It's late, life is daft and I've just had an email from someone whose faith is at a point of needing to 'grow up' to cope with such complexities as theodicy and (seemingly) unanswered prayer. This is why I get hacked off with evangelism courses - they don't prepare their happy converts for real life when the simple answers just don't wash any more. Or, perhaps, to be more fair, it's why I get hacked off that churches don't build on going nurture as part of their programmes.
So, anyone out there got an equivalent to 'Theodicy for Dummies' or 'Philosophy of Prayer for Absolute Beginners'? I have a copy Peter Vardy's 'The Puzzle of Evil' and various elementary philosophy of religion texts (well, as in undergraduate definition of elementary, not GCSE!) but in this case I am reluctant to lend them, not least as the former seems to be out of print. Any ideas please - and I'll try to source them rapidly.
Thank you.
Comments
Sorry can't help.
I thought Theodicy was a Greek Epic by Homer
Can't help with where is God in suffering in words of less than 15 syllables. I need to find a simple book on this myslef that I can share with others. John Hick and CS Lewis probably don't quite meet the requirements. But the easy answers are going to be wrong! In a pastoral situation you're probably dealing with more than just the intellectual questions. Lewis who wrote cheerfully and theoretically about the problem of pain as a popular theologian then went on to write 'A Grief Observed' anonymously and with searing honesty when his wife died of cancer. The lived experience is different again from the academic theory. God is in both.
On the subject of prayer, what the person may need is a completely different understanding of prayer. One founded on relationship and inner transformation rather than an automatic expectation that God will intervene in other ways. Again the need may be pastoral as much as intellectual.
But I'm teaching my (young) 'grandmother' to suck eggs again... I'm going to get in so much trouble for saying that ;0)
Hope you find something short and helpful. Let me know when you do, as I'll probably want to buy multiple copies!
I have John Swinton's Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil to be very good.