I’ve made the point that if a country that had no laws against—or punishment for—evils like child abuse, rape, murder or battering, that country couldn’t possibly be considered good or loving. Laws and punishment are a reflection of goodness and love. Similarly, God couldn’t possibly be loving if he had no laws against evil …
God is love, right? At least that’s a core claim of the Bible and Christians. But in the Bible’s pages, Jesus warned people that God would punish evil. Specifically, he warned people about hell as a punishment for evil. A loving God who condemns people to hell feels inconsistent, maybe even offensive. Some have …
At Noon last Friday, I broke into sobs. Deep, heaving, uncontrollable sobs. I’d read the story of how a 28-year old man took a camera, took a gun and then took the lives of 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. I’d watched interviews with survivors and a searching mom in shock, …
The act was brutally evil. Drunk and high, Rusty Woomer and a friend went on a terrible rampage. As part of multiple robberies and murders, they raped and killed a convenience store clerk, Della Summers. Her murder landed Rusty on South Carolina’s death row, where he languished, zombie-like, in a filthy, roach-infested cell. A …