A dilemma would exist only if there were no suffering in a sinful world. Then we would have to say there cannot be a true God. Were there no adversity in a sinful world, God either would not be good or would not be omnipotent. Either He would be unconcerned about sin’s being unpunished, and therefore not good, or He would be unable to punish sin, and therefore not omnipotent. That would be a real problem in our world, where sin obviously abounds.
— John Gerstner (1914–1996), Theologe
Topics: Suffering & the Question of God, God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit
John Gerstner
John Gerstner (1914–1996) war ein US-amerikanischer presbyterianischer Theologe und Kirchenhistoriker, der über mehrere Jahrzehnte in Pittsburgh lehrte. Er wurde als führender Experte für Jonathan Edwards bekannt und verteidigte eine rationale, an der calvinistischen Tradition sowie der biblischen Irrtumslosigkeit ausgerichtete Apologetik. Während seine kompromisslose Kritik am Dispensationalismus und an liberalen Tendenzen scharfe Kontroversen auslöste, bieten seine Schriften bis heute Orientierung für ein historisch-reformiertes Schriftverständnis.
All quotes by John Gerstner (35)
In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
Henri Nouwen
Ultimately mourning means facing what wounds us in the presence of One who can heal.
Henri Nouwen
C.S. Lewis
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.
Henri Nouwen
He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Etty Hillesum
God writes straight even on crooked lines.
Paul Claudel
God lets us walk no path that he himself has not walked, and on which he does not go ahead of us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer