Maddie McBlain gave this sermon on Nov. 8th and it was really thought provoking.
When we come to the Scriptures and ask, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
you'll find a different answer in Proverbs than you do in Job and another different answer in Ecclesiastes. The Bible never answers the question in a clear conversation-closing way. Rather, a colllection of diverse perspectives remain bound together in the wisdom traditions as if these Wisdom Books were different people sitting around a table having a debate, pulling up a chair for YOU and inviting you into the pursuit of wisdom.
Thank you Maddie!
Homework:
Read a chapter in Proverbs and highlight a verse that seems to be objectively untrue in your experience. How would Job talk about that verse in Proverbs? Read Ecclesiastes 1 and consider how the author of Ecclesiastes would respond.
What bad things have happened to you in your life and how have you reconciled that experience with your faith? If you could ask the authors of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes any question, what would you ask? What might they ask you in return?
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How and Why to Engage the Scriptures PART 5: Parables as Puzzles
How and Why to Engage the Scriptures PART 3: The Prophets
How and Why to Engage the Scriptures PART 2: The Violent Histories
How and Why to Engage the Scriptures PART 1: The LAW
ACTS Ep12: The Church is a Guest
ACTS Ep11: Breaking Bread in the Storm
Acts Ep10: Non-Anxious Paul in an Anxious World
ACTS Ep9: Paul Performs theScript
ACTS Ep8: The Image of God is Ordinary
ACTS Ep7: Cut and Run
Acts Ep6: The Politics of Respectability
Acts Ep5: Changing Our Mind
Acts Ep4: But The Bible Clearly Says
ACTS Ep3: Marriage, Money, and Power
ACTS Ep2: The Kin-dom of Christ and the House of Commons
ACTS Ep1: The Elisha to my Elijah on the Day of Pentecost
Episode 7: The Apocalypse of Jesus and The Everlasting Garden
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