Dr Paul Allen

By Randy Alcorn I first posted about “the problem of goodness” on my blog 14 years ago, but it is still relevant to conversations I’m having today with others (nothing has changed other than that I am 14 years older!). People always talk about the problem of evil, and how it threatens the Christian worldview, but they almost never talk about the problem of goodness and how it threatens non-Christian worldviews, including the evolutionary framework, survival of the fittest, materialism, and naturalism. That people would sacrificially do great good for the benefit of others—who naturalism sees as weak links in the chain that deserve to cease to exist—is absolutely extraordinary and cries out for an explanation. —Randy While atheists routinely speak of the problem of evil, they usually don’t raise the problem of goodness. But if evil provides evidence against God, then shouldn’t goodness count as evidence for Him? And wouldn’t that be evidence against atheism?  From a non-theistic viewpoi

In times when the love of many grows cold, we will do well to pause over an overlooked Christian virtue that warms against the chill. Not only is such a trait designed by Christ to be increasingly true of all Christians; it is required to serve in the church’s lead office. To be clear, what Christ requires of his pastor-elders (1 Timothy 3:1–8; Titus 1:5–9) is not simply for qualification to enter the office. Rather, these virtues are the ongoing, daily graces needed to serve well in the office. Yet these too are the qualities Christ means to grant in growing measure to his whole church. Pastor-elders are examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3). They not only labor at teaching and governing, to feed and lead the church, but they model, as a team, the Christian maturity toward which we hope all Christians will progress. So, in days that seem embattled and divisive, it might be freshly helpful, if not convicting, to remember that Christians, with their pastors leading the way, are not to be

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16:2) In Psalm 16, David is taking refuge in God. Taking refuge includes David’s prayer for God to keep him. In other words, the prayer “preserve me” (Psalm 16:1) is itself taking refuge in God. But David doesn’t simply ask God to keep him. He also speaks and declares truth to God. He exults in Yahweh his refuge (Psalm 16:2). The last phrase of verse 2 is packed with deep theological truth and precious fuel for worship. So, what does David mean when he says, “I have no good apart from you”? God is the source of all goodness. Every good that is good comes from the God who is Good. God is the maker and sustainer of all created goods. Thus, in Genesis 1, he creates and then appraises his work: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). “Every good that is good comes from the God who is Good.” Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), the brilliant medieval theologian, saw in this t

When I talk with new church members, I make a big promise. And so far, no one has ever returned to complain that I misled them. I promise that if they show up consistently (in our church, that means corporate worship on Sunday and home group on Wednesday) and seek to care for others, they will get everything they want out of the church. That could be spiritual growth, friendships, biblical knowledge, or practical help. They will get whatever they want from the church by fulfilling just those two simple tasks. If you don’t participate regularly, you don’t get the formative experience of church. You don’t grow in biblical knowledge through the teaching or in relational depth through praying with others. And if you don’t seek the good of others, you learn to judge the church for how it fails to meet your needs and how others fail to reach out to you. I’ve never seen people rediscover church and get what they want from the community unless they consistently show up and ask others how they

Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” There were plenty of trees to eat from in the Garden of Eden, more than enough to satisfy the desires of the first human couple. However, there was a tree that they were forbidden to eat from, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:17) This probation to not eat from that tree was so serious that Adam must have been very emphatic when he told Eve. How do we know that? We can infer it from Eve’s Response to the Serpent when he was tempting her. Eve not only said ‘you cannot eat from it,’ but also added, “neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” (Gen 3:3) Some have suggested that the prohibition against the fruit of this tree is symbolic, the fruit standing for sexual intercourse. Others have suggested that it stood for having a knowledge of or an awareness of right and wrong. Still, others have suggested that it stood for th

People tend to feel uncomfortable when reading that God from all eternity, immutably and freely, ordains whatsoever comes to pass. This means, after all, that everything that happens in this world, including the evil things that others do to us and, astonishingly enough, our own sins against others, is immutably foreordained by almighty God. If we have been eternally ordained to commit sin, why does God find fault? We may as well sin with abandon, knowing that we are being directed by the providence of God. This is the mystery of providence. Doing no violence to the will of His creatures, God achieves His purposes through His chosen means. One view has it that, as we hurtle through space, centrifugal force, gravity, and centripetal force keep us from collapsing and falling out of existence. These forces and powers are real. Gravity exists, but its power is not inherent. Even the power of gravity rests on the primary power of God. Gravity is not an independent primary cause. The

Whether or not you feel you are bad or good is not the real issue. The  Bible  says that all have sinned ( Rom. 3:23 ). If all have sinned, good or bad, then all will suffer the judgment of  God . God does not require someone to be pretty good; He requires that he not sin at all. But He knows that you cannot be sinless. That is why He gave His only begotten Son , that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life ( John 3:16 ). The Bible says that our good works are filthy rags before God ( Isaiah 64:6 ). It isn't saying that we might not try to be good. It is saying that whatever good we do, it is not good enough. It also says that there is none who does good ( Rom. 3:12 ). The standard God seeks is perfection. We cannot please God on our own. That is why  Jesus  died on behalf of sinners. If you want to be good enough, then you must let God see you through the righteousness of Jesus Christ . That is the only goodness that counts to God.