be millennia now: I thought that it sure seems like God has put Himself in a pickle. A pickle like in baseball: it seems that generation after generation someone, or more specifically lots of someones are trying to run Him down, and tag Him out.

This thought was highlighted in my mind this afternoon while talking with my buddy Mike. Mike is a good guy. He goes to a Catholic Church and has been teaching a Wednesday night bible study for 7 years, and teaching kids on Sundays, and he organizes a youth praise band. He and I talked about people who have struggled with questions about God and the problem of evil for years.

It seems that the only options people are left with when they talk about bad things happening to themselves or to children, or to good people, or to Uncle Bob's cat, or whatever offending thing - is that God either did it or allowed it to happen. Then, of course, if He allows it there must be a reason, and if there is a reason, even if it is a good reason, there simply are some things so heinous which might happen to Uncle Bob's cat that it can in no way justify allowing it to happen.

So, I have been wondering while considering the weakness of God, and the foolishness of God: is it possible that God doing something bad, or allowing something bad might not be the only options available to us when we think about the problem of evil? Could it be that God neither performs evil, nor allows it?

And right about now, you are probably thinking, "It's about time this guy got to the point. He's been talking about Uncle Bob's cat, and who knows what. I'll bet he's drinking a beer while he writes this nonsense." Well, and you'd be right. I'd be drinking a Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre right now. At least you now know I have some smarts, because it was the beer of the year a year or so ago, and it's certainly not one of those superbowl ad, nasty, tastes like medieval medicine - the kind surfers used to use on stingray wounds - beers.

So, if God does not perform evil, and does not allow evil, what other options are there? I heard you ask that question while I rambled about peeing on stingray wounds, which as it turns out does not really help (now they tell us.) Well it seems to me that the problem of evil is the problem of freewill, and the problem of freewill is more problematic than creating a situation in which God allows evil. Rather it seems that with freewill God only has two options: solve the problem of evil created by others by getting rid of it (or in this case them, well, more specifically "us"), or allow it to go on, and try to work with these nasty little trouble makers.

God's weak and foolish plan for creating and working with individuals who are such trouble makers has perhaps injured God as much as it has injured anyone in human history. He suffers with being misunderstood, and betrayed; and these are reoccurring problems in every generation. In fact, God spent a few years on earth to try and walk us through His thought process for doing what He did, and we were so mad we tried to kill Him.

Oh, I guess we did kill Him.

And so once again God proved that this whole idea of working with us was a foolish idea, and a weak plan. Of course Paul had the foresight to see that God's foolishness and weakness would still win in the end. But, how it wins is another story. For now I am happy not to have to blame God for either performing, or allowing evil. Like us, He has to suffer with it, and He proved that He is willing to do so.

A Wild Theology: Why I think "Why?" is the wrong question

A little over a week ago I had a great evening with a friend with whom I regularly discuss theological and philosophical issues.  The heart of the matter on this particular evening (besides a good brew at the Gulu-Gulu and Arturo Fuente cigars) was the problem of evil, or "why God allows" terrible things to happen in the world.

As my friend (and I mean "friend" in the fullest capacity of trust and respect) started this line of concern, I mentioned that it was not a question I found myself asking - ever.  I furthermore went on to state that not only was I not wired that way, but that my philosophy of God, time, and the nature of sin did not make a place for this question of "why" to make much sense.

We went around for quite some time on this issue, and we had some interestingly humorous exchanges such as:

Friend:  "I want to know why God allows suffering in the world."
Me:  "I don't think 'why' is the right question to be asking."
Friend:  "Why do you say that?"

Toward the end of the discussion there was a little light at the end of the tunnel.  Not that he came around to my opinion, but that he finally understood what I was saying, and commented, "Oh, I see what you mean.  That makes sense."

I am not expecting people to come around to my position, because it may require a series of readjustments on theological presuppositions, which you may not be willing to compromise on.

Nonetheless, here are MY REASONS for believing that "Why" is the wrong question in regards to the problem of evil, and perhaps it will help others as well.

1)  I believe in a simple view of time.  Time is not a "thing" in my view.  The past does not exist as a thing, or a place to be visited.  The future does not exist.  It has not come to pass, and thus the present is all that there is.

Similarly, God does not live in the future, nor in the past.  These are not places to go, and to speak of them as places God exists is to offer the illogical idea that God lives in a place that does not exist, as if to say He lived in Wonderland with Alice, or Mordor with Sauron.

This position is held by very orthodox - yes, and even reformed theologians.  

This in itself does not keep me from asking the question "why" about the nature of evil, but it allows me to remember that God did not unalterably create all things past, present, and future at once.  The future is yet to be.  It is unwritten.  So, the future is not necessarily hurtling toward me with some terrible purpose designed by God to torment me.

Yet, this simple view of time does not even come close to completing the picture of why I think "Why" is not the right question to ask about the problem of evil.

2)  I am not a determinist.  Although simple time and a determinism are not necessarily independent and self-contradictory, I am free to hold a non-deterministic position in regards to history, because I believe in simple time.  Not every action has been pre-determined by God to happen in an exacting detail.  Because the future does not yet exist, there are things which will occur based upon choices that we make in the present, and therefore we are all co-creators of both the present and the future by means of the choices we make daily.  World history is wild and growing like weeds in the garden of God.

In this non-deterministic world-view I am able to see myself and others as a source for both good and evil in the world.  God is not the end of all blame, nor the sole receptor of thanks, (Please note my careful wording of this my reformed friends. :-) and yet this point does not complete my reasons for not asking "Why?"

on point three I will get in the most trouble I am sure, but here it is anyway.

3)  I do not believe that God is in control of everything.  In fact, I chafe under the phrase that "God is in control" when it is tossed toward me as a catch all answer in times of difficulty.

The problem of control is one of the great problems of the world.  The world is wild and out of control.  Tyrants battle for control over the oppressed.  Husbands, wives, and children battle for control over one another.  Nations battle for control over resources of other nations.  This is part of the reason for the Cross of Christ - to speak to, and solve the problem of control under the model of sacrifice, humility, and offered submission.

Heck, I'm even having trouble allowing God to be in control of me.

If God was in control of the oppressor's emotions and actions at the time of murder and tyranny, then God would be an accessory to the crimes of murder and the tyranny, but the tyrant acted on his own behalf.  If I believed that every action was under submission and control of God then I would be led to ask "why" God allowed, or even performed the harmful things I struggle with, but even this does not complete the picture of why I do not think "Why" is the correct question.


4)  I do not believe that everything happens for a reason.  In fact, many things do not make sense. 

For me, this is part of the nature of sin.  Sin can not be expected to make sense at all times.  Sin may at times be part of certain individual's cruel and selfish plans, but much sin is simple unthinking self-gratification, or uncontrolled emotions-based response.  Thus every moment of existence is a wild, uncontrolled experience.

This world is not a safe place for control freaks, and control freaks may quite frankly be the worst thing for this wild world.

Sin and evil may have its reasons, but it does not necessarily make sense.  Why does the addict choose to fall into that lifestyle, which becomes so self-destructive?  Ultimately, (unless, of course, you are a radical behavioralist who sees everything through the deterministic lens) some things are simply senseless - they do not make sense.  Accidents are just that - accidents.  As parents, we sometimes ask our children "why" they did something, which was an accident.

"Why did you do that?!"
"I didn't mean to,"  followed by crying.

Sin like accidents, in its fullest expression does not make sense.

Let's rebel against the omnipotent, and benevolent  Creator of all things.  Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense doesn't it?

The Cross of Christ is in part the solution to the senseless behavior of rebellious beings, who have destroyed this world and its intended perfection.  The Cross did not come to make sense of senselessness, but to redeem us from senselessness, and bring about a positive ending to the failed and ridiculous enterprise of evil.  I do not think the Cross came to give us a reason for our troubles, but more simply to deliver us from them.

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These are my primary reasons for thinking that the question "Why?" in regards to the problem of evil do not make sense.  For me to ask that question is to assume things, which I believe are not true:  That everything which happens is predetermined, that God is in control of all things, and that everything happens for a reason.

To ask the question "Why" assumes a plan on God's part to employ evil to create good, but I do not believe that He does that.  Rather, I believe that God turns the workings of evil around and redeems us in spite of ourselves, and evil is not being redeemed, or redefined as masked good.  Asking "why" assumes everything has a reason - I do not believe that.  It assumes that He was in control of all events leading to my trouble - I do not believe that.

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Now this covers the issue of sin and human behavior, which leads to undeserved suffering.  I recognize that it does not yet speak to certain categories of suffering such as natural disaster, birth defects, and disease; or to the issue of Divine correction of the redeemed.  So it may only be a starting point for the discussion, but it does outline my core beliefs, which allow me to consider that the question "Why?" is the wrong question to ask God about suffering.

Have you ever noticed how trite and shallow it often both feels and sounds when you try to give someone a reason for "why" God allows suffering?  Have you ever noticed that it sometimes appears that we Christians are forced into a position of feeling like we need an answer for everything?  I for one don't want to fall into that trap.

I am willing to say that some things don't make sense.  My theology allows for that to be true.  I don't need an answer for everything, and if some things simply don't make sense, perhaps God won't need to have an answer either.

Now that's a wild theology isn't it?