When suffering beliefs are good but intimacy with Christ is better
For the truth of the matter is that naked beliefs offer little consolation under the worst experiences of suffering and evil.
To put this in the terms of Christian experience: in the dark hours of suffering, Christians want more than the assurance that their beliefs are consistent. They draw comfort only from the living Lord himself, from the Spirit whom he has graciously given, from a renewed grasp, a felt experience, of the love of God in Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:14–21).
That is not to say, however, that the set of beliefs is irrelevant. It is to say that, in addition to holding that Christian beliefs are true and consistent, the Christian, to find comfort in them, must learn how to use them. Christian beliefs are not to be stacked in the warehouse of the mind; they are to be handled and applied to the challenges of life and discipleship. Otherwise they are incapable of bringing comfort and stability, godliness and courage, humility and joy, holiness and faith.
But before we go on to think through how various biblical emphases can serve as comforting bulwarks when evil and suffering threaten to swamp us, it may be worth pausing to warn against several vaunted shelters that are thoroughly insecure. Thoughtful Christians should avoid them: they promise security, but they are destructive.
Carson, D. A. (2006). How long, O Lord? Reflections on suffering and evil (2nd ed., p. 20). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
But before we go on to think through how various biblical emphases can serve as comforting bulwarks when evil and suffering threaten to swamp us, it may be worth pausing to warn against several vaunted shelters that are thoroughly insecure. Thoughtful Christians should avoid them: they promise security, but they are destructive.
Carson, D. A. (2006). How long, O Lord? Reflections on suffering and evil (2nd ed., p. 20). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
