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God's Problem

The Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer

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God's Problem

By: Bart D. Ehrman
Narrated by: L. J. Ganzer
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About this listen

 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 sin.

The 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 God.

Ecclesiastes: suffering is the nature of things, so just accept it.

All apocalyptic texts in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament: God will eventually make right all that is wrong with the world.

For 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.

©2008 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers Bible Study Bibles & Bible Study Christianity Religious Studies Spirituality Middle East

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All stars
Most relevant  
Such a breath of fresh air after growing up with all the confused explanations of suffering given my by Christian mentors.

The second and third chapters found my mind wandering a bit but the rest of the book hit the nail on the head.

Although I would always prefer to hear the author himself (Ehrman narrates some of his other books) this was a very good performance.

The author crystallises the main reasons for suffering given by different Biblical authors and then after years of deep thought shares his personal views on each one.

Makes sense out of Biblical nonsense

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A captivating survey of how the bible attempts to explain why there's so much suffering in the world. Ultimately, the problem of pointless and immense suffering cannot be squared with the existence of an omnipotent and benevolent god.

The ending is uplifting; we should enjoy the short lives we have and do all we can so others can too. The responsibility to alleviate suffering is on us. As Carl Sagan put it in Pale Blue Dot "...there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves." It's a book to be read and recommend.

Captivating

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really makes you think , easy to listen to , unbiased reality . just brilliant and in an unexpected way hopeful

refreshing captivating

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