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    Life's Choices?: Why Is There Evil in the World?
    Life's Choices?: Why Is There Evil in the World?
    Life's Choices?: Why Is There Evil in the World?
    Ebook158 pages2 hours

    Life's Choices?: Why Is There Evil in the World?

    By Paul Sutton

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristian Faith Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateMar 15, 2023
    ISBN9798886857740
    Life's Choices?: Why Is There Evil in the World?

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      Book preview

      Life's Choices? - Paul Sutton

      cover.jpg

      Life's Choices?

      Why Is There Evil in the World?

      Paul Sutton

      ISBN 979-8-88685-773-3 (paperback)

      ISBN 979-8-88685-774-0 (digital)

      Copyright © 2022 by Paul Sutton

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

      Christian Faith Publishing

      832 Park Avenue

      Meadville, PA 16335

      www.christianfaithpublishing.com

      Printed in the United States of America

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Foundational Choices

      The Origin of Origins

      The Origin of Choices

      Creation Choices

      The Original Choices of Evil

      Relationship Choices

      The Origin of Relationship Choices

      Relationship Choices

      Relationships and the Choice of Evil

      Life's Choices

      Libertarian Choices of Man

      Guides for Choices between Good or Evil

      Parental Authority

      Peer-Group Authority

      Governmental Authority

      Codes of Conduct as Authority

      Divine Authority for Choices

      Elohim: The Covenant God

      Covenants

      A Prelude to the New Covenant

      The Cross

      The Covenant of the Cross

      Beyond the Cross

      Beyond the Cross

      God and Evil

      God and His Knowledge of Evil

      Why Is There Evil?

      Finale: Theodicy of Relation and Redemption

      Theodicy of Relation and Redemption

      Afterword

      About the Author

      Preface

      The proposition presented by this book is that all of creation is about choices. The purpose of this discussion is to provoke the reader to examine questions about life's choices. My purpose is not to necessarily provide the answers to the questions presented, although some answers are suggested. It is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of any topic addressed. In many instances, what is presented is my opinion which may seem controversial in some cases. Good! The hope of this writing is that you will ponder life's questions and choose your own answers.

      This writing is not intended as a treatise or scholarly manuscript. The methodology I have chosen is one from my Navy days, the KIS method—keep it simple. Consequently, there are no footnotes and endnotes. It is not intended to present the thoughts of others through intellectual dishonesty. The omission of references is done purposefully, although reference to some authorities is mentioned in the text. It is intended to present an easy read for you.

      This book is offered as an apologetic, a defense of faith. And finally, this discussion is an epistemological discussion about a theodicy of relation and redemption. Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know. A theodicy can be defined as a study of the relation between God and evil.

      Part 1

      Foundational Choices

      רֵאשִׁית

      (In the Beginning)

      The Origin of Origins

      A very wise person once told me, Life is about choices. Indeed, it is all about choices. But the problem with decisions about life is that we as humans tend to complicate our choices. We want to confuse our choices with all kinds of human distractions, too many what-ifs. Consequently, we will attempt to explore the primary driving forces which give rise to complications of our choices not the least of which is the self.

      To thoroughly examine the subject of choices, one must consider what was the beginning. What was the beginning of the beginning? Where did all that we know come from? Without an understanding of this ethereal concept, there can be no foundation from which to frame any question of any kind about the choices of life.

      Where did all, as we know it—what we see, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and even the thoughts we think—come from? What is the source of any of this? Of all of this?

      Some argue that all that exists is due to the evolution of all creation. They say that everything derives from a single primordial cell. They go into convoluted detail to present an intricate hypothesis that everything originates from that cell. Yet their proposition is bereft of any explanation of where the original cell came from. The first cell was just a random expression of some molecular components which just happened to join together, they say. Well, there is a simple apologetic, a logical response, to that hypothesis. Explain the origin of whatever came to comprise that single first cell, and such an argument might be worthy of consideration. Without such clarification, the argument all boils down to something coming from nothing. That is, what is the source of the nothing from which the primordial cell came to be? And moreover, what is the statistical probability that evolution has caused all that came to be?

      If such a theory is due any reasonable consideration, then one might also ask if there is an alternative to it? Is it possible that all that exists came from, did actually originate from, nothing? How did we come to be able to express and analyze our thoughts about the origin of creation? What words might we use to do so?

      But before I continue to write, I must offer the following by way of acknowledgment as to why I am compelled to write this book. I offer this work not as a matter of braggadocio, but as something I have been compelled to write. The compelling question is: what an all-knowing, all-loving, ever-present God has to do with the presence of such awful evil in this world?

      My background is as follows. I am a former United States Navy chief petty officer who supervised sophisticated guided missile weapons systems. I have been a trial attorney. I am an ordained minister. Throughout my educational pursuits, I have been exposed to many challenges. Probably the most brutal was the study of biblical Hebrew. But the most provocative of all studies was the first class I took in seminary. It was Epistemology, which, in plain English, means how we know what we know.

      The course was taught by Dr. Bruce A. Little, a professor of philosophy at the seminary I attended. He is also a renowned apologist (defender of the faith). The biblical Greek word for apology is ἀπολογέομαι, transliterated apologeomai, and pronounced ap-ol-og-eh'-om-ahee. It means to give an account, to answer, or to make a defense. It is the Greek word from which we get our word apology.

      The most provocative, even haunting, part of this course was when Dr. Little assigned us to read essays written by famous atheists. Two questions repeatedly propounded by these atheists were: How could an all-loving, all-knowing, ever-present God permit an infant child to be raped, beaten, or even murdered? And how could an all-loving, all-knowing, ever-present God permit a deer to be burned alive in a forest fire? These questions have haunted me since taking that first class.

      You might ask why these readings haunt me. Because I had no defense for those questions. I have been haunted since that first exposure to these questions because I personally did not have an answer, an apology, a defense to questions like this.

      For a time, I was privileged to teach the pastor's class in a local church. Oftentimes I would ask the class, If a drunk were to show up at the door to our church, would you ask them in? Or perhaps that someone is of different beliefs. You see, no one wants some outsider to defile or confuse their place of worship. But most often that is not the real reason for not inviting such a person in. The real reason is fear—fear that we have no defense for our beliefs. We may feel insecure, frustrated, even angry when what is really an opportunity arises. We fear that our good news to unbelievers cannot withstand conflict against the wiles of evil. Consequently, the person with immoral or unsavory evil ways might be summarily rejected.

      Throughout this writing, I will refer extensively to a book by Dr. Bruce A. Little, God, Why This Evil?, copyright 2010 by Hamilton Books (also available on Kindle eBooks). I will be quoting lengthy abridged excerpts from his book without a page reference. While I do not intend to plagiarize his work, considerable reference to his book is necessary to set the foundation for the concluding thesis and purpose of this work.

      Dr. Little's book is true to the great and meticulous scholar that he is. Of necessity he is oftentimes very intricate in his detailed analysis. My frequent reference to his book is out of respect for the great scholar and philosopher that he is, it is a tribute to Dr. Little's faithfulness to Scripture, and my use of his work is the effort of a simple country lawyer attempting to simplify the subject as best I can. And so, I write.

      The Origin of Choices

      It is hard to think about choices without thinking about words. Words are a rudimentary element of expressed thought. Words are fundamental to any spoken expression of choice. In fact, all things as we know them were begun by words, the spoken Word. The Word as spoken by God. Words that express the choices of God. The beginning of all things as we can understand them began even before there was time. God, the timeless one (for whom there is no beginning nor any end), was before any beginning.

      Before there were any choices as we know them, God Himself was and still is God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. It's interesting that the first recorded mention of the word God was the ancient Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים, pronounced el-o-heem', a plural form of a singular noun. What does that mean? One might suppose it is the only verbal expression by which man could even begin to understand the concept of the vastness of who and what God is—God in three persons.

      Words have become our mode of expressing our thoughts and ideas. Words are necessary to describe the creation. And it is from these verbal expressions of thoughts that we begin our exploration of choices.

      Creation Choices

      All the first creation choices were that made by God Himself. You see, it seems that God, through His three persons, had chosen a plan that established a role, a part in the creation, for each person of the Trinity to perform. One, God the Father can be called the initiator. He is the originator of thought and of His plan. God the Son can be called the implementor. It is He who puts the thoughts and plan of the Father into motion. And God the Holy Spirit

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