John Stonestreet interviews Drs. Bill Brown and Cornelius Plantinga about the Christian response to unthinkable evil.

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Last week our nation watched in horror as the aftermath unfolded from of one of the most senseless acts of violence we've seen in years. As scores of families involved attempt to reassemble the pieces of broken lives and those around us struggle to make sense of James Holmes' despicable actions, the hardest question of the human experience inevitably resurfaces: How do we explain evil?

In this week's edition of "BreakPoint This Week," John Stonestreet interviews two clarion voices within Christian academia on how and why we respond to evil.

Dr. Bill Brown, President of Cedarville University, points out Christianity's unique power to respond to evil and suffering, but cautions strongly against our immediate instinct to answer tragedy with theological platitudes. Although the Christian faith reveals to us the ultimate source of evil, and assures us that "God works everything together for the good of those who love Him," it does not promise answers for specific acts of evil this side of eternity. Our duty is to help shoulder the grief of those affected, and point them to the one answer that can ultimately heal the hurt caused by evil: the suffering, death and resurrection of God made Flesh. 

Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, former president of Calvin Theological Seminary and author of "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be," offers further insights into what it means to live in a  world with a split personality. As the Louis Armstrong song says, this is indeed a "wonderful world." But at the same time, it is a broken world, marred by unimaginable acts of evil and violence. That evil, and the heroic actions of many who respond to it, says Plantinga, should never drive us away from God. Instead, they should point us all the more clearly to the One who allows us to tell the difference — and who gives us the only satisfying reply possible in His own suffering to end evil for eternity.

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Learn More...

• To learn more about Dr. Brown's Cedarville University, >>CLICK HERE.
• To learn more about Calvin Theological Seminary, >>CLICK HERE.

• To purchase Dr. Plantinga's signature book on evil, "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be," >>CLICK HERE.