Ocean of Love, or Sea of Troubles?: Can We Find God in a Suffering World?

by Geoffrey Harris

Overview

The title of Dr. Harris' book suggests that life is like a two-sided coin: it can be an Ocean of Love but can also be a Sea of Troubles. The subtitle clarifies this paradox: first, there are many signs of God's reality and activity in the world, and the first section of the book examines ways in which people are aware of God as both a creative and immanent presence in life. The "signs" of God are not philosophical "proofs" but empirical realities accessible to all people. In the second section, the biblical responses to suffering in the world are explored--through both Old and New Testaments. In the third section the writings of two modern apologists, C. S. Lewis and Philip Yancey, are assessed, and then finally there is a chapter of interviews with people who have known suffering in their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498238052
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	12/22/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Robert Geoffrey Harris is a Methodist minister who has served the church in several places, including Cameroon in West Africa. He worked for the East Midlands Ministry Training Course at University of Nottingham as Director of Studies, and then for Lincoln School of Theology at University of Lincoln as Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies. He has had two previous full-length books published: Mission in the Gospels (2004) and The SCM Core Text: Paul (2009).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments and Thanks vii

Section 1 Can We Find God? 1

Chapter 1 Introduction 3

Chapter 2 Foundations 14

Section 2 A Suffering World-Biblical Responses 75

Chapter 3 The Debate in the Old Testament 77

Chapter 4 The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 88

Chapter 5 The Purpose of Suffering in the New Testament 99

Section 3 A Suffering World-Modern Responses 115

Chapter 6 Setting the Scene 117

Chapter 7 Two Writers on Suffering-C.S. Lewis and Philip Yancey 122

Chapter 8 Interviews with People Who Have Known Suffering 145

Chapter 9 Final Reflections 162

Bibliography 167