I learned a new word!

I love learning new words........ and Jon at Personal Trainer has a word in one of his posts today that made me go straight to my favorite online dictionary (Merriam-Webster online): theodicy. M-W.org defines theodicy as a "defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil."  Basically, the post tries to answer the question of "where was God when the tsunami hit?" This question is one that has been discussed recently at my favorite online journalism site, the Poynter Institute. I'm encouraged that journalists are beginning to address questions of a spiritual nature, although they aren't always on target with their focus. One example is what the St. Petersburg Times did with this story. Interesting to see the different views, but it leaves you with a sense that no one really got to the heart of the question.

Jon uses references to the book of Job to answer the question much more comprehensively and biblically. Here's his conclusion:

"We cannot pretend to know why God, in His sovereignty, does this or that.  It is the height of arrogance, and following the error of Job's three friends, to answer questions to which only God knows the answer. We do not eavesdrop on the counsels of heaven! We simply bow before the awesome sovereignty of the King of Glory. . . . We long for the day when He shall make all things new.  In the interim, thank God for the next breath, the gift of life, the cross of Christ, and Jesus' resurrection from the tomb that assures us death has no final victory!"

As we bloggers say, go read the whole thing. ;)

Comments

[JRC]

I've been interested to see the stories on Poynter about the tsunami. Thanks for the heads-up about the post at Personal Trainer. Worth reading for sure.

[jon]

Wow, Bet. Thanks for all the press. I am humbled.