Out of the Whirlwind: Innocent Pain as a Challenge to God
Ebook
A challenging and thoughtful reflection about the question of how a merciful God can allow evil.
Inspired by the Book of Job, Out of the Whirlwind is a reflection on the challenge posed to the existence of a good and powerful God by the issue of innocent suffering. It takes the form of the author's reflections as he sits in a children's ward by the bedside of his disabled son, who is dangerously ill and may be about to die. The reflections include personal reminiscence, a consideration of some traditional theodicies along with objections to them, and a couple of dream sequences, at the end of which, like Job himself in the biblical tale, the narrator receives God's answer “out of the whirlwind”.
The Book of Job is one of the most puzzling chapters of the Old Testament, and this book has helped me understand it for the first time.
The opening pages tell of the impact on the author of Hal’s arrival in the family, then moves to discuss in depth how God came to create a world where some inhabitants face the possibility of inconsolable distress. This philosophical/ theological issue is addressed with clarity and depth. The thinking is rigorous, the language is non-technical, and the weighty end-notes give thoughtful summaries of philosophers from Aristotle to C. S. Lewis. This academic philosophy is followed by a heart-stopping dream (from Hal’s bedside) reflecting Job’s vision of God in the whirlwind, as the author draws together his search for a loving God in a created order given free will and prone to sin. A powerful read!
This short book is a modern equivalent of the Book of Job. The author obviously has a deep faith, but is led to question how God can allow the innocent to suffer. It is written at the bedside of the author’s severely disabled son, Hal, as Hal seems to be at the point of death, despite the loving care of devoted medical teams. There is no bitterness, not even the outraged protests of Job himself, only a deep anguish. It is the book of a philosopher, carefully and accurately argued. It cuts no corners and is movingly honest.
- Title: Out of the Whirlwind: Innocent Pain as a Challenge to God
- Authors: Helen-Ann Hartley, Adrian Roberts
- Publisher: Sacristy Press
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781789590692, 9781789590678, 1789590671, 9781789590685, 178959068X, 1789590698
- Resource ID: LLS:9781789590692
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-06-15T01:11:21Z
Adrian Roberts is a retired teacher of Religious Studies and former Lay Chaplain at the Grammar School at Leeds. He lives in North Yorkshire and is a Lay Reader in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, in which he takes services and provides spiritual direction.
Helen-Ann Hartley is the Bishop of Ripon, having previously served as Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand (2014–17). She was the first female Church of England-trained priest to be consecrated bishop.