Randy Alcorn, the man who brought us a comprehensive look at heaven, tackles the question of why life on earth is often more like hell. “The Goodness of God”, at 117 pages, is a good-sized condensation of his book “If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil”. This book tackles the ancient question of theodicy: why bad things happen in this worl. This is a book that you will probably want to buy multiple copies of to give to friends—believers and non-believers alike—who have questions about why there is so much evil and suffering in the world if indeed God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving (which He is). There are so many good things to say about this book, I really can’t think of anything negative. To begin with, I greatly appreciate Randy’s voluminous use of scripture to lay out his arguments. In a time when many Christian books are light on scripture, this is refreshing. Randy doesn’t just proof-text scripture like so many others, either, but grounds those scriptures in solid theology. Best of all, he doesn’t offer pat answers or mere anecdotes but delves into the theological reasons for evil and suffering in the world. Essentially, he argues that suffering is a result of the sin in the world which came about through the Fall. The only way to understand sin and suffering is to have a biblical worldview that understands that this world is not the way the God wanted it to be in His original plan. One chapter deftly skewers other worldviews and religions by showing how inadequate those views are in explaining suffering and by maintaining that a worldview that denies God has no basis for morality. For example, to an atheistic Darwinist, rape and murder make sense and could not be considered “bad”; “survival of the fittest”, after all. Only a holy God could define what is “good” and what is “evil”. He encourages those who are suffering to consider the cross of Christ as proof that God not only understands our pain but has also experienced it with us. Many of his points are standard fare in the world of theodicy, but he explains them in a fresh new way and I found his encouragement to keep the promise of the resurrection and heaven in mind while suffering to be well thought out; no doubt based on his research into the subject of heaven. The book is easy to read, the illustrations and pertinent anecdotes are a good balance to his heady theology, and the length is perfect for those who want a solid overview on this difficult subject (I’m a slow reader and read it in an afternoon). I would highly recommend this book to anyone and especially for someone going through a time of suffering, though it would be much better to read the book before suffering occurs to have a solid theological grounding to prepare for the inevitability of suffering. As he quotes a friend of his who lost a son, “I think it’s good for books to offer biblical guidance on suffering and evil, but the greatest comfort for me has been to focus on God. I’m not as concerned about the whys. When you know him, it’s okay. I can trust him with what I don’t know. That’s what brings me back to the Bible.” (page 96) This book will not offer pat answers but a look at what the bible teaches about suffering. Finally, the crowning point of the book is his invitation at the end. He does not encourage the reader to pray some unbiblical “Sinner’s Prayer” with an assurance that they will now be saved. Instead, he accurately urges readers to “Ask God to mercifully open your eyes and reveal to you this Jesus you read about.” (page 113). “The best way to do this is to open the Bible. Set aside all other arguments and study the person of Christ.” In a time of vacuous and unbiblical popular Christian books, Randy Alcorn gives a very solid, theological, hopeful book to understand what the bible teaches about sin and suffering. This book promises to give hope and encouragement to all who read it. I highly recommend this book! I do need to mention that I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, but this had nothing to do with my high opinion of this book, it truly was one of the best books I’ve ever read on this subject.
