This event which
had been advertised in an earlier blog, took place on Saturday evening, 17
June. It was led by Neil McBride, a Reader at De Montfort University,
together with one of his students, Ben who, had suffered a disabling illness
that left him in a wheelchair, and our vicar, Steve Bailey.
In the evening
we addressed the problem of reconciling a loving God who was all-powerful with
the existence of suffering and evil. Neil spoke from the philosophical point of
view – with insights like “how would we know the meaning of evil, without a
good God contrast to it with,” while Ben spoke of his practical experience and his
ability to reconcile God’s love with his disability.
In groups at
tables, we discussed our own attitudes to the issues raised.
In an interval,
we all shared in the puddings that people had bought and enjoyed a glass of one
of the drinks that had been provided.
There will
probably never be an answer – at least not a simple one – to the original
question, but we all came out better informed, and even more thoughtful.
