Does God Ordain Evil?

By Rick Pearcey

Udo Middelmann's new book The Innocence of God: Does God Ordain Evil? is due to go on sale Oct. 10, 2007, at Amazon.com.

Having read through most of an uncorrected proof of the manuscript, I would highly recommend this book as a creative and thoughtful engagement of issues such as the sovereignty of God, the significance of man, and resistance to evil, with special attention to the kinds of determinism that emerge from secularism, paganism, Islam, and hyper-Calvinism.

Amazon lists the publisher as Paternoster, which is a division of STL (Send the Light). What follows is from the publisher's website:

*About the Book: "The Bible teaches us that God is sovereign over all. Does that mean in his sovereignty and foreknowledge, all events are determined? What about evil and the choices of man to disobey God or not to believe in him at all?

"What a choice! Between a good but weak, or bad but strong, God. The sovereignty of God, the existence of evil, the responsibility of man: How do these work together to explain human history and the reality of the world around us?

"Belief in the sovereignty of God has led to extreme forms of determinism, while a rejection of God's sovereignty has resulted in an openness view of history, which assumes the idea of a God with limited power and knowledge.

"In The Innocence of God Udo Middelmann critiques both positions and demonstrates the continuing battle of a good and powerful God for his creation. God admonishes us to seek justice, goodness, and mercy in the continuing struggle against evil. The truth of God's patient, yet powerful battle for redemption is absent when everything has already been determined."

* About the Author: "Udo Middelmann was born in Germany and has lived in Switzerland for over thirty years. He is a university lecturer by special invitation in various countries, a consultant, and principal speaker on 'Ethics for a Civil Society' for the Russian Ministry of Education, and is currently president of the Francis Schaeffer Foundation in New York and Switzerland."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Middelmann Reworking "Pro-Existence"

By Rick Pearcey

Udo Middelmann's small classic Pro-Existence may soon be reissued to appear in bookstores again. "I am reworking the text of Pro-Existence, my first book from 1974, on the subject of work, property, and the community," Middelmann states in a recent letter from the Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation.

"For years I have been asked to bring it out again, but it needs work," he writes. "Some of the formulations seem rather those of a younger person." Middelmann says he's "matured some" and that that maturation "should now show in the text."

Pro-Existence was a great book when it first arrived, and I recall hearing Middelmann deliver parts of it in lecture form while I was studying at L'Abri in the early 1970s.

In many ways, the Judeo-Christian worldview is in fact a "pro-existence" statement concerning reality -- that is, it is pro-humanity, pro-reason, pro-creativity, pro-science, pro-individuality, pro-resistance to evil, and so on, all centered on an objectively knowable Creator who speaks and acts in verifable history. This foundationally positive approach of Judeo-Christian thoughtforms, as set forth in this book by Middelmann, is one of the reasons the blog of The Pearcey Report is titled Pro-Existence.

We look forward to seeing the new, reworked edition of this basic text in Christian worldview thinking.

Related Articles
"Religion Very Harmful to People," by Udo Middelmann
What Is Man? , by Udo Middelmann
Human Identity, Biblical Worldview, Creativity, and the Meaning of Work, by Udo Middelmann


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

New Edition of Middelmann's "Pro-Existence"

By Rick Pearcey

Udo Middelmann's small classic Pro-Existence may soon be reissued to appear in bookstores again. "I am reworking the text of Pro-Existence, my first book from 1974, on the subject of work, property, and the community," Middlemann states in a recent letter from the Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation.

"For years I have been asked to bring it out again, but it needs work," he writes. "Some of the formulations seem rather those of a younger person." Middelmann says he's "matured some" and that that maturation "should now show in the text."

Pro-Existence was a great book when it first arrived, and I recall hearing Middelmann deliver parts of it in lecture form while I was studying at L'Abri in the early 1970s.

In many ways, the Judeo-Christian worldview is in fact a "pro-existence" statement concerning reality -- that is, it is pro-man, pro-reason, pro-creativity, pro-science, pro-individuality, pro-resistance to evil, and so on, all centered on an objectively knowable Creator who speaks and acts in verifable history. This foundationally positive approach of Judeo-Christian thoughtforms, as set forth in this book by Middelmann, is one of the reasons the blog of The Pearcey Report is title Pro-Existence.

We look forward to seeing the new, reworked edition of this basic text in Christian worldview thinking.


_______________
Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.