Opus 2013-113: Says Who?

In chapter 3 of the book of Genesis you have the discussion between the serpent and Eve.  This discussion led to Eve disobeying God and what is called, “The Fall.”  Alistair Begg was relating this and paraphrased what the Serpent asked Eve as, “Are you going to base your opinion on what God said?” 

This made me think again about a book I just read and reviewed called When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  In his chapter on Job, Kushner asks the same question of Job responding to God.  It would seem to be a silly question but it is at the root of our pagan culture.  We have this shrink wrapped, made in China, one size fits all view of God that is perpetuated by our culture and too many of our churches. 

It is a good question to ask ourselves.  “Are we going to base our opinions on what God said?”  Actually that is a question that should be asked every time someone gets up to preach.  We should ask ourselves the questions before we read the Bible.  If the answer is “no,” at least we are clear and realize that reading scripture is really a waste of time.

It is a question I have asked myself.  I have decided the answer is “Yes.”  I am going to go extreme and make it not just my opinions but also my attitudes, my priorities, my entirety. 

I am a long way from perfect in my application of this decision.  There, I said if for you.  I can live with that because I have decided to live with Him.  Sometimes it is a daily decision.  That is why I like the verse in Luke best, it includes the word “daily.”

(Luke 9:23 NAS77)  And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

You need to make your own decision.  Don’t put it off too long.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-111: Good but Not Safe

Several seeds came together to make me consider the one of the Big Questions.  The most recent was Alistair Begg mentioning a book by C.S. Lewis.  He referred to a conversation in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe between Lucy and Mr. Beaver.  This brings up a second seed.  Lucy asks if Aslan is safe and the answer is, “No, he is not safe, but he is good.”   That made me think of the book I recently reviewed, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  In that book Kushner rejects the power of God because he wants to hold on to his version of what it means for God to be good.  To him the two don’t go together.

Here is the difference.  Lewis assumes that God is good no matter what the results, Kushner assumes that God must do things our way in order to be good.  It is a totally different approach to the view of man, God and the purpose of life.  Lewis has a view that is Biblical.  Kushner has a view that fits in very well with the post-modern philosophy of today. 

The eternal God of the Bible is not safe.  He is holy.  That has consequences.  We cannot play like we are Lucy (as in I Love Lucy) and He is Ricky.  Yes, He forgives.  Yes, He sent His Son to die for our sins.  Yes, He is compassionate and merciful.  He is also holy and He doesn’t play games.

(Hebrews 9:22 NAS77)  And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

God did not cut himself any slack.  Without the cleansing of the blood He won’t cut us any either.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-86: On the Street: The Big Question

Recently I learned what “Starters” are, it is a brand name and my impression was that they specialize in a certain type of jacket.  A young man, who is flunking all of his classes and who has a lack of self control that does not bode well for his future, was totally focused on his jacket.  It was the center of his world.  He had one, I didn’t.  He was better than me and of all creatures I was the most pitied. 

What are the important questions of life?  Is it a matter of designer clothes?  Is it a certain job title?  Recently I did a series on a book that said the most important question of life was “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  Recently I was listening to Alistair Begg.  He was waxing strong on the concept of having a personal relationship with God.  He said clearly that is the most important question. 

I have a lot of questions I ask.  One of them is “Why me?”  Of course the answer is “Why not me?”  Which question is most important?  I would tend to agree with Begg.  Am I right with God?  That is most important because it molds all the other questions.

What are the most important questions in your life?  If you don’t ask the right questions the chances are you won’t get the right answers.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-79: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 7 of 7

I think that the last two chapter titles sum up the point, or lack of point of the book.

     Chapter 7, God Can’t Do Everything, but He Can Do Some Important Things

     Chapter 8, What Good Then, Is Religion?

Ultimately the answer to the last question is, “Not much.”  He gives the conclusion he has come to.

“Let me suggest that the bad things that happen to us in our lives do not have a meaning when they happen to us.  They do not happen for any good reason which would cause us to accept them willingly.  But we can give them a meaning.  We can redeem these tragedies from senselessness by imposing meaning on them.  The question we should be asking is not, ‘Why did this happen to me?  What did I do to deserve this?’  That is really an unanswerable, pointless question.  A better question would be ‘Now that this has happened to me, what am I going to do about it?’” page 136

Although I don’t disagree with his positive spin as an alternative to despair, I am curious about how he concludes that the entire meaning of life and the big questions comes down to us having a positive attitude and pulling ourselves up by the boot-straps.  Notice that the meaning is imposed by us and has no relation to the eternal.  God having a purpose is rejected.  This is a curious position for one who is employed full time as a Rabbi who is supposed to be a minister of God and teach about the things of God.

Contrast this Old Testament leader with the message of the New Testament.

(Romans 8:28 KJV)  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

(Philippians 1:6 KJV)  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

(1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV)  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

His position seems to me to be a total rejection of the God of the Bible.  It substitutes the belief that man is the pinnacle of evolution and stands on his own two feet.  It is up to you to amount to something.  God is just a side-show for the weak and foolish.

Okay.  I am weak and foolish.  I have read the book and I have read the Book.  I prefer the one that teaches about an eternal, all powerful, loving, holy, personal, God. 

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-77: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 6 of 7

I find Kushner’s interpretations of certain passages quite original, at least from my experiences. 

One of the beliefs of Christians is in the Trinity.  We believe that God is one but has three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  My purpose here is not to elaborate and explain that doctrine.  It is just a starting point.

One of the interesting things to New Testament believers is the places where it seems we can find reference to God that support our understanding of the trinity.  He takes one of those and does a circus routine with it.

Look at the portion of the creation account. 

(Genesis 1:26 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Notice that God says, “Let us make...”  One explanation of that is simply what is called the “Royal ‘We’.”  This was a device that kings used to refer to themselves as being above mortal men.  They would say “we” because they represented the state and were the state.  I could accept that.  Another understanding that Christians have is that it refers to the triune nature of God.  Kushner has a great interpretation.  I don’t know if it is his alone or he is quoting from a pool of knowledge.  Check this out.

“At the climax of the Creation process, God is represented as saying, ‘Let us make Man in our image.’  Why the plural?  Who is the ‘us,’ the ‘our’ of which God speaks?  My suggestion for understanding that sentence is to see it as connected to the sentence immediately before it, in which God creates animals....  Having created the animals and beasts, He says to them:  ‘Let us arrange for a new kind of creature to emerge, a human being, in our image, yours and Mine.  Let us fashion a creature who will be like you, an animal, in some ways - needing to eat, to sleep, to mate - and will be like Me in other ways, rising above the animal level.  You animals will contribute his physical dimension, and I will breathe a soul into him.’  And so, as the crown of Creation, human beings are created, part animal, part divine.”  p. 72

Thus God is inviting the animals that He just created to have some input in the nature of man.  This is off the deep end, but you must admit it is creative and entertaining. 

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-73: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 5 of 7

In chapter 2 Kushner begins to work through the book of Job.  I thought we would now see some solid answers.  At this point I still thought he would be going to the Bible as a reliable source.  My first red flag came when he totally misrepresents what the Bible says.  Consider his take on the cause of the suffering of Job.

“God accepts Satan’s challenge.  Without in any way tell Job what is going on, God’ destroys Job’s house and cattle and kills his children.  he afflicts Job with boils all over his body so that his every movement becomes physical torture.”  page 33

Something did not seem right about his reference to what happened so I took a bold step and read the passage in question myself.  The problem is this is not what the Bible says.  You might construe this from the first step,

(Job 1:12 NAS77)  Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

(Job 1:12 KJV)  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

(Job 1:12 JPS)  And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.' So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

I give you three translations, the last is by the Jewish Publication Society.  Since I am not familiar with Hebrew this is the best I can do, but they seem consistent.  The obvious difference comes in the next encounter between God and Satan.

(Job 2:6-7 NAS77)  So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."  Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

(Job 2:6-7 KJV)  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

(Job 2:6-7 JPS)  And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.'  So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot even unto his crown.

Here it is clear that Satan is doing the smiting, not God Himself.  This is totally at odds with what the author says.  You would think that someone who is trained as a Rabbi would be able to quote primary sources a little more accurately.

When I read this kind of distortion it tends to make me lose confidence in the rest of the thesis being presented.  If I cannot trust someone to be accurate and honest about something this clear and simple, how can I believe the rest of his discussion?

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-70: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 4 of 7

This started as a book review but I am going to go into more detail because I see a lot of important distortions going on in a book that has been quoted frequently on both sides of the divide between Christians and Xians.

He makes a very bold statement early in the book. 

“There is only one question which really matters:  why do bad things happen to good people?  All other theological conversation is intellectually diverting; somewhat like doing the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper and feeling very satisfied when you have made the words fit; but ultimately without the capacity to reach people where they really care.” page 6

So his question, spurred by his personal suffering negates all of the minor questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” and “What happens after I die?”  This doesn’t even make allowance for the big questions from the Hebrew portion of scripture, like,

(Micah 6:8 KJV)  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Or New Testament question like,

(Luke 10:25 KJV)  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

It would seem to me that these are not just”intellectually diverting” “theological conversation.”  It would seem to me that they are the reasons people are drawn to religion.

But then, I am not a famous author.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-68: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 3 of 7

In my last post on this topic I gave a quote from the book.  Let me lift out a couple of issues with what Kushner said.  First, he seems to think that the great thinkers of the ages use big words only to confuse and trick. 

“It does not try to use big words or clever ways to rephrasing questions in an effort to convince us that our problems are not really problems, but the we only think they are.” p. 1

In one sentence he writes off all the contributions of the great thinkers of the past.  All the Rabbis, philosophers and theologians who have tried to deal with the big question of pain are just being sophists.  This seems a bit arrogant, but maybe in his pain he is over stating his case.

His second basic assumption about the world is a bigger problem.  He states that he believes in the “goodness of the world.”  With this simple statement he separates himself from the Biblical Judaism that he purports to espouse.  With this statement I assume that he represents the Reform branch of Judaism.  In Christian terms this would make him a United Methodist, United Presbyterian or Unitarian. 

As you read through the book you notice that he rejects the idea of sin and the fallen nature of man.  I am not an expert in Jewish theology but sin and the fall are certainly in Genesis.  Also consider this from the Jewish Publication Society Bible.

(Psalms 51:5 JPS)  (51:7) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

And yet he rejects this with a pat on the head to those so provincial that they believe it.

“Perhaps, depending on the religious tradition in which you were raised, you were told that all human beings, Adam’s and Eve’s descendants, were doomed to die as sinners because of that original disobedience.” p. 74

This is one of those Continental Divides between what the Bible teaches and our pagan culture rejects.  The world is not now, nor will it ever be in this age, good.  It is under the curse of sin.  If you reject that you might as well reject the rest of the package, which Kushner has done even if he does not realize it.  I may come back to this.

Third, he is rethinking all he has been taught about God and His ways.  Thinking is good.  Thinking about God and His ways is good.  Rethinking is a constant process.  The problem is that Kushner insists on rejecting all sources outside his own world view and his worldview has rejected the teachings that God gave in the Bible.  You can’t have it both ways.  Either you accept the God revealed in the Bible or you are simply another member of the Belief of the Month Club.

The problem I am seeing as I read is that he sets himself above not only the wisdom of ages but seems to be moving toward remaking God into the author’s own image.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-65: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 2 of 7

Kushner starts off by explaining the tragedy that brought him to write the book.  It is important to understand where he is coming from.  Most of us will never experience anything like this.

The shock that precipitated this soul searching was his first born child being diagnosed with a condition called progeria.  It causes a child to age quickly and they rarely live past fourteen years.  This is a genuine tragedy and is not to be taken lightly or easily dismissed.  It is clear that this would bring to mind questions about God and what he allows. 

It is his pain that drives the book.

He is a rabbi with what seems to be a large congregation.  When things went wrong he was just getting started but he already had people coming to him asking for answers.  His son’s condition made it very hard for him to give pat cliches.  He began to search and think but did not begin writing the book until after his son died at fourteen years of age.

First he tells you the level of writing to expect.

“This is not an abstract book about God and theology.  It does not try to use big words or clever ways to rephrasing questions in an effort to convince us that our problems are not really problems, but the we only think they are.  This is a personal book, written by someone who believes in God and in the goodness of the world, someone who has spent most of his life trying to help other people believe, and was compelled by a personal tragedy to rethink everything he had been taught about God and God’s ways.” page 1

When I first read this I thought, “That is good.  He wants to simplify some great thoughts and help people.”  As I continued reading I began to realize that he was coming from some very dangerous, and hope strangling, positions.  If you do not embrace Christianity, this series of posts may be more nonsense to you than usual.  If you are part of liberal Christianity, you will wonder what my problem is.  Feel free to come back when I find another soap box.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-64: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 1 of 7

I am by nature very cheap.  Or if you are offended by hate speech, I am very careful in how I expend my resources.  As a result there are many popular books that I don’t read unless I catch them in the library or until they reach the thrift stores.  Since the thrift stores are raising their prices I often am forced to wait until the library has a 50¢ sale or a give-away shelf.  This book I have been hearing about for years.  I finally broke down and bought it at 50¢.  How can you go wrong at 50¢, right?

I began reading with an open mind.  I have heard the book referred to many times over the years and my general feeling was positive reviews.  Warning flags began to come out of their lockers as I looked at the people praising the book on the back cover:  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Norman Cousins, Harvey Cox, Norman Vincent Peale and Art Linkletter.  These are all well known people.  Some I know to be well educated.  Some are recognized as authorities in their fields.  At the same time, all are people who range from the borders of heresy to rampant paganism. 

Kubler-Ross is known for the “five stages of grief” that we all studied in our psychology classes. 
Norman Cousins was, according to Wikipedia, “a tireless advocate of liberal causes, such as nuclear disarmament and world peace,...”

Harvey Cox was a liberal theologian who made his mark in the 60's with his book The Secular City.  Peale is famous for his book, The Power of Positive Thinking.  Linkletter was a TV personality that was famous for TV programs, among them, “House Party,” “People Are Funny,” and  “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”  I remember watching them.  A wonderful man but not someone I would consider an authority on moral or philosophical issues.

I am sure these are good people.  They would probably make good neighbors.  They might be wonderful to work with in the PTA.  However, they are not names that I, a Bible believing Christian, would consider recommendations to buy the book.  But lets give the author a chance.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri