N.T. Wright Clip of the Day - Evil

Here's a clip of the esteemed bishop giving his pitch, of sorts, for one of his great popular (as in for everyone, not just scholars) books, Evil and the Justice of God. 


In this book N.T. Wright lays out his critique of modern Western culture's failure to recognize evil for what it is, and for going about "solving" the problem of evil through arrogant, misguided, harmful,  and 
ultimately ineffective means (which is an intregal part of his take on post-Enlightenment thought), while  infecting at least part of the Church with this mindset along the way. 

Why, Yahweh, Do You Stand Far Off? - Psalms 10

As I said yesterday, this Psalm is closely linked to Psalm 9. He's complaining mostly about the prosperity of the wicked, and God's seeming indifference since nothing is done about it.

The Psalm starts out with the great, "why?" Why does injustice seem to reign? Why are the corrupt and jerks making the big bucks and I'm struggling to make an honest living? It's a fitting prayer or meditation for times when it seems that evil wins and good loses.

Save Me From All My Persecutors And Rescue Me - Psalm 7

First off, the heading. A Benjamite named Cush isn’t mentioned in the Bible. Maybe he was involved in one of the rebellions, or loyal to Saul? Maybe it’s a different name for Saul?

Psalm 7 has similar content to Psalm 6 (protecting from enemies), but the focus is significantly different. Psalm 6 has confession of guilt, but Psalm 7 talks of protesting innocence before people. David can do this because we see through the Psalm that God is a god of justice, and he will bring about justice. Paul, for example, speaks the same way in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7. I think of Haman reaping what he sowed (Esther 7). And so this moves us to thank God for his justice (5:18)!

I think of how David had not done harm to Saul’s family, as was common when nations switched dynasties. David passed up chance after chance to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24, 26), he praised the people who buried Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 2:4-5), he punished those who murdered Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 4), and he welcomed and befriended Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9). I mean, look at 7:5. David is saying it’s wrong to plunder your enemy for no good reason.