{"id":92371,"date":"2021-08-21T15:07:45","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T21:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=92371"},"modified":"2021-08-21T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T22:17:14","slug":"could-a-loving-god-allow-such-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2021\/08\/could-a-loving-god-allow-such-suffering.html","title":{"rendered":"“Could a Loving God Allow Such Suffering?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Dor\u00e9,<\/a>
Gustave Dor\u00e9, \u201cThe Expulsion of Lucifer\u201d
An illustration for Milton\u2019s \u201cParadise Lost\u201d
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article of mine was published yesterday, I believe, in Meridian Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 It was actually inspired by certain responses to a blog post here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCould a Loving God Allow Such Suffering?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this little essay, not by me, went up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation earlier today:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Book of Moses Essays #69: Moses Witnesses the Fall: (Moses 4) \u201cStand Ye in Holy Places, and Be Not Moved\u201d (Moses 4:29\u201331)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here, as has lately been my habit, are some links to articles that were published in a prior issue of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew L. Bowen, \u201cHe Knows My Affliction: The Hill Onidah as Narrative Counterpart to the Rameumptom\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0The toponym\u00a0<\/em>Onidah, attested as the name of a\u00a0hill in Alma\u00a032:4, most plausibly derives from Hebrew\u00a0<\/em>\u02bf\u014fn\u00ee \/\u02bf\u014dn\u00ee\/\u02bf\u00f4n\u00ee\u00a0(<\/em>\u02bfony\u00ee,\u00a0\u201cmy affliction\u201d)\u00a0+\u00a0<\/em>y\u0101da\u02bf\/y\u0113da\u02bf\u00a0(\u201che knew,\u201d \u201che knows\u201d) \u2014 i.e., \u201che has acknowledged my affliction\u201d or \u201che knows my affliction.\u201d This etymology finds support in the context of the Zoramite narrative in which it occurs. In view of the pejorative lexical associations of the Rameumptom, the \u201chigh\u201d and \u201choly stand,\u201d with Hebrew\u00a0<\/em>r\u0101m\u00a0(<\u00a0<\/em>rwm, \u201chigh\u201d) and haughtiness, arrogance, and pride, we see Mormon using the Rameumptom, the \u201chigh\u201d platform for Zoramite self-exalting worship, with Onidah, the hill from which Alma and Amulek taught the Zoramite poor and humble. The latter name and Alma\u2019s teaching from that location constituted a\u00a0sign that the Lord \u201cknew\u201d their \u201caffliction.\u201d Alma devotes a\u00a0significant part of his message not only extolling the spiritual value of their state of \u201caffliction\u201d and humiliation or compelled \u201chumility\u201d (<\/em>\u02bf\u014fn\u00ee\u00a0Exodus\u00a03:7, 17), but teaching them how to \u201cplant\u201d the \u201cword\u201d (even Jesus Christ himself) in their hearts through prayer \u2014 the word that would grow up into a\u00a0\u201cperfect knowledge\u201d of God \u2014 experientially \u201cknowing\u201d God (Alma\u00a032:16\u201236) and being known by him (cf. Alma\u00a07:12).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clifford P. Jones, \u201cThe Prophets Who Wrote the Book of Omni\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0The brief accounts written by Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, taken alone, don\u2019t always inspire confidence in their righteousness. Nevertheless, when the specific words used by these men and all relevant context are taken into consideration, it\u2019s reasonable to conclude that each of these authors of the book of Omni was a\u00a0prophet of God.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donald W. Parry, \u201cAn Approach to Isaiah Studies\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Review of Joseph M. Spencer,\u00a0The Vision of All: Twenty-Five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi\u2019s Record<\/em>\u00a0(Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2016). 318 pages. $59.95 (hardback); $29.95 paperback.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0This review makes a case, briefly, for the unmistakable presence of Jesus Christ in Isaiah\u2019s text, which case is based on a corpus linguistic-based description of the Hebrew Bible, equivalent designations of deific names, self-identification declarations by the Lord, and more. And, importantly, one can never set aside the multiple teachings and testimonies of our modern prophets and apostles regarding Isaiah\u2019s prophecies of Jesus Christ. Moreover, in my view, a knowledge of biblical Hebrew helps us to penetrate the very depths and heights of Isaiah\u2019s text.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jim Bennett, \u201c\u201cSomebody Wrote It:\u201d The Book of Mormon\u2019s Missionary Message to a 21st-Century World\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Nathan Oman\u2019s \u201cWelding Another Link in Wonder\u2019s Chain: The Task of Latter-day Saint Intellectuals in the Church\u2019s Third Century\u201d wisely called for \u201cnew language in which to celebrate the Restoration.\u201d That new language can be found in understanding the power of the Book of Mormon, which is the tangible miracle at the heart of the Restoration that defies the critics. My father, Senator Robert\u00a0F.\u00a0Bennett, devoted his final years to arguing that the Book of Mormon\u2019s existence is a\u00a0stumbling block to those who try to dismiss it as an obvious fraud. Those who scoff at the Book of Mormon have yet to come up with a\u00a0plausible secular account of its existence, and this allows the Book of Mormon to endure as the centerpiece of our missionary efforts. But rather than simply use the Book of Mormon to attempt to answer questions people are no longer asking, we need to create a\u00a0missionary message that uses this sacred scripture to connect people, directly and personally, to Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Noel B. Reynolds, \u201cRethinking Alma 36\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong> While Alma 36 has long been one of the most admired examples of classical Hebrew chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, critiques in the last two decades have questioned whether, in fact, it really meets the requirements of classical biblical chiasms. The principal objections have pointed to the large sections of the chapter that are not easily included in the chiasm as outlined by John\u00a0W.\u00a0Welch and other proponents. Until now, this debate has not taken note of dramatic new developments in the analysis of Hebrew rhetoric over the last fifty years. The following essay turns to the discoveries made in this new approach to Hebrew rhetoric and shows that when the new \u201clevels analysis\u201d is incorporated into a\u00a0study of Alma 36, the entire text does have a\u00a0role to play in the extended chiastic structure of the chapter.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s Note: An abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the 2019 Sperry Symposium and was included in that shortened form in the symposium volume. See\u00a0Give Ear to My Words: Text and Context of Alma 36\u201342<\/em>, edited by Kerry\u00a0M.\u00a0Hull, Nicholas\u00a0J.\u00a0Frederick, and Hank\u00a0R.\u00a0Smith, Religious Studies Center, 2019, 451\u201372. This complete and updated version is herein published by\u00a0Interpreter<\/em>\u00a0with permission of the RSC.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m doing a virtual fireside this evening for an online group that is based on Bainbridge Island, Washington, but that also includes members scattered across multiple other states.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing what technology has enabled us to do within just the past few years that we wouldn\u2019t have imagined a decade or two back.\u00a0 It reminds me, in fact, of the article that I published in Meridian Magazine<\/em> back on 6 July of this year:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPreaching the Gospel Where We Cannot Go\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps you missed it, or you\u2019ve forgotten it, or your conscious mind has repressed it<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 This article of mine was published yesterday, I believe, in Meridian Magazine.\u00a0 It was actually inspired by certain responses to a blog post here. \u00a0 \u201cCould a Loving God Allow Such Suffering?\u201d \u00a0 And this little essay, not by me, went up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation earlier today: \u00a0 Book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7281,7956,16435,16432,11335,11338,11341,1809,7518,7650,8622,201,16285,7521,3211,2905,1812,1815,17717,1974,18956,788,55,1667,19897,1308,7515,7278,24343,7653,12458,24340,10439,8364,7647,9748,1724],"class_list":["post-92371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alma","tag-alma-36","tag-bennett","tag-bob","tag-chiasm","tag-chiasmus","tag-chiastic","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-clifford","tag-donald","tag-evil","tag-isaiah","tag-jim","tag-jones","tag-joseph","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-matt-bowen","tag-matthew-bowen","tag-matthew-l-bowen","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-noel-b-reynolds","tag-noel-reynolds","tag-omni","tag-onidah","tag-pain","tag-parry","tag-problem","tag-rameumptom","tag-robert","tag-senator","tag-spencer","tag-suffering","tag-theodicy"],"yoast_head":"\n"Could 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