How Suffering and Evil Lead People to Consider Christ

Introduction

Evil and suffering are making their existence painfully known in our world. Whether we realize it or not or intend to do it or not, evil, pain, and suffering do cause us to reflect philosophically on their meaning and purpose. At some (breaking) point, they force us to ask deep philosophical questions of life:

• Why me? Why now?
• Is God really there?!
• If he is, does he really care about my suffering?
• What purpose could he possibly have for my suffering (not to mention everyone else's too)?

Many unbelievers think that the very existence of evil, pain, and suffering in life is incompatible with the all-loving and all-powerful God of the Bible. However, the truth is the exact opposite. Allow me to explain:

Why Suffering In the Life of the Unbeliever?

For many of us, it takes a profound, painful event or series of painful events that cause us to seek answers to the deeper questions. God desires to be known, and if there are any experiences that would cause us to diligently seek him, we can expect that those experiences would enter our lives.

"Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."- Hebrews 11:6b

When we reflect upon the philosophical questions triggered by evil, pain, and suffering, and we honestly search for an explanation to make sense of them, we are earnestly seeking answers. No one can escape the questions of purpose ("why" questions) without considering a Purposer (God) as an explanation. When we consider God's existence in the faces of evil, pain, and suffering, we cannot merely consider His existence on emotional grounds. Logical and evidential grounds are demanded as well. 

"I have found that the more I reflect philosophically on the attributes of God the more overwhelmed I become at his greatness and the more excited I become about Bible doctrine. Whereas easy appeals to mystery prematurely shut off reflection about God, rigorous and earnest effort to understand him is richly rewarded with deeper appreciation of who he is, more confidence in his reality and care, and a more intelligent and profound worship of his person."- William Lane Craig

The evil, pain, and suffering that we experience in life has the ultimate purpose of bringing us into a loving relationship with the Creator and Savior that will last for eternity. The evil, pain, and suffering that we experience must be seen in light of Jesus' death and Resurrection. Hebrews 11:6a states that without faith it is impossible to please God. But the faith that is described here is not a blind leap into the dark; it is a trust based on evidence of the historical event of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The evil, pain, and suffering in your life has brought you to examine the evidence of the reason for the evil, pain, and suffering of Jesus Christ. It is in the light of Jesus' suffering, death, and Resurrection that our suffering makes sense and is given an eternal purpose. God was faithful in the past; He is the same throughout eternity; therefore, God will be faithful in the present and in the future. You can reasonably trust Him with your life now and in the future. 

Conclusion

God has a purpose for the evil, pain, and suffering in our lives- "...Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). If the suffering in this finite life brings you to Christ or closer to Him, then what comes of that finite time of suffering will continue into eternity, an infinite amount of time without suffering and only with pure joy. 

For more:

• The Wounded Healer: Finding Ultimate Purpose In Your Suffering
• A Deeper Understanding of Christ's Love Through Suffering
• Stories: We All Got 'Em
• Is There Meaning To Life?

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Book Review: The Purpose Driven Life

Can an all-loving and all-powerful God possibly have reasons for allowing all the evil, pain, and suffering in this world? 

The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book) by Rick Warren is a book that I have meant to review for quite some time now. I had heard about it when it first came out in the early 2000s and had heard both raving reviews and scathing critiques. It was not until my pastor at the time did a sermon series on it that it really caught my attention. Over the years I have referred to it here and there in my blog posts, and I believe that the time has come for me to give it a full chapter-by-chapter review from the perspective of a defender of the Christian faith. 

Some people have wondered why I decided to review The Purpose Driven Life considering it is not a book that is focused on the defense of the Christian faith. My reason is quite simple: Rick Warren makes the claim in this book that God has multiple reasons for allowing evil, pain, and suffering in our lives. This claim, if demonstrated to be correct, directly addresses one of the most common and emotionally powerful challenges to God's goodness, His power, and even His existence: the problem of evil, pain, and suffering. 

Initially, I had separated this review into multiple posts to keep the individual posts shorter, but it has been requested of me that I publish the whole review as a single post. This review will consist of my usual chapter-by-chapter summary format with my recommendation at the end; however, I have added additional thoughts for each part of the book between the summaries of those respective parts. I will include some of my initial impressions from years ago and reflections on the book's content that have bounced around in my mind from the last several years (including some of the theological critiques).  

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 6: The Mission

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life- Part 6

A few weeks ago I began my chapter-by-chapter review of Rick Warren's popular book The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book). Rick Warren presents a theology of suffering in this book that caught my attention as a defender of the Christian worldview because of its applicability in addressing the problem of evil and suffering. Because the book has forty chapters, I decided to break up the review into multiple parts that coincide with the parts of Warren's book. For easy navigation of this review, here are the links to all the previous parts. Please check them out to learn more about the value of this book:

• Part 1: Created For God's Purpose
• Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)
• Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)
• Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)
• Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)
• Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 6: You Were Made For A Mission

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 5: Serving God

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life- Part 5

A few weeks ago I began my chapter-by-chapter review of Rick Warren's popular book The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book). Rick Warren presents a theology of suffering in this book that caught my attention as a defender of the Christian worldview because of its applicability in addressing the problem of evil and suffering. Because the book has forty chapters, I decided to break up the review into multiple parts that coincide with the parts of Warren's book. For easy navigation of this review, here are the parts with links that will be updated as they publish:

• Part 1: Created For God's Purpose
• Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)
• Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)
• Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)
• Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)
• Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 5: You Were Shaped For Serving God

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 4: Becoming Like Christ

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life- Part 4

A few weeks ago I began my chapter-by-chapter review of Rick Warren's popular book The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book). Rick Warren presents a theology of suffering in this book that caught my attention as a defender of the Christian worldview because of its applicability in addressing the problem of evil and suffering. Because the book has forty chapters, I decided to break up the review into multiple parts that coincide with the parts of Warren's book. For easy navigation of this review, here are the parts with links that will be updated as they publish:

• Part 1: Created For God's Purpose
• Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)
• Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)
• Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)
• Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)
• Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 4: You Were Created To Become Like Christ

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 3: God's Family

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life- Part 3

A few weeks ago I began my chapter-by-chapter review of Rick Warren's popular book The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book). Rick Warren presents a theology of suffering in this book that caught my attention as a defender of the Christian worldview because of its applicability in addressing the problem of evil and suffering. Because the book has forty chapters, I decided to break up the review into multiple parts that coincide with the parts of Warren's book. For easy navigation of this review, here are the parts with links that will be updated as they publish:

• Part 1: Created For God's Purpose
• Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)
• Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)
• Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)
• Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)
• Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 3: You Were Formed For God's Family

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 2: God's Pleasure

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life- Part 2

Last week I began my chapter-by-chapter review of Rick Warren's popular book The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book). Rick Warren presents a theology of suffering in this book that caught my attention as a defender of the Christian worldview because of its applicability in addressing the problem of evil and suffering. Because the book has forty chapters, I decided to break up the review into multiple parts that coincide with the parts of Warren's book. For easy navigation of this review, here are the parts with links that will be updated as they publish:

• Part 1: Created For God's Purpose
• Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)
• Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)
• Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)
• Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)
• Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 2- You Were Planned For God's Pleasure

The Purpose Driven Life- An Apologist's Review- Part 1: God's Purpose

Book Review- The Purpose Driven Life

The Purpose Driven Life (hardback, Kindle, audio book) by Rick Warren is a book that I have meant to review for quite some time now. I had heard about it when it first came out in the early 2000s and had heard both raving reviews and scathing critiques. It was not until my pastor at the time did a sermon series on it that it really caught my attention. Over the years I have referred to it here and there in my blog posts, and I believe that the time has come for me to give it a full chapter-by-chapter review from the perspective of a defender of the Christian faith. I will include some of my initial impressions from years ago and reflections on its content that have bounced around in my mind from the last several years.

There is so much content in each chapter that should be included in my usual summary format, so because The Purpose Driven Life is broken into forty chapters and six sections, I have decided to break up this review into six parts to be posted over the next six weeks. I will present the usual chapter-by-chapter summary in each section then offer my thoughts about it. I will be sure to include links to the other parts to keep continuity and help you navigate the whole review once all parts are published.

Part 1: Created For God's Purpose

Part 2: Created For God's Pleasure (Worship)

Part 3: Created For God's Family (Fellowship)

Part 4: Created To Become Like Christ (Discipleship)

Part 5: Created To Serve God (Ministry)

Part 6: Created For A Mission (Evangelism)

Part 1- What On Earth Am I Here For?

The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharias- Audio Book Highlight

Introduction

Audio is one of my favorite ways to consume books. I've found that its a great way to review the books that I've read when I just need a refresher or to have the hard copy (or ebook) and read along. It is tough to pass up a great deal on the audio versions of my favorite books, and I never want to pass up the opportunity to let others know of a great deal. Twice every year ChristianAudio.com runs a sale on most of their collection of audio books, and you can usually pick them up for $7.49. It is now that time of year!

I will be highlighting some of my favorite audio books. I'll include a few of my favorite quotes from the books, my recommendation from my chapter-by-chapter reviews, links to posts that were inspired by the books, and, of course, I will include links to the audio book deal throughout the article. Today, I am highlighting "The Grand Weaver" by Ravi Zacharias.

"The Grand Weaver" by Ravi Zacharias- My Recommendation

The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives is a fantastic and uplifting book. It has much value for the apologist as it addresses the emotional problem of evil head-on. Zacharias does not just address the issue from a disconnected distance, he brings the reader into his own life and demonstrates his points from his own experiences. The book is not written at an academic level that is beyond what the lay person can understand, but it does challenge them as it brings them comfort. The book flows very smoothly and is easy to read, yet difficult to put down.

The apologist should have several copies of this book in their library- one for their own consumption (in their personal life and in their defense of Christianity) and the others to give to those who are struggling with painful events in life- whether believer or not. For the believer, Zacharias provides a biblical perspective that may not be immediately clear to those experiencing pain. For the skeptic, Zacharias explains how Christianity brings meaning and life to their pain and suffering.

Finally, this book is highly recommended for pastors. Pastors, in their roles as teachers and counselors (especially), are depended upon to help people struggle through and overcome difficulties in their lives- people are not just searching for solutions to the painful events but purpose for those painful events. In The Grand Weaver, Zacharias brings to light much that scripture has to say about God's sovereignty and purpose for what happens in our lives- both good and bad. Not only can this help a person triumph through the crisis, but also stand against doubts about the goodness or existence of God from personal life experiences.

Can Man Live Without God? by Ravi Zacharias- Audio Book Highlight

Introduction

Audio is one of my favorite ways to consume books. I've found that its a great way to review the books that I've read when I just need a refresher or to have the hard copy (or ebook) and read along. It is tough to pass up a great deal on the audio versions of my favorite books, and I never want to pass up the opportunity to let others know of a great deal. Twice every year ChristianAudio.com runs a sale on most of their collection of audio books, and you can usually pick them up for $7.49. It is now that time of year!

I will be highlighting some of my favorite audio books. I'll include a few of my favorite quotes from the books, my recommendation from my chapter-by-chapter reviews, links to posts that were inspired by the books, and, of course, I will include links to the audio book deal throughout the article. Today, I am highlighting "Can Man Live Without God?" by Ravi Zacharias.

"Can Man Live Without God?" by Ravi Zacharias- The Message

"Can Man Live Without God?" by Ravi Zacharias- My Recommendation

Can Man Live Without God was an incredible read (I started with the hard copy). I did not want to put it down, even though more pressing issues called. It not only has apologetic value, but it has counseling value. Its focus on meaning and despair and their foundations in Christ and apart from Christ, respectively, can offer comfort and relief for those who are going through life's inevitable difficulties. The book is quite accessible to all levels of theological or philosophical understanding and is useful for every member of the Body of Christ in carrying out the Great Commission. For the unbeliever, Zacharias challenges them to find meaning apart from Jesus Christ and offers Him as a reliable source of perpetual meaning. It is highly recommended that the reader of this review take the time to listen to the audio book in its entirety and think seriously and deeply about what Zacharias has presented.

17 Quotes From Ravi Zacharias on God's Plan For Your Life

Introduction

I was introduced to Ravi Zacharias' talks and books about fifteen years ago. He has had a profound effect on how I communicate and defend the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The way that he always answered an intellectual question yet never forgets the desires, longings, and pains of the questioner in his answer has been inspiring. The pain and suffering of life cause many to question God's goodness and even His existence. One of my favorite books penned by Zacharias is "The Grand Weaver." Today, I bring you several of my favorite quotes from that book and a talk that Ravi presented in 2017 on God's purpose plan for your life.

Is There Meaning To Life?

Introduction

An interesting TED Talk came across my Facebook feed a few weeks ago. The talk focused on finding meaning in life. More and more people are discovering that pursuing happiness is leading them nowhere. They discover that every time they think that something obtainable or achievable will make them happy, once that has been obtained or achieved, that happiness lasts only for a short time. Then a discovery is made of something else that is greater than what they originally thought would make them happy, and they pursue that. This process repeats numerous times until they reach the top, then they realize that there is nothing left, yet they still feel unfulfilled. This TED Talk attempts to address that problem by positing that instead of pursuing happiness, people should pursue meaning. Here is a link to the talk, and I highly recommend that you watch it in full before continuing with this post: There's more to life than being happy- Emily Esfahani Smith.

On The Surface

The speaker recognizes the problems that the pursuit of happiness brings: unhappiness, unfulfillment, depression, and suicidal tendencies. The offered solution gives hope to those who are depressed and tired of the pursuit of happiness. From a pragmatic perspective of survival, this talk was quite encouraging and invigorating. However, regardless of the survival advantage that it provides if one believes the claims, if the claims in the talk do not reflect reality (are not true), then the person who believes them has traded the truth for a lie in the name of mere survival- a delusion that is evolutionarily necessary to believe if we wish to win the survival game. If the speaker is presenting a delusion, then, for those who value truth and knowledge as well as survival, the talk is truly as useless as the solution it wishes to supplant. So, for the sake of truth, the claims need to be investigated and analyzed at a deeper level.

Is Education Overrated?

Introduction

A couple months ago I read an interesting article about a professor who made the case that today's education system is grossly overrated. If the article's author represented him correctly, his contention is that because a large portion of educational resources focus on credentials and self-esteem ("vanity" in the words of the author), the system is overrated and needs a major overhaul. You can read the article here: "Professor: 'Education is Grossly Overrated'." The last couple of lines are particularly what caught my attention:

"Is our quest to give students ever-higher levels of education and credentialing based more in vanity hits than in true knowledge and understanding of the world?"

That alone warrants this article for reasons that I will discuss shortly. But also happening in my home state of Oklahoma, as I write this blog post, is a dispute between public school teachers and law-makers regarding funding (you can check out any of our local media for the stories). As I have been involved in discussions at work and on Facebook about this local situation I recalled the content of the article above, that I believe may help explain how our education system got to producing the disrespectful display we have witnessed on both sides of the dispute. Let me get straight to my point.

Without God, Do We All "Bleed The Same"?

Without God, Do We All "Bleed The Same"?- Introduction

Without God, the war against racism makes no sense at all. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grounded his fight and mission in the fact that God exists, because he knew that without God, so many foundations of such a fight are nonexistent. I was recently made aware of this beautiful song by Mandisa (featuring TobyMac and Kirk Franklin) addressing the tensions that still plague America today. Please take the time to listen, then read below to see how nothing that moved your heart in this video can be explained unless Christianity is the true worldview.



What a beautiful song that should express the heart and desire of every human. However, unless the view promoted by the song has a foundation in reality, then our emotions are merely playing a trick on us to believe that something is true and noble when those are merely illusions. There are several foundations that disappear if Christianity is false, but I want to focus on three today:

Book Preview: Creator And The Cosmos by Christian Astrophysicist Hugh Ross

One of the first books that I read that presented evidence for God's existence from cosmology was the third edition of astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross' book "The Creator and the Cosmos." While I had been introduced to the finetuning argument years ago, this book laid it out in detail and in a way that was easy to comprehend. Of course, in the study of cosmology, the teleological argument is not the only one that can be formulated; there is also the argument from the beginning of the universe (the cosmological argument), which Dr. Ross explained has been overwhelmingly, evidentially supported by the latest scientific discoveries, yet was already expected by the authors of the Bible thousands of years ago (thus scientifically establishing the Creator as the Author of the Bible and establishing the Bible's authority and inerrancy).

About a year ago, I decided to bring the book back out to give it my full chapter-by-chapter review treatment for those interested in getting the book. However, shortly after I pulled it off my shelf, I heard that Dr. Ross was working on a fourth edition that would add a considerable amount of scientific evidence to both arguments, so I decided to put my review on hold until the new edition arrived. That new edition is coming THIS THURSDAY! And my chapter-by-chapter review will be posting in the following weeks. In the meantime, here is the trailer for the new edition, and do not forget to place your (pre-)order to get your copy as soon as possible!


I have reviewed several of Dr. Ross' other books that explore everything from the beginning of the universe to the appearance of humans, all from a perspective of Biblical historicity and inerrancy and the reliability of science to discover the truth about God's creative acts:

• Why The Universe Is the Way It Is
• Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off
• Who Was Adam
• Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home
• Navigating Genesis
• A Matter Of Days: Resolving A Creation Controversy

Can You Have Purpose Without God?

Introduction- Atheism and Purpose

One of the more convincing reasons to believe that atheism is false comes from man's desire for life to have purpose. If there is no designer behind the universe, life in general, and our individual lives in particular, have no ultimate purpose, no goal to guide our decisions, no finish line to motivate us to keep running when things get tough. The way that pastor Rick Warren put it in his book "The Purpose-Driven Life" makes it quite clear:

"Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless."

If life is truly pointless, then why should anyone want to endure the suffering and pain that life brings? If life is pointless, as atheism necessarily implies, then there is no reason to want to continue to live. This is, quite literally, an unlivable philosophy for life, and if atheism necessarily implies this philosophy, then atheism is not just unlivable, but completely incompatible with living. And if a worldview is incompatible with living, it cannot be true. However, people do continue to live because they believe that their lives do have a purpose, so it follows that atheism is false. The power of this argument against their worldview is recognized by many atheists (they would agree with Warren in his assessment of the need for purpose), and they believe that they have found a way to undermine the soundness of the defeater of their worldview.

Charlie Gard and Purpose in Suffering

The World Watches Charlie Gard

With the international attention received by baby Charlie Gard in the United Kingdom (including my post from last week), good news has been received: the judge has granted a hearing of new evidence about experimental treatment available in the United States, claims that Charlie is not, in fact, suffering pain, and that damage to his brain caused by a rare mitochondrial disease is not permanent. The hearing began yesterday, and the judge is waiting for more information before a new decision is reached. Here is the latest from Life Site News: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/charlie-gards-day-in-court

UPDATE: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-american-doctor-will-examine-charlie-gard-on-monday

While the world awaits the updated decision, conversations are still taking place in the public square about the value of human life and the role of "quality of life" in medical decisions (even among Christians). My post from last week received a series of concerns that are commonly raised with those who have defended human life in these situations. I will quote the concerns and provide a response to help equip you, the reader, to think clearly and logically and respond with comfort and love regarding such issues.

I want to preface this with the fact that the person raising the concerns was a Christian who is also struggling through how to properly respond and act within the Christian worldview. All concerns in such emotional cases need to be understood in the context that we are not merely talking about ideas but lives, humans created in the Image of God, who may be struggling themselves with the pain of the (potential) loss of a friend or family member, such as baby Charlie. These concerns should not necessarily be seen as challenges to put the defender of life on the defensive but rather in the position of a comforter who God has put in this position to help guide in this painful time. We are the Body of Christ- God's "hands and feet" in this world , so we are called to minister to the broken in heart and in mind. With that in mind, let's look at these concerns.

Book Review: Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home🌍

Introduction

Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home is the highly anticipated "sequel" to Dr. Hugh Ross' book Why The Universe Is The Way It Is. In the first work, Dr. Ross examined several biblical purposes God has for this creation and how these purposes are evidenced in the history of the universe. In this new book, Dr. Ross zooms in from the perspective of the entire universe and multiple purposes to the earth and God's purpose of redemption. His goal in this volume is to demonstrate how the history of our planet is not merely some naturalistic "just so story" but rather a complex, multi-stage project with an explicit purpose as its end-goal. He intends to marshal the latest scientific discoveries from numerous scientific disciplines to make his case for the design of our planet. Did he successfully make his case? Let's find out...

Not Knowing God's Purposes and Wondering If He Exists

In The Business World...
In my professional career, I have been in the position of management a few times. One of the responsibilities of such a position is to communicate decisions of upper management to my employees. Often when my directors communicate the decision to me, they also communicate some of the reasons for the decisions, some of which I am not to communicate any further down the chain. When I communicate the decisions, some are received with a positive attitude, and others are received with a negative one.

I have interacted with many different types of personalities in these situations. Primarily with the negative ones, people begin asking questions about the purposes for the decision in order to evaluate for themselves if the decision was the best possible to make given the circumstances. In many cases, the employee is satisfied with the purposes that I provide; however, there are times that is not the case. The employee believes that based on the purposes communicated to them, a better decision could have and should have been made. They often leave the meeting dissatisfied and with less trust in the members upper management.

Unless we are those who make all the final decisions, we all can identify with the employees provided with a decision and the chosen purposes. I feel comfortable with saying that no person has been fully in agreement with every decision made by every management team in their career. To fully make sense, we need the whole story, and that level of transparency is a rare, if not, non-existent luxury.

This scenario is not limited to the business world, though. Any hierarchical relationship where absolute transparency among the parties does not or cannot exist exhibits this issue. Every relationship from familial to clubs is affected. Today, I want to draw two analogs of this familiar scenario to address two challenges to the existence of God.

7 Quotes From Ken Samples on Christianity's Explanatory Power

"The truth that there is an infinite, eternal, and personal mind behind the realities of the universe that can be detected through human reflection is the most transformative Christian apologetics idea in history. Christianity's explosive explanatory power and scope extends to such human enterprises as philosophy, psychology, science, religion, the arts, history, law, education, labor, economics, and medicine."

"The laws of nature exhibit order, patterns, and regularity. Because a personal God designed the universe to reflect his inherent rationality, the world exhibits elegant order, detectable patterns, and dependable regularity. These teleological qualities are essential to the nature of science because they make self-consistent scientific theories possible."

"Just as a detective builds a case by adding evidence, or a physician arrives at a diagnosis by considering multiple symptoms and tests, anyone can arrive at a meaningful conclusion based on a cumulative case. One of the strongest evidences that Christian theism's truth-claims are correct rests in its ability to account for and justify the many diverse and undeniable realities of life."

"In their heart, people experience the pull of moral duty. This sense of moral oughtness is prescriptive in nature, and it transcends mere subjective feelings. Individuals may deny, rationalize, or even violate their moral obligations, but those obligations remain a necessary part of human life."

"By describing human beings as fallen sinners, Scripture possesses explanatory power and scope that other holy books and secular philosophies of life clearly lack. In other words, historic Christianity's description of human nature and actions corresponds to reality. The Bible accurately pegs the person in the mirror."

"God appears to be more concerned about his children's character than about their comfort, therefore he uses evil and suffering to facilitate the believer's moral and spiritual maturity."

"Apart from God, we cannot fulfill our function and purpose in life because we were specifically created through the imago Dei to know, love, and serve our Creator."


These quotes were gleaned as I read Ken Samples' book "7 Truths That Changed The World." See my full review here.