Apologetics and Evidence

Have you ever had moments in your Christian walk when you were wondering why something was happening to you and perhaps you almost felt like you were being hammered on, like an anvil? I think that our own experiences can often make us wonder why such things happen to us. Why do bad things happen to Christians? [1] I think that there is a large, but often unseen difference between what we might see as “bad,” or even “evil,” and suffering. Sometimes, not everything we might see as bad, is actually bad or evil. For instance, going to the dentist, or having lifesaving surgery. We go through those things because they bring about a greater good. If they were bad or evil, then how could good come from them. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying that God cannot use evil for good… In Genesis 50:20, we find the reasoning of Joseph: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” The question is, was what...

We know of the first problem the Bible presents, that there is a separation between God and man, and we know that Jesus alone is the mediator, the Savior, our redeemer, and our solution to the problem. Many of us however, do not understand the (second) problem we face after we are saved from our sins. Paul, on a huge discourse about the Law and sin in Romans, comes to a place inevitably examining his own sin. He says in Romans 7: Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 ...