Dr Paul Allen

If God is good, why is there so much suffering? Most of us have probably sought explanations for suffering in light of our faith in God, or else evil may have contributed to our doubts about God’s existence. If you have spent any extended amount of time thinking about these questions, you are exploring the problem of evil, a term that refers to analyzing challenges that the existence of evil causes for various religions. What is the problem of evil? Technically, we would do well to speak of multiple problems of evil. Each religion may face unique challenges (is karmic suffering really just, as Hinduism suggests? Is evil an illusion, as some Buddhists claim?), but this article will consider the problem of evil in Christianity in three forms.  The logical problem of evil is a philosophical attempt to argue that a theistic God cannot exist if evil exists. The evidential problem of evil argues that a specific kind or example of evil makes God’s existence improbable. The existential pr...

REMEMBER TO PRAY USING A.C.T.S Adoration Holy God, You are patient. You persevere. You are kind. You are holy. Your compassionate love covers me. And yet You are also just. You are also righteous. And so You become weary of evildoing. You become tired when my words are empty and when my heart is far away. You are not just a stoic being with no emotion. Rather, you care so deeply that it offends. You, when I keep on sinning in light of Your overarching grace. Lord, I worship You as I fear You, in honour of who You truly are. I’m grateful that You allow me to see this side of You, not only the side that’s giving, kind, and forgiving. I need to know all of You in order to give You the authentic praise due Your name and to rightly reflect Your character with the spirit of my worship of You. Confession Holy God, I confess that I don’t consider how I’ve wearied You as often as I should. I confess that I depend on the kindness of Your character to such a large degree that it borders on a spir...

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6:11) These words draw our focus to a particular time—this day. It is recurring, a petition to be made again with each sunrise. These words would have reminded Jesus’ hearers of the Exodus, a period in Israel’s history when God provided just enough manna daily for the people to survive (see Ex. 16). They were wandering in a wilderness on their way to a promised land where God would be their king. They would have loved a grand stockpile of food. But God taught them to trust him afresh each morning as they awakened to find new manna on the ground. Trusting God for basic necessities would form the foundation for trust in greater matters. Similarly, Jesus prepares his followers to trust God for what they need as they await the new kingdom that God is establishing through him. What was difficult for a first-century peasant may also be difficult for us, albeit for different reasons. Reliance requires that we see our position in the world clearly. We a...