God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman (PDF)

Description

In times of questioning and despair, people often quote the Bible to provide answers. Surprisingly, though, the Bible does not have one answer but many “answers” that often contradict one another. Consider these competing explanations for suffering put forth by various biblical writers: The prophets: suffering is a punishment for sinThe book of Job, which offers two different answers: suffering is a test, and you will be rewarded later for passing it; and suffering is beyond comprehension, since we are just human beings and God, after all, is GodEcclesiastes: suffering is the nature of things, so just accept itAll apocalyptic texts in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament: God will eventually make right all that is wrong with the worldFor renowned Bible scholar Bart Ehrman, the question of why there is so much suffering in the world is more than a haunting thought. Ehrman’s inability to reconcile the claims of faith with the facts of real life led the former pastor of the Princeton Baptist Church to reject Christianity. In God’s Problem, Ehrman discusses his personal anguish upon discovering the Bible’s contradictory explanations for suffering and invites all people of faith—or no faith—to confront their deepest questions about how God engages the world and each of us.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly In this sometimes provocative, often pedantic memoir of his own attempts to answer the great theological question about the persistence of evil in the world, Ehrman, a UNC–Chapel Hill religion professor, refuses to accept the standard theological answers. Through close readings of every section of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, he discovers that the Bible offers numerous answers that are often contradictory. The prophets think God sends pain and suffering as a punishment for sin and also that human beings who oppress others create such misery; the writers who tell the Jesus story and the Joseph stories think God works through suffering to achieve redemptive purposes; the writers of Job view pain as God’s test; and the writers of Job and Ecclesiastes conclude that we simply cannot know why we suffer. In the end, frustrated that the Bible offers such a range of opposing answers, Ehrman gives up on his Christian faith and fashions a peculiarly utilitarian solution to suffering and evil in the world: first, make this life as pleasing to ourselves as we can and then make it pleasing to others. Although Ehrman’s readings of the biblical texts are instructive, he fails to convince readers that these are indeed God’s problems, and he fails to advance the conversation any further than it’s already come. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist The subtitle seems off the mark. Isn’t Why are we here? our most important question? But quibble, quibble. Why is there evil?—a question about the problem of pain so closely related to Why do we suffer? that evangelical Christian–turned agnostic Ehrman operatively seems to prefer it—is indeed one of the Bible’s principal preoccupations. Ehrman rejects three biblical answers to it and approves a fourth before settling on ethical pragmatism (“alleviate suffering wherever possible”), with or without Christianity. The three inadequate answers are that suffering is punishment for sin, that individual suffering is necessary for the greater good, and that suffering presages the imminent triumph of good over evil (as in the perhaps most prevalent understanding of Christ’s Second Coming). Ehrman rejects those positions essentially because they don’t fit the concept of God as loving and omnipotent. He countenances the answer of Ecclesiastes, that suffering is inexplicable, but maintains that it negates God’s omniscience and is perhaps more cogent for nonbelievers. Ehrman’s clarity, simplicity, and congeniality help make this a superb introduction to its subject. –Ray Olson Review “Ehrman’s clarity, simplicity, and congeniality help make this a superb introduction to its subject.” (Booklist)“Ehrman, a prolific and popular author, has put his journey into words in a new book “God’s Problem. …Ehrman actually ends “God’s Problem” on an upbeat note, a kind of call to arms for people to be good–to themselves and to others…” (San Diego Tribune)“[An] entrapped invocation of a God who is not believed in, but is nonetheless despised, is what gives the book a rough power. …[Ehrman] is a lucid expositor…” (The New Yorker) About the Author Bart D. Ehrman is one of the most renowned and controversial Bible scholars in the world today. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the author of more than twenty books, including the New York Times bestsellers How Jesus Became God; Misquoting Jesus; God’s Problem; Jesus, Interrupted; and Forged. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, History, and top NPR programs, as well as been featured in TIME, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and other publications. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. Visit the author online at www.bartdehrman.com. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m enjoying reading this book (for a class I’m taking), but I have several issues with it. First, I think the title is mis-leading at best. “How the Bible Fails to Answer….” but then the book goes on at great length (as it should) about the answers the Bible does provide. The issue isn’t that the Bible doesn’t answer the problem, it’s that Ehrman doesn’t particularly LIKE the answers it offers.I also found myself noting, throughout the book, instances where the author makes some blanket statements of the type that he disdains in other authors and writers, without any further breakdown, scholarship, or even justification for the remarks. In addition, after discussing several Biblical “answers” for the problem of suffering – and skewering them all with detailed analysis which included when the individual books involved were written, in what context, why biblical scholarship finds their roots problematic, etc, etc – he then presents Ecclesiastes as the only acceptable answer to the problem of suffering…and gives that book a virtual free ride – no textual criticism, nothing about the history of the book, the presumed authors, any problems with the viewpoint – it’s like Ehrman agrees with this viewpoint so he feels no need to apply any real scholarship to it?I actually enjoy reading books by individuals who have landed on one extreme end or the other of the religious continuum, and I don’t have a real issue with either end. But if you exist on one end quit claiming you live in the middle. I’ve read other items by Ehrman and seen several of his video lectures, and he claims to be agnostic but his teaching, thoughts, lectures make it very clear he is actually atheist. Which, again, is fine if that’s where he is – I just don’t get the hair splitting of claiming otherwise. Maybe because it would too deeply offend his readers? I don’t know.Overall, though, this is a very readable book – if you’ve never really had a basic introduction to Theodicy this is a fantastic first read. He presents all of the major “answers” on the topic that have been offered across time, does a good job tracing them historically and putting them into context. Just don’t make this the ONLY book you read on the topic, there is much scholarly work on the issue out there and while this is a good foundation/intro text it is not the definitive text.

⭐It’s really something to think about and the conversations that come from the text are always fascinating to listen to. If you’re someone who enjoys a lecture full of references to your favorite piece of literature, there are plenty of books, but “God’s Problem” really addresses the should-be protagonist of the Bible, highlighting Ehrman’s journey into agnosticism. And precisely this is why this book should be fascinating to all, because it’s unbiased in regards to the truth of the Bible. Ehrman believes in Jesus, oh yes…but here we see the challenge believers have in regards to the Almighty.If you’re looking to challenge your faith, it’s in the conversations you have whilst and after reading this book. If those conversations mean no respect for the material, no respect for reality and history, and no respect for The Bible…then you’ll learn something about yourself.

⭐I am a fan of Bart Ehrman’s work. It is scholarly (well considered and researched.) This book is perhaps his most personal discussion. It relates to something he finds un-satisfactory in the Christian Corpus, that is a justification for the suffering of the innocent. He approaches the concept directly from the usual approach to the Bible and finds the omission. This books lays out that procedure in some detail. Ehrman’s analysis is not wrong and it led to a loss of faith for him. I must point out that others (e.g. Marcus Borg) also abandoned that point of dogma but they found a solution in a different theological interpretation of God’s identity and purpose. This other interpretation is also to be found in the Bible even if it is different from what most think. See Professor Borg’s work for the full discussion. Professor Borg is gone now but one can imagine if Erhman and Borg had met to consider the issue.

⭐I think he says what we sometimes just avoid thinking about. This book does not have anything to do with advocacy, in my opinion. I would like to believe there is some “plan” that incorporates the anonymous starvation death of a child in Ethiopia or some other place in the world. But that is difficult to digest. I don’t think the point of that death is to impress me into becoming a Christian. Now, I am not impugning those that have found a way to believe. If you believe, good for you. This book helped me come to terms with myself.

⭐This is an interesting and well-written book, exploring the problem of suffering in a world supposedly created by an all-powerful and all-loving God. The contradiction (i.e. that suffering ought not to exist if God exists) is examined in detail. What the author does is identify and analyse the ‘solutions’ to this problem as presented in the Bible. In so doing, a range of reasons for why we suffer are looked at – all of which accord to scripture. Yet Ehrman is unconvinced by such reasons, and considers the real existence of suffering as bringing into question the existence of God.Throughout, Ehrman – who’s written extensively on Biblical criticism – offers both personal conjecture (relating to his shift from being a devout Christian to becoming an agnostic) and a series of real-world examples of intense suffering, and in so doing presents an engaging discussion. This book is intended for popular readership, rather than representing an in-depth scholarly treatise on the subject. And I recommend this item to anyone fascinated by how the problem of suffering raises doubt as regards the existence of God.

⭐Totally understand where the author is coming from. I have often struggled with this problem about suffering and God. Very logical and looks at the bible in an honest well examined way and encourages you to address the issue realistically rather than doing mental gymnastics to get round these uncomfortable issues. It appears that the bible writers all come to different conclusions as to why God allows us to suffer and they do this in order to try and make sense of the difficult world they lived in. I think Bart comes from the angle of the bible failing to answer this question satisfactorily and therefore it is not a book of in-errancy, something a fundamentalist would no doubt find disturbing to read.

⭐An amazing book, which shows how the problem of why a ‘loving’ God allows suffering in this world destroys strikes at the heart of Christian credibility. A must read for anyone seriously interested in the Bible, the Christian religion or spirituality in general.

⭐Slightly sensational title but very good, thought-provoking content detailing the different reasons given by various biblical authors for why there is suffering in the world. The author does not force a single view but gives a clear summary of each “theory” and asks the important question : what must we do to respond to the suffering in our world today. I enjoyed this book very much and recommend it highly.

⭐A really excellent review of an age-old but very important issue. The parts on apocalypticism are really eye-opening, and make a lot of sense. Perhaps the only thing missing was a consideration of non-biblical explanations of the problem of suffering – it seemed strange to restrict the scope to biblical explanations. But nonetheless, clearly a 5-star book.

Keywords

Free Download God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer in PDF format
God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer PDF Free Download
Download God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer 2008 PDF Free
God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer 2008 PDF Free Download
Download God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer PDF
Free Download Ebook God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer