Man’s Problem with God’s PlanĮhrman lost faith in Scripture before losing faith in God.Įhrman refers to his earlier book, Misquoting Jesus, to say his belief in the Bible’s truthfulness diminished the more he studied it. The subject of this book is the reason why. I no longer go to church, no longer believe, no longer consider myself a Christian. I served as the youth pastor of an Evangelical Covenant church. I had solid Christian credentials and knew about the Christian faith from the inside out-in the years before I lost my faith. At Princeton I did both a master of divinity degree- training to be a minister-and, eventually, a Ph.D. I went off to finish my college work at Wheaton. I could quote entire books of the New Testament, verse by verse, from memory. I became very serious about my faith andĬhose to go off to a fundamentalist Bible college-Moody Bible Institute in Chicago-where I began training for ministry. When I became born again it was like ratcheting my religion up a notch.
Early in my high school days I started attending a Youth for Christ club and had a “born-again” experience. Ultimately, it was the reason I lost my faith.įor most of my life I was a devout and committed Christian. 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. The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. God’s Problem documents how a “former Christian” denied his faith because he couldn’t reconcile evil and suffering with God’s goodness.Įhrman offers a gripping self-introduction to his book: What isn’t debatable is that he once was part of the evangelical subculture One final point before we begin: That Bart Ehrman was a “devout and committed Christian” is his claim, not mine. While he says he doesn’t intend to cause believers to lose their faith, it’s easy to wonder why else he would write such a book. Unfortunately, Ehrman’s Christian-to-non-theist testimony gives apparent credibility to his claims, so he functions as a winsome evangelist for atheism. He avoids the bombastic approach that some atheist-and some Christian-authors display. He can be overconfident, yet occasionally admits his uncertainties. While I will criticize Ehrman, I should clarify that sometimes I find him likable. By looking at Ehrman and his book, we can further explore the issue-but with a personal dimension, because we’ll see its impact on the life of a real person. I’m dedicating an entire chapter to Bart Ehrman and his best-selling book God’s Problem, because, as a self-described “former evangelical Christian,” Ehrman personifies the potential consequences evangelical churches face when they fail to address the problem of evil and suffering. Chapter 11 of If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil Why This Chapter?
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