The pagan response to evil and suffering. The biblical response to evil and suffering. When you pray for the end of evil and suffering, you are praying for the end of history. Patterns of suffering. Suffering: the steps of the biblical coping strategy.

The effects of the fall of man on nature’s design. Everything produced by man is contaminated by the fall. Pagan strategies and the biblical strategy for coping with suffering and evil. Questions and answers.

Evil and man. In paganism, the universe is and will always be good and evil. The effects of sin on man’s body and spirit. The effects of sin on the Divine Institutions. How modern paganism addresses the problems sin creates. Questions and answers.

Guest speaker: today’s literary criticism, from the university to the public schools, reflects a pagan worldview. The biblical and the pagan views of evil. The intense antagonism toward Christianity betrays that, deep down, pagans know it’s true. Suffering. God has a rational and just answer for what He does, but does not see fit to always reveal that answer to man.

The fall of man. Comparing and contrasting the inspired biblical story of the fall of man with the uninspired pagan myths. In paganism, evil always exists in some form and is a corollary to existence. Paganism always denies personal responsibility. Questions and answers.

Paganism always blurs the distinctions of God, man, and nature. The limitations of man. The secret to life, happiness and meaning is not to be found in nature. Constants are located at the Creator level, not the creature level.

The Divine Institutions. Violating a Divine Institution means you are violating the structure of how God created us and there are consequences. Responsible labor. Marriage. Family. How nature glorifies God.

Distinctions between man and nature. The man-nature distinction separates biblical Christianity from paganism. God didn’t create man the way He created animals. Man’s spirit and the image of God. Features of man that are analogous to features of God. Questions and answers.

The doctrine of man. God is dependent on nothing outside of Himself. The man-nature distinction. The Word of God is the only key authority for the interpretation of all reality. The unique design of man. Man is an image of God in both body and spirit. Man’s body was created with the incarnation of Jesus Christ in mind. Through his body, man rules nature. Questions and answers.

The attributes of God (continued). Holiness. The central weakness in atheism is that no non-Christian can come up with values that are transcendent. God is the standard! Something is right because God says it is right. Love. God’s love is never contingent! Omniscience. Idols are “safe gods” because they are made by man and are comprehensible. Questions and answers.