A Fallen Theology (Part 1/3)

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

The famous line from Hamlet is true of the entire world.

Something is terribly wrong: earthquakes create orphans, cancer claims lives, divorce splits families, and ultimately death comes for everyone.  But why aren’t more people asking “why?”

The Bible is clear on the issue of human suffering.  Please note that I did not say that the Bible gives an easy answer.  I am simply saying that its answers are clear – clearer than we often recognize.

The first two chapters of Genesis provide complimentary parallel accounts of the creation of the world.  The third chapter of Genesis summarizes the fall of humanity.  Together these three chapters provide the basis for framing a biblical understanding of pain and evil in the world.  The starting point to understanding human suffering is actually not the fall, however, but the character of God.

(…to be continued)