Tuesday, February 15, 2011

If God Is Good

In Randy Alcorn's book, "If God Is Good", he deals with the subject of why God allows suffering and evil to exist. Is He unwilling to prevent it? Is He unable to prevent it? These are just 2 of the questions that many people ask today, and Mr. Alcorn writes extensively on the subject. In my opinion, a bit too extensively. I admit the subject was covered well, but I found it to be a bit repetitive at times, and my mind would begin to wander.

The subtitle of the book is Faith In The Midst Of Suffering And Evil, and there is ample use of Scripture used. There are also examples of how what can appear to be bad is for the good of the person enduring it. Perhaps it is just my personal perspective, but I have never had an issue over the matter of why suffering exists. I may not always understand, and I may hate the circumstances, but I have no doubt that God will see me through anything. (I may have a temper tantrum, but I try to accept that my ways are not God's.) However, the examples given of those who have faced tremendous hardships with an unwavering faith are very encouraging.

I had hoped to use the book when counseling with others who do get angry with God, but I believe I will need a more condensed version. This hardcover book is slightly over 500 pages and was just too detailed to keep my interest. I would recommend it as a very helpful reference resource for those who are professional Christian counselors. Without a doubt, Mr. Alcorn puts much research into his books, and is very passionate about Biblical accuracy.



I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.







1 comment:

Hatfield said...

Another book which covers this subject (along with others) is Who Made God? And Answers to Over 100 Other Tough Questions of Faith edited by Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler.

The upshot of their thoughts on this subject is summed up in four statements:
"1. If God is all-good, he will defeat evil.
2. If God is all-powerful, he can defeat evil.
3. Evil is not yet defeated.
4. Therefore, God can and will one day defeat evil." (page 38, Chapter 2, Tough Questions about Evil by Ronald Rhodes)

(enhancements, italics and bold, are mine)