Beautifully said, Crystal. –Philip

Thank you, Philip. I’ve begun to believe that my son is disabled for God’s glory and is also a special gift. It was through deep sorrow that I receive great joy. I marvel at how the stack was dealt against me yet God’s love was too powerful to be overcomed. I have learned a lot about who God is by who he isn’t, and I can now forgive those flawed representatives because I too am a flawed representative. It continues to amaze me how he lives in us and loves us so much. Thank you for your books. They have been such a gift and relief to learn that I can be completely honest with God instead of always trying to pretend that I am happy or grateful or everything’s ok. We’re such complex creatures and it’s quite healthy to embrace that. I pray that one day we can all learn to let love consume us completely and drive out fears. Even though everything is not ok we can stand firm in the hope of our faith that one day everything will be as it should. And in the meantime we can learn to completely depend on God and bring everything to him because we matter and he cares. It’s strange but I’m grateful that the church did do that because I believe that’s the reason God showed up so strongly for me. I would never have come to learn who he is and lived my life in hopelessness and despair. He rescued me and continues to do so.

An incredible story, Crystal. My goodness, you went through all the stages of faith. To me, the real miracle is in you, the caregiver, and your persistent love for your son–and that you didn’t give up on God after God’s flawed representatives gave you reason to. I know this will help many people. –Philip

Philip,

A year ago to the day, I added to this blog somewhere and even received a cordial response from you Mr. Yancey. Though I can’t find it now, I recall your comments were most unhelpful. I had read “The Question That Never Goes Away” and found myself saddened by your answers. It’s clear that the question never goes away for a reason.

As for Gary’s post above, I think he outlines one of the main issues of Christian faith brilliantly. Joseph’s answer to Gary was condescending and I find your response trite. Gary is upset, and rightly so. Like me, he just wants answers. Unfortunately, they are not forthcoming.

Think of what has happened in the 12 months since we last ‘chatted:’ 22 veterans killed themselves every day; 7 people die every day in US home fires; annually, 6 million children under the age of 5 die (1.26 million in India alone); every 7 seconds a girl under 15 is married; Paris was attacked, killing 130; 84 were killed in Nice by a truck; Istanbul’s main airport was bombed (I was there 2 days after); Hurricane Matthew killed over 800 in Haiti (adding insult to injury after the earthquake in 2010 killed over 316,000); 300 were killed in Italy from an earthquake — as did 673 in Equador and 117 in Taiwan; in Louisiana, 13 were killed and they suffered $9 billion in losses from flooding; roughly 17 million humans died from heart disease and 7 million from cancer; a plane crashed in Egypt killing all 224 aboard; wars rage on in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere leaving 60 million displaced in the global refugee crisis; Chicago’s murder rate is up 72%; we learned of the Panama Papers and had CEOs from Wells Fargo, Och-Ziff, Merrill Lynch and others skate free after paying billions of dollars in fines. As you know, the list goes on and on.

Last month, I stood at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City where 343 of my brothers died. In July, I honored those lost in the Armenian Genocide while in Yerevan (I also visited Khor Virap and saw the stunning Mt. Ararat, minus the ark). I’ve placed flowers at the stupa filled with 5,000 skulls in the Killing Fields of Cambodia. I was near the Yangtze River in China where, not even 100 years ago, nearly 4 million were killed by flood. I’ve stood at Ground Zero in Hiroshima. I’ve walked through the gate at Auschwitz which reads “Arbeit macht frei” and I stood on the train tracks at Birkenau. I’ve climbed Mayon Volcano in the Philippines where 12,000 of my wife’s countrymen were killed. I’ve also been in Leyte where Typhoon Haiyan killed another 10,000 Filipinos. I’ve knelt in the sand on Patong Beach and pondered the death of a quarter million people from a 2004 tsunami. A few years back, I listened to a man order the honor killing of his sister. Professionally, I’ve witnessed children struck by vehicles and burned in house fires. I’ve consoled victims of spouse abuse and held infants with ‘raccoon eyes.’ Closest to home, I’ve witnessed my daughter suffer from Crohn’s Disease.

Imagine, not so long ago, a Bangladeshi child suffering with the now-eradicated smallpox disease. This child likely died of respiratory complications following a frightening period of breathing difficulty. Humankind suffered for 12,000 years and it’s estimated that as many as 500 million people died in just the 20th century from this disease. This number far exceeds deaths from all the world’s wars. Similarly, ponder the Black Death’s destruction of human life – another pathogen killing as much as 60% of the population of Europe in the 14th century. This plague was blamed on the alignment of planets which resulted in ‘bad air.’ Imagine the children of the 58 million AIDS deaths. Was no one praying?

My issue continues to be, as it was last year, that if the Christian God exists, then He is grossly negligent. By negligent I mean to say that He does not do what He promises to do. I’m making no claim that these things are ‘evil.’ I’m not addressing the “Problem of Evil.” Nor do I claim your God doesn’t exist – that’s for another day (even if I grant you the virgin birth and the Resurrection, all your work is still ahead of you). My question remains: “How could an omniscient, omnipresent and all-loving God watch human suffering, with crossed arms of indifference, even after He’s promised to act?” What is beyond debate is that God does not intervene. This I’m sure we can agree on. So, it begs the question, “Why won’t He honor the promises He has made?” In Mark 16:18, the Word of God says, “…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. [NIV]” The King James Bible says, “…they shall recover” and the New Living Translation says, “…they will be healed.” This seems possible as earlier in Mark, Jesus has an encounter with Jarius’ daughter where he says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Let’s forget for a moment that this passage comes from the ‘longer ending of Mark’ and is not a part of the most trusted manuscripts of the Bible. Let’s instead focus on the fact that in this, The Great Commission, God promises He will heal the sick when “those who believe” place their hands on them. God administers neither caveats nor conditions, he just requires belief. Among many other records of God’s healing intervention, James 5 reads, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.” Likewise, God just requires faith.

Yet, believers pray without relief. There should be no debate: in no uncertain terms, God clearly promises that the sick will be healed, but this does not occur. I know first-hand. My entire family and indeed my entire church family have prayed now for almost 15 years while my daughter’s Crohn’s Disease continues unabated.

Also clear is that the burden of proof doesn’t rest with me. The burden of proof rests squarely on the shoulders of the person claiming God answers prayers, like you and Joseph. I’ve read many of the Christian apologists who try to explain. In addition to you, I’ve read Bruce Metzger, William Lane Craig, C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, J.P. Moreland, Norman Geisler and others. I’ve met personally with Ravi Zacharias over the course of a few months. Who, in the end, only left me with the wholly unsatisfying book, “True for You, But Not for Me” by Paul Copan. On the request of my parents, I read “The Shack” by William P. Young. It was through this book, with tears in my eyes, I came to understand the fact that God intervenes, or even cares about my daughter, is simply untrue.

Consider further not healing, but just the alleviation of suffering? God says in Matthew 7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 says the same.

I imagine that some of the people I identified above either asked God, was seeking God, or knocked on God’s door. I can image being the parent of the smallpox-ridden Bangladeshi girl and asking God for the alleviation of her suffering. I can imagine riding in a box car towards the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and seeking God’s intervention. I can imagine knocking on God’s door while clinging to an Indonesian tree as the rising tsunami waters threaten my life. I can imagine being in the path of a Philippine typhoon and asking God to divert it towards open waters. I can imagine seeing a flash in Hiroshima and seeking God’s protection for me and my family. I can imagine knocking on God’s door as I stood atop the World Trade Center trying to decide if I should jump or wait for my firefighting brothers to rescue me.

As you and I both know, God didn’t show up for the Bangladeshi girl, those who died under the Final Solution, those killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami or 2013 super typhoon, those who suffered near Ground Zero or those men and women who jumped to their death on 9/11. But, most importantly, I can remember clutching my dear daughter as she wailed in pain. And I remember with uncanny clarity asking, seeking and knocking on God’s door. Yet, even though He promised, no help was forthcoming.

Consider further the case of Elisabeth Fritzl. At age 11, her father began sexually abusing her. At 18, Elisabeth was lured into the basement and imprisoned behind eight locked doors. For 24 years, Joesph Fritzl, her father, assaulted, abused and raped her. She gave birth to seven children. Her abuse was often in front of them. Imagine how she prayed. Imagine how she begged. But nothing supernatural; from nowhere ‘out there.’ Imagine now those women who haven’t been found.

In the same vein, consider the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and nuns. One would think the rape and abuse of children would represent the worst in humanity. However, it is the cover-up and shuffling of priests that leaves my heart ripped to shreds. Should you not be able to trust a man of God (or his hierarchy), who can a child trust? Isn’t it true that much of the abuse occurred in the confessional itself? The one person that should have protected them took advantage of them, and in what should be the most sacred place. Did a couple of those children not pray? Did not a few of those children’s parents rest in God’s promises?

Or finally, consider the suffering in the Bible? The Old Testament is wrought with suffering caused in the name of or by God Himself. Recall the Great Flood. Should this story be true, how many humans and animals suffered? Recall the horrific story of God’s vengeance on the Midianites. Here, the Bible tells that 12,000 Israelites killed every Midian man. They captured all the women and children as well as plundered the flocks and goods. They then burned the towns and camps. They then brought the captives and spoils of war to Moses who became angry. “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he says. Moses then commands the Israelites to kill all the boys and non-virgins “but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.” God then commands Moses to make a count of the people and animals capture so they may divide equally between the soldiers and community plus a tribute to the Lord. At the end of the chapter, the totals are given. Following the list of animals, we learn that 32,000 virgins were kept for themselves. Did they suffer? Do you know the story of Lot and his daughters? Did not Lot or his daughters suffer? Or, how about the strange story of forty two boys mocking Elisha in II Kings? In it, the Bible says Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord and two female bears came out of the woods and tore them up. The crime worthy of death? The boys yelled, “Get out of here, baldy!” To my mind, this seems to be indiscriminate suffering. I’d imagine some cried out for God’s intervention.

Or what of the New Testament? Here we find The Massacre of the Innocents in Matthew 2 and in Luke 19, Jesus says, “But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them – bring them here and kill them in front of me.” And most incredibly, it’s not until Jesus enters the picture, meek and mild, that we have eternal damnation in a lake of fire. I speak for myself, and only myself, when I say I’ve suffered greatly growing up with this religious doctrine. I’ve personally cried for relief. And no One showed.

My issue is simple: if God makes a promise, He must keep the promise. That’s certainly not too much to ask — it’s right there in His Book! Mark 16:18 and James 5:14-15 are quite clear. If You promise healing and then don’t deliver, You are breaking a promise. If You promise answered prayers and then don’t deliver, You are breaking a promise. I don’t know how to see it any other way. And, like the aforementioned, it breaks my heart.

In the end though, science has eradicated smallpox. We also know that the alignment of planets and ‘bad air’ had nothing to do with the Black Death. And, thanks to science, my daughter finds some relief to her suffering with Remicade, Humira and Prednisone. It is men and women employing rationality, logic, knowledge and freethought that produced these drugs.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak openly with you and share ideas. In this country and many around me, blasphemy and apostasy is punished by death. I learned just this week that starting tomorrow, insulting the president of the UAE carries a prison term of between 15 and 25 years in prison. Unfortunately, we live in an age where freethought is suppressed.

Cordially,
Doug

p.s., Mark Twain said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” Agreed.

Good dialogue, Joseph. I agree completely that we are offended by unfairness because of the “Moral Compass” or Tao, for Lewis. I also take solace in the fact that God accepts, even welcomes our sense of outrage–witness Job, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and much of the Psalms. True justice will require a rather dramatic re-tooling of this planet, which is the Christian hope that Lewis articulated so well.
Philip

Wow, this shows the gritty reality behind a song that usually conveys the opposite. Radical, Rachel–you cut right to the root.

Philip

Here’s my latest:

“His Eye is On the Sparrow”
rachelpeters [dot] com/his-eye-is-on-the-sparrow/3050/

Thanks again for your artwork!

Rachel.

Your sense of outrage about the unfairness of suffering stems from a realization that the world is truly evil and cruel. But what is evil without good? You only know that things are cruel and unjust because you have an in-born sense of right and wrong. Not merely a social construct but a deeper sense that comes from the Moral Compass which is God.

C.S. Lewis expressed it similarly in his book Mere Christianity.

So in essence, you prove the very existence of God through your disappointment in His seeming indifference to the ills of this world. May God use your pain to heal not only your sadness but that of others in need.

We know that Jesus is both God and Man but sometimes it’s hard to really accept that He had limitations during the 33 years He spent on earth. Paul said that Jesus emptied Himself and that He was subject to what we mere mortals are subject to – hunger, disease, anxiety, etc.

I think that although Jesus’s mortal body prayed for deliverance from the sacrifice during that long night in the garden of Gethsemane, His Spirit knew that without the sacrifice, humanity would have come to a screeching halt right then and there.

But what you said about God using us as instruments of prayer is quite remarkable. Christians often rely on grace alone, thinking that it is merely their faith in God that matters. True, there are folks who don’t come to Jesus until they are taking their last breath, and it is the faith that God will forgive their sins that does save them. But for most people, James’s words also apply i.e. “faith without works is dead”. If we have the Spirit of God flowing through us, we will do our Christian duty to help others.

I guess when it comes down to it, the unanswered prayers are what ground us most deeply to our faith in the love and FAITHFULNESS of our Father who is in heaven. 🙂