Lynn Gardner (2)

Lynn Gardner. Where Is God When We Suffer? What the Bible Says About Series. Joplin: College Press, 2007. 381 pp. $29.99.

The introduction states the book was written for Christians for two purposes. First, the work seeks to help congregations “think biblically about the issues related to suffering…that will enable them to persevere” through suffering and second, to “provide guidelines and insights equipping Christians for ministering to the hurting (18).

The opening chapter retells Dr. Gardner’s personal experience with suffering, summarizing eight years of agonizing grief. In the first week of October 1999 Lynn Gardner learned he had a serious health problem which was later diagnosed to be idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal disease which deteriorates the lungs. A week later his 34-year-old son Mark died in a truck accident. Dr. Gardner goes on to describe his double lung transplant and the subsequent difficulties. Furthermore, his wife Barbara had multiple surgeries during this period due to a large cyst on the lining of her heart as well as breast cancer. In addition, Lynn’s brother Greg, who had cerebral palsy from birth, died. The opening pages of the book assure the reader that Dr. Gardner writes about pain as a fellow participant, not merely as a professor.

Part One (138 pp.) is a systematic approach to suffering in the Bible. The individual chapters focus on Job, Psalms, the prophets Habakkuk and Jeremiah, the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles. In each of these chapters the reader is reminded of the suffering endured by multiple biblical characters that spanned both testaments.

Part Two (70 pp.) reads like a practical guide for those suffering. The initial chapter tackles the so-called problem of ‘unanswered prayer.’ Jesus’ ‘sweeping promises’ are placed within their given contexts and reasons are given for unanswered prayers. The following chapters read as a ‘How to’ guide for Christians who are in the midst of suffering with insights pulled from the New Testament epistles.

Part Three (40 pp.) is polemic in nature. Here, Gardner answers common objections used to reject belief in God on the basis of the so-called ‘problem of evil.’ It is noted how atheists often use the reality of suffering as a hammer against Christianity. However, all worldviews must supply a coherent explanation of evil. The third and final chapter of this section engages in neutralizing apologetics as Gardner attempts to demonstrate the inadequacy of non-Christian worldviews in explaining evil. Thus, this portion of the book not only defends the biblical worldview but goes on the offensive in revealing the failure of alternative options.

Part Four (44 pp.) focuses on practical ministry advice and especially accomplishes the second objective of the book’s purpose. Chapter twenty lists sixteen common ‘words of comfort’ which do more harm than good (e.g., ‘I know just how you feel’). Gardner follows with a chapter on what to say and do for grieving families (e.g., 'Allow the sufferer to express anger or bitterness, even with God’). It is noted there is no one correct way to grieve. Therefore, when ministering to the grieving we must allow people to express themselves in their unique way. This section alone is worth the price of the book!

The strength of this book is found in its various genres—systematic theology, apologetics and pastoral ministry. The reader can reflect on four approaches to the topic of suffering in one volume and the format is as easy to follow as the content is to understand. The weakness of the text is that it adds little new to the discussion of suffering other than Dr. Gardner’s personal testimony. However, for those unacquainted with other works on the topic of suffering this is as good a place to begin as any other. Where Is God When We Suffer? would serve well in both colleges and seminaries. It is a needed volume as many Americans have a distorted theology of suffering due, in part, to the Health and Wealth gospel and the doctrine of a coming Rapture. I suspect SCJ readers will warmly receive the book, and rightly so.

A. Ramey… (mehr)