Kevin Stilley

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Suffering – select quotes

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you’re getting this down.
~ Woody Allen

So, too, the tide of trouble will test, purify, and improve the good, but beat, crush, and wash away the wicked. So it is that, under the weight of the same affliction, the wicked deny and blaspheme god, and the good pray to Him and praise Him. The difference is not in what people suffer but in the way they suffer.
~ Augustine of Hippo, City of God, bk 1, ch 8

Christianity isn’t a tool to escape suffering, it’s a lens by which we understand it and the means by which we live through it.
~ Elias Dummer

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains. Suffering is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
~ C.S. Lewis

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For What Would You Die?

Why do we observe Memorial Day? We do not celebrate the death of anyone but remember and honor their sacrifice. Life is sacred, to lay it down for the benefit of others is worthy of remembrance and honor.

So, for what would you die? Family? Friends? Your country? Freedom? Truth?

Once we admit that there are causes for which it would be appropriate to die, we acknowledge that there are things more important than life, and that death is not the greatest evil — that suffering and death can have great meaning and purpose. The question is often asked why a good God would allow suffering, the implication being that God must either be not good or not powerful enough to prevent it. No, that does not follow. That reasoning is specious. Once we acknowledge that there are things to be valued more greatly than life and comfort we can not put an all-knowing God into the dock. He can allow the unpleasant, for reasons that are meaningful and good.

The death of Jesus of Nazareth exhibits this reasoning. The murder of the only righteous man was a great evil, and yet the event is full of meaning and purpose. Jesus is our propitiation – He is our mercy seat.

I encourage you to think upon Romans chapters 1, 2, and 3 as an appropriate follow-up to the observance of our national Memorial Day.

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Perspective on Difficulties

Pastor James Montgomery Boice stood before Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in May 2000 and shared with them that he had been diagnosed with liver cancer. His perspective on his condition is one that would greatly enrich the spiritual life of many Christians suffering in diverse circumstances.

“Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles–and He certainly can–is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So although miracles do happen, they’re rare by definition.…Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying Himself in history and you say, where in all of history has God most glorified Himself? He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though He could have.…God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It’s not as if God somehow forgot what was going on, and something bad slipped by.… God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything He does is good.… If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you’d change it, you’d make it worse. It wouldn’t be as good” (James Montgomery Boice, quoted by Randy Alcorn in If God is Good, p.14).

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James Montgomery Boice Bibliography

Books:

1970  Witness and Revelation in the Gospel of John (Zondervan)
1971  Philippians: An Expositional Commentary (Zondervan)
1972  The Sermon on the Mount (Zondervan)
1973  How to Live the Christian Life (Moody; originally, How to Live It Up, Zondervan)
1974  Ordinary Men Called by God (Victor; originally, How God Can Use Nobodies)
1974 The Last and Future World (Zondervan)
1975-79  The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (5 volumes, Zondervan; issued in one volume, 1985; 5 volumes, Baker 1999)
1976  “Galatians” in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Zondervan)
1977 Can You Run Away from God? (Victor)
1977  Does Inerrancy Matter? (Tyndale)
1977  Our Sovereign God, editor (Baker)
1978  The Foundation of Biblical Authority, editor (Zondervan)
1979  The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary (Zondervan)
1979  Making God’s Word Plain, editor (Tenth Presbyterian Church)
1980  Our Savior God: Studies on Man, Christ and the Atonement, editor (Baker)
1982-87  Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (3 volumes, Zondervan)
1983  The Parables of Jesus (Moody)
1983  The Christ of Christmas (Moody)
1983-86  The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary (2 volumes, Zondervan)
1984  Standing on the Rock (Tyndale). Reissued 1994 (Baker)
1985  The Christ of the Open Tomb (Moody)
1986  Foundations of the Christian Faith (4 volumes in one, InterVarsity Press; original volumes issued, 1978-81)
1986  Christ’s Call to Discipleship (Moody)
1988  Transforming Our World: A Call to Action, editor (Multnomah)
1988, 98  Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Baker)
1989  Daniel: An Expositional Commentary (Zondervan)
1989  Joshua: We Will Serve the Lord (Revell)
1990  Nehemiah: Learning to Lead (Revell)
1992-94  Romans (4 volumes, Baker)
1992 The King Has Come (Christian Focus Publications)
1993  Amazing Grace (Tyndale)
1993  Mind Renewal in a Mindless Age (Baker)
1994-98  Psalms (3 volumes, Baker)
1994  Sure I Believe, So What! (Christian Focus Publications)
1995  Hearing God When You Hurt (Baker)
1996  Two Cities, Two Loves (InterVarsity)
1996  Here We Stand: A Call from Confessing Evangelicals, editor with Benjamin E. Sasse (Baker)
1997  Living By the Book (Baker)
1997  Acts: An Expositional Commentary (Baker)
1999  The Heart of the Cross, with Philip Graham Ryken (Crossway)
1999  What Makes a Church Evangelical?
2000  Hymns for a Modern Reformation, with Paul S. Jones
2001  Matthew: An Expositional Commentary (2 volumes, Baker)
2001  Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? (Crossway)
2002  The Doctrines of Grace, with Philip Graham Ryken (Crossway)
2002  Jesus on Trial, with Philip Graham Ryken (Crossway)

Chapters:

1985  “The Future of Reformed Theology” in David F. Wells, editor, Reformed Theology in America: A History of Its Modern Development (Eerdmans)
1986  “The Preacher and Scholarship” in Samuel T. Logan, editor, The Preacher and Preaching: Reviving the Art in the Twentieth Century (Presbyterian and Reformed)
1992  “A Better Way: The Power of Word and Spirit” in Michael Scott Horton, editor, Power Religion: The Selling Out of the Evangelical Church? (Moody)
1994  “The Sovereignty of God” in John D. Carson and David W. Hall, editors, To Glorify and Enjoy God: A Commemoration of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly (Banner of Truth Trust)

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Click here for the full text of Boice’s announcement

Suffering – Select Quotes

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Looking for a good book?

Looking for a good book? Below are the “Additional Reading” suggestions in the discussion guide which accompanies “The Reason For God: Conversations on Faith and Life” small group curriculum by Timothy Keller (which is currently my favorite small group curriculum to recommend). I am familiar with most of the books on this list, and can give a hearty second recommendation to them. And, I am very anxious to get my hands on the ones on the list with which I am not familiar, based on my great appreciation for those with which I am familiar.

Discussion #1 – “Isn’t the Bible a Myth? Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity?”

  • Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?, by Denis Alexander
  • Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, by Richard Bauckham
  • The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, by Craig Blomberg
  • The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, by F.F. Bruce
  • Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?, by C. John Collins
  • Nothing But the Truth, by Brian Edwards
  • Darwin on Trial, by Phillip e. Johnson
  • Redeeming Science, by Vern Poythress

Discussion #2 – “How can you say there is only one way to God? What about other religions?”

  • The Dissent of the Governed, by Stephen L. Carter
  • Answering Islam, by Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb
  • The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis
  • Death of a Guru, by Rabindranath R. Maharaj
  • Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?, by Gerald R. McDermott
  • The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, by Lesslie Newbigin
  • The Supremacy of Christ in a Post-Modern World, by John Piper
  • The Universe next Door, by James Sire
  • Christianity at the Religious Roundtable, by Timothy Tennent

Discussion #3 – “What gives you the right to tell me how to live my life? Why are there so many rules?

  • Angry Conversations With God, by Susan E. Isaacs
  • Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis
  • Hope Has Its Reasons, by Rebecca Pippert
  • Mere Morality, by Lewis B. Smedes
  • Real Sex, by Lauren Winner

Discussion #4 – “Why does God allow suffering? Why is there so much evil in the world?”

  • Where is God When Things Go Wrong, by John Blanchard
  • How Long, O Lord? By D.A. Carson
  • Making Sense Out of Suffering, by Peter Kreeft
  • The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis
  • A Step Further, by Joni Eareckson Tada
  • Lament for a Son, by Nicholas Wolterstorff

Discussion #5 – “Why is the church responsible for so much injustice? Why are Christians such hypocrites?”

  • The Transforming Vision, by Brian Walsh and J.R. Middleton
  • Let Justice Roll Down, by John Perkins
  • Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce L. Shelley
  • Creation Regained, by Albert Wolters
  • Until Justice and Peace Embrace, by Nicholas Wolterstorff

Discussion #6 – “How can God be full of love and wrath at the same time? How can God send good people to Hell?”

  • The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, by D.A. Carson
  • Original Sin: A Cultural History, by Alan Jacobs
  • The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis
  • Exclusion and Embrace, by Miroslav Volf
  • The God I Don’t Understand, by Christopher Wright

Are you familiar with any of these books? Share your thoughts on them in the comments below.

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Adversity – select quotes

Troubles are the tools by which God fashions us for better things.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

If adversity hath killed his thousands, prosperity hath killed his ten thousands; therefore adversity is to be preferred. The one deceives, the other instructs; the one is miserably happy, the other happily miserable; and therefore many philosophers have voluntarily sought adversity and commend it in their precepts.
~ Robert Burton, in The Anatomy of Melancholy

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do no pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.
~ Phillips Brooks.

In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.
~ John Churton Collins

As sure as God puts His children in the furnace He will be in the furnace with them.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Fiery trials make golden Christians.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord

Book Cover

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Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be!
Lead me by thine own hand;
Choose thou the path for me.
Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to thy rest.
I dare not choose my lot;
I would not if I might;
Choose thou for me, my God:
So shall I walk aright.
Take thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to thee may seem;
Choose thou my good and ill.

Choose thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health;
Choose thou my cares for me,
My poverty or wealth.
Not mine, not mine the choice,
In things or great or small;
Be thou my guide, my strength,
My wisdom, and my all.

~ Horatius Bonar

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The Coexistence Of God And Evil Is A Logical Contradiction

The following books are recommended for further reading in the chapter “The Coexistence Of God And Evil Is A Logical Contradiction”, in That’s Just Your Interpretation: Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith, by Paul Copan.

Can A Good God Allow Evil? (R. Douglas Geivett)

“God, Evil, and Suffering” by Daniel Howard-Snyder in Reason For The Hope (ed., Michael Murray)

The Evidential Argument From Evil (Daniel Howard-Snyder)

God, Freedom, and Evil (Alvin Plantinga)

“The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil” by Peter Van Inwagen in God, knowledge, and Mystery: Essays in Philosophical Theology.

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Do Pain And Suffering Disprove God’s Existence?

Does pain and suffering disprove God’s existence? William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, addresses the issue during one of his debates.

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Books By William Lane Craig

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Can The World Have Morals Without God?

Can the world have morals without God? William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, argues that objective moral values require the existence of God.

[The video may take up to one minute to load.]

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Books By William Lane Craig

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