Wrestling with the Problem of Evil with Dr. Chris Palmer

War. Famine. Poverty. Violence. Natural Disasters. Working in humanitarian spaces puts us up close and personal with some of the worst kinds of evil and suffering. In the face of it all, we follow a God who is both all good and all powerful. How do those two realities compute? It's a quandary that has been around a long time and we've invited Southeastern University's Dr. Chris Palmer onto the show to help us think biblically and theologically when we're faced with the problem of evil. From the killing fields in Polpot's Cambodia to earthquakes in the Middle East, we wrestle the reality of pain while clinging to God's goodness and embracing the mystery.

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Resources and Links from the show

Dr. Palmer's Bio at Southeastern University Online

Conversation Notes

• Chris being confronted with the evil of the killing fields in Cambodia
• How do we describe and define what evil is substantively
• Juxtaposing suffering that takes place in the natural world with the suffering caused by human agency
• The differing theodicies in seeking to understand God's justice
• The imperative of prayer to have our hearts conformed to God's heart

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License