The Case For Faith

I've decided to start working on #58: Read 5 new books a year. If I want to actually finish 5 this year, I need to get going! I'm not a big reader, which is why I set the goal to only 5. And even that seems like a lot to me!

My first book this year is 'The Case for Faith'. My 20-Somethings group at church read this book and discussed it last summer. However, Josh and I didn't join this group until they were on the very last part of the book, so we missed reading it and having the discussion. However, we did come in on the final day of the discussion, and it seemed very interesting! First, I started reading this book last fall, but my school work started to build up, and soon this book moved to the back burner. So, now I'm trying again. I better get the majority of my books in this year before school starts full time in the fall!

I'm only on page 37 right now, but so far, I'm very intrigued. As a person who has faith in God, I find it interesting to read what holds other people back from having that relationship with Him. As it says in the first pages of the book, "But faith isn't easy, even for people who desperately want it. Some people hunger for spiritual certainty, yet something hinders them from experiencing it. They wish they could taste that kind of freedom, but obstacles block their paths. Objections pester them. Doubts mock them. Their hearts want to soar to God; their intellects keep them securely tied down."

Here are the 8 objections to faith that this book will discuss:

• If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
• If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?
• If God really created the universe, why does the persuasive evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
• If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
• If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
• If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?
• If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
• If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?

The first objection is something I've always wondered about. While it never stopped me from believing and having faith in God, it is an issue that has come up in my head from time to time. If there is a loving God, how can He allow their to be such suffering in the world? I'm hoping this question is answered for me after I read through the first objection. I'll let you know!