When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Paperback)

1. God is a good, loving God.
2. God is a just/fair God.
3. God controls everything.

How could God be fair and good when he would take the life of an innocent child? Why, if God controls everything, and is good, would he not spare this precious life? Why, if God is fair, would he "punish" this little girl with months of pain and suffering before her ultimate death?

For anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, particularly a child, this is a powerful book. Rabbit Kushner has addressed these painful questions with clarity and love for God. He uses the bible to back up his analysis and tells his story in a manner that everyone can understand. He also speaks to the horrible things that so many people, who think they are helping, say to those who have lost a loved one.

What matters is not so much if one agrees with Rabbi Kushner's analysis, it matters that he puts forth a way to stay close to God while working through your grief. At this time, I choose to agree with Rabbi Kushner's analysis. For all those who wish to tell me it is incorrect, I know they do not have my best interest at heart. Staying close and connected to God and not turning from him must be my goal. If I cannot at this time reconcile what I thought to be true with my reality, and it causes me to turn away from God or question God, nothing else matters. Anything that can help me continue love and give praise to God while I continue to work through my grief is valuable.

I commend Rabbi Kushner and consider this book a must read for anyone who has suffered a loss.

The theology is faulty. As Christ was fully God, and still fully human, so God can be loving and powerful without losing either attribute. God's power never works outside His perfect will, and sometimes that will permits evil.

A much better book on endurance through adversity is "With Joseph in the University of Adversity". This book will answer most questions Kushner poses from a much more conservative and scriptural point of view.

Kushner has walked down this agonizing road himself; now he shares his insight with all who mourn, regardless of religious persuasion. He assures us that it Is possible to retain belief in a God who "allows" these tragedies to happen. Hopefullyl we will mature spiritually into people of greater compassion than we would have ever expected possible. No book can bring back the deceased, but This one makes it easier to accept the loss, by urging us to honor the beloved, instead of indulging in guilt
or misdirecting our anger. Take heart--be true to the memories of those who now live only in your heart.