Carolina QuotesIf there is an all-powerful and loving God in this world, why is there so much excruciating pain and unspeakable suffering? The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. It was what made me begin to think about religion when I was young, and it was what led me to question my faith when I was older. Ultimately, it was the reason I lost my faith.
Bart D. Ehrman Carolinian
Source
Ch. 1: 'Suffering and a Crisis of Faith', p. 1
- work
- God's Problem (2008)
- year
- 2008
- locator
- p. 1
Cite this record
“If there is an all-powerful and loving God in this world, wh…” Bart D. Ehrman. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-1EB2D828DC. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/1eb2d828dc
More from Bart D. Ehrman
I could no longer reconcile the claims of faith with the facts of life. In particular, I could no longer explain how there can be a good and all-powerful God actively involved with this world, given the state of things. For many people who inhabit this planet, life is a cesspool of misery and suffering. I came to a point where I simply could not believe that there is a good and kindly disposed Ruler who is in charge of it.
My thesis can be stated simply: scribes occasionally altered the words of their sacred texts to make them more patently orthodox and to prevent their misuse by Christians who espoused aberrant views.
There are several points on which virtually all scholars of antiquity agree. Jesus was a Jewish man, known to be a preacher and teacher, who was crucified (a Roman form of execution) in Jerusalem during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea.