Lee Stroble

One of the biggest obstacles for the faith is suffering.

The question is as follows: Why would a loving God allow such suffering in this world?

I’ve been reading a book called The Case for Faith by Lee Stroble and so far it’s impressed me intellectually and spiritually. Lee Stroble, who started out being an atheist, was faced with a struggle when his wife became a Christian. She dragged him to church at one point after many failed attempts and he walked out with a few questions on his mind. Being a journalist for the Chicago Tribune gave him the inquisitive edge that led him to write The Case for Christ, a powerful book that addressed the burning objections that the skeptics throw in the face of Christians, the same objections that Lee himself shared. His book was originally intended to disprove Christ’s existence. He assumed that this crutch for the weak, this springboard for indoctrination would fall apart under the microscope, but his search for the truth left him utterly beaten—and a believer.

In his second book The Case for Faith, Lee comes back with his skeptical edge and attacks leading Christian Philosophers with his deep cutting questions. He demands full and complete responses rather than simple generic answers. All too often Christian teachers and even some pastors are intimidated by the tough issues and discourage young Christians and skeptics from asking. Unfortunately this leads some to think that there are no answers, but there are.

I love the direction that Lee took when he asked the aforementioned question. He went to the once right-hand-man of the famed Billy Graham, Charles Templeton. Charles explained to him that he couldn’t understand how a loving God could allow starvation, drought, death of innocent children, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Templeton himself was suffering from Alzheimer’s. These things finally ripped Templeton’s faith away from him. This quickly personalized the debate and hit Lee hard. He wasn’t just speaking to a skeptic, but a suffering individual. This entire section is very touching and I sympathize with his struggle. I also have struggled with these concepts.

Lee finally sits down with Dr. Peter John Kreeft, a Catholic writer and philosophy professor. Here Kreeft argues his points magnificently and tactfully. His answers are not simple ones that leave the inquirer feeling short changed and unfulfilled, but instead were deeply insightful and colorful. His language was articulate and ultimately yielded a web of philosophical, logical, and understanding thoughts that tied up in the end to present a rock solid argument from the Christian perspective. I was stunned to read his responses and find his conclusions. They seemed familiar, but refreshingly new. His speech finally wound up pointing to suffering as having at least the potential for good. It would seem that suffering can lead to both atheism and strengthened faith. Those looking in from the outside often question why God would allow such suffering which leads them to close up and take up atheism, while those experiencing it are forced to place their trust in God and then realize that Jesus is there every step of the way with them. Of course my summation here leaves much to be explained, but I think the book does a fine job of that, and I’m not here to give you the whole story, but to share about something that is impacting in my life.

At any rate, I’ve come to the conclusion that God’s master plan is unknown to us, and why he allows such terrible things may not be fully understood, but the fact remains that God has a plan for this fallen world, and that will be done.

James 1:2-4 ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.