Humans, as a whole, don’t like suffering. Our society, especially, does
everything in its power to avoid it.
When we suffer, whether it’s a minor irritation or a major trauma, we
treat it as an anomaly, something that should not happen in our world of
rainbows and happy places.
Even in the church, suffering can be seen as a lack of
victory or worse, a lack of faith.
Glorious Ruin, by
Tullian Tchividjian, unpacks the theology of suffering with no apologies;
honestly examining the harsh reality that suffering is part and parcel of this
fallen and sin-infused world.
According to Tchividjian within Protestantism there are two
separate systems of theology: the theology of the cross, which claims that the
cross is the only way to know God and how God saves and, the theology of glory,
which is man-centered and places greater weight on human reasoning and ability.
Comparing and contrasting the theology of the cross and the
theology of glory, (concepts coined by Martin Luther), Tchividjian proposes
that we can’t avoid suffering. In fact, avoiding suffering isn’t the goal – the
goal is to acknowledge suffering, embrace suffering, and find God in the middle
of it.
Tchividjian is tough in his theology-of-the-cross-centered stance. He takes the gloves off when dealing
with the man-centered prosperity gospel, which equates lack of suffering with
the strength of our faith.
He also challenges the humanistic slant on suffering
or what he calls the Oprah-fication of suffering, where we find meaning in
suffering through transforming our lives into something better – a pathway to
self-improvement.
Although I agreed with a majority of Tchividjian’s
viewpoints, it was a convicting read, nonetheless.
Glorious Ruin is a
book that confronts our demands to minimize and moralize suffering. It’s a call to not ask “why” in the
face of tragedy but to draw closer to the God in the midst of it.
A courtesy copy of Glorious Ruin provide by David C Cook
through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
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