Theodicy, The Holocaust & Faith

Bart Ehrman ends his debate with NT Wright about the problem of suffering and evil by quoting Holocaust survivor testimony that told how at the height of the Nazis’ extermination of the Jews some children were not even gassed, but were thrown alive into the crematoria ovens and ditches. The witness said that the cries of these children could be heard all throughout the camp. Ehrman’s final statement is that “any Christian response to the problem of suffering has to be able to deal with the children screaming from the fires of Auschwitz.” After studying the Holocaust for a semester I find myself in agreement with Ehrman. Although I disagree with his larger proposals about the problem of evil, I agree that before anyone tries to give a response to the question “why do people suffer?” we need to stare at real faces of human suffering. We need to look into the faces of Israel and Zelig Jacob, two young Jewish brothers awaiting selection on the ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in May 1944 who were gassed shortly after this picture was taken.

 Facing directly those things that challenge Christian faith the most is not dangerous. It is the only way forward. The only other option is a “faith” that rules the individual like a tyrant, never allowing the dissenting voices of doubt, questioning, and offense to speak up. This kind of faith remains in control not by the merits of its truth, love, beauty, or justice, but because of fear, fear that people like Ehrman are right, and that Christianity after all fails to answer our most important questions. Jesus said these things should not be so (Mark 10:35-45). Our faith is not the epistemological equivalent of Hitler, dealing quick and fatal blows to every difficult question and situation that challenges faith. Our faith is the epistemological equivalent of the God revealed in the crucified Jesus–that element in our thinking that answers our questions by first identifying with them, by serving us from below and not lording over us from above.

Greek New Testament Reading Plan

I recently came across this very handy reading list written by Daniel Wallace and posted on Dunelm Road. I plan to follow this is 2012.

by Dan Wallace

This list is organized along two lines: 1) easiest to most difficult, and 2) approximately 10 chapter segments which bear some semblance of unity (e.g., either literary [pastorals] or historical [James-Galatians]). If you do 1 group/day, you’ll read the whole NT in a month.

John 1-11
John 12-21
1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Philemon
Mark 1-8
Mark 9-16
Matthew 1-10
Matthew 11-20
Matthew 21-28
Revelation 1-11
Revelation 12-22
1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians
Ephesians; Colossians
Philippians; Romans 1-8
Romans 9-16
1 Corinthians 1-10
1 Corinthians 11-16
Galatians; James
1 Peter; 1 Timothy
2 Timothy; Titus
Jude; 2 Peter
2 Corinthians 1-7
2 Corinthians 8-13
Luke 1-8
Luke 9-16
Luke 17-24
Acts 1-10
Acts 11-19
Acts 20-28
Hebrews 1-7
Hebrews 8-13

Creation & Covenant Prezi Video

Over a year ago I highlighted some new online presentation software called Prezi.

I finally got around to posting my first Prezi online. I set it to music by Leonard Jones & Stephen Roach.

Enjoy!

 

New Page – PhD in Biblical Studies: Resources

At the top of my blog you will notice a new page entitled, “PhD in Biblical Studies: Resources.” This is my first attempt to gather in one place some of the helpful resources that I have come across as I prepare for graduate and doctoral studies. This is something that I think about daily and a page that I will hopefully add to in the future. Please feel free to name any helpful resources you have found in the comments section.

Free German Bible Society Textual Research Booklet

Accordance has posted a great little booklet on Hebrew Bible & New Testament textual research by the German Bible Society – download it here

Three New Books from Richard Bauckham & NT Wright

 

 

 

 

The writings of Richard Bauckham and NT Wright have greatly enhanced my understanding of Jesus, the Gospels and the New Testament in general. I am thus very excited about the release of three new books form these two.

NT Wright – Revelation commentary in the “For Everyone” series (10/30/2011) & Simply Jesus (10/25/2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Bauckham – Jesus: A Very Short Introduction

Mark Goodacre’s Synoptic Problem Book FREE Online

Mark Goodacre is a NT scholar and Professor at Duke University’s Department of Religion. Online he is best known for his NT Gateway website and his enjoyable “NT Pod” podcast available on iTunes. In the scholarly world (from what I gather) he is best known for his defense of Markan priority and rejection of a Q source theory in the ongoing “Synoptic Problem” debates. The Synoptic Problem is simply the question of how the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) originated and who copied who – those types of issues. If you are interested in these types of questions, and specifically if you are “questioning Q” I have good news for you – you can now access professor Goodacre’s book “The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze” for free! The book is available in a nice variety of formats including a good looking online e-reader, PDF and Kindle.

http://www.archive.org/details/synopticproblemw00good