| You have to hand it to Dr. Zacharias. He is able the bridge the gap between the head and the heart, something that both Casanova and Mr. Spock could never do! This books focuses on the problem of pain, so it should be read in conjunction with C. S. Lewis’ book of the same name. I think Dr. Z’s most profound (and lacerating) question in this book is “If it is right, why do I feel so bad?” We know we are supposed to do things that are right, but we always get flack or into deeper trouble for doing them. I think the saw is “No good deed goes unpunished,” and Dr. Z tackles this problem head on! He spends time dealing with Job as a test case, and devotes an appendix to dealing with problem of pain. Personally, and all pretences of scholastic impartiality aside, I found this book helpful. In a deep philosophical sense, we have to have evil, at least potentially, to make sense of life. In my own religious tradition, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is written in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that “ For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.” (2 Nephi 2:11-12) The strength of character comes from going upstream, against to flow. Look at Buddah—he was living a posh lifestyle, but he gave it up, since there was no opposition in his life. His life only became meaningful once he was placed in the realm of choice. It is true that Christianity has become counter-culture. We need to explore the duifffences and accentuate them! |
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