MY PERSONAL REFLECTION FROM THE PRESENTATION MADE BY JOHN PECKAM, A PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AT ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, BERRIEN SPRINGS MICHIGAN DURING WORLDVIEW CONFERENCE
Peckam looked at a very interesting matter that affects our worldview towards God’s love. Many people have difficulties to have an all knowing, entirely good and sufficiently powerful God who would know the best available good, and has capability to bring that good but fail to do so. How could then it make sense to believe that petitionary prayer might influence God to do some good he otherwise would not do? If God is all powerful and entirely good, why is there evil and so much of it? The way this question is answered forms our perspective that becomes our worldview that we use to see God.
This is the dilemma that Earman ask, “Where is the God who intervened in the problems in the past, where is he? Earman is not alone in asking those questions. Personally I have asked those questions after I lost my parents. We prayed and the entire church joined us in prayers but things did not go in our favorite way. In responding to this question others respond by denying that God is all powerful or that God is entirely good. There are also others who try to find potential solutions to petition prayer while others completely deny petitionary prayer.
For those who look for potential solutions, some choose to follow the path to skeptical theism. In this approach, they emphasize the position that God has good reasons for acting as He does, but given our limited knowledge we should not expect to be in a position to know just those good reasons that he has. There are others who follow the free-will dense that considers evil as a result of misuse of creaturely free will, so if we break those rules we get the consequences. However, it is important to know that there is a cosmic conflict between God’s kingdom and the devil with his minions (Rev 12:7-10. In their rules of engagement, the biblical data indicates that the conflict will take place within some agreed parameters, or rules of engagement, which those who oppose God are allowed to operate. Therefore, God as the one who committed himself to follow those rules of engagement and the extent of rulership allows the enemy to have part in this cosmic conflict.
As much as Satan has limits, there is an extent that he is allowed because if not allowed the devil will accuse God of abusing his power in this conflict. A good example he shared was how rules of engagement worked in the story of Job. All things that Job went through were the result of the court proceedings from heaven where all the procedures and boundaries were already agreed. Therefore, if God does not intervene there may be the following possible answers: It might be that the issue at hand has been against the rules or imposed upon creaturely free will in the way that it would undercut love relationship. Finally it might have resulted in greater evil or less flourishing of love.
Looking at the petitionary prayer, Bible recognizes the power of prayer. Rules of engagement may be set up in such a way that prayer may grant God increased jurisdiction to intervene in ways that may not be available to him with the rules. At the same time, the way God responds to prayer may be affected by other factors within the rules of engagement as many of us can recall how a response to Daniel’ prayer was delayed in Daniel 10. The major problem that we Christians have is that when we pray we may not be aware that God may have stumbling blocks to do what we are asking because of the rules of engagements that he operates on. It is a fact that we all must know that according to these rules of engagement, God does not always get what He wants. No wonder the prayer that Jesus made when he was threatened by crucifixion, “My Father, it is is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, bust as You will. (Mat 26:39).
In summary, we should always know that God cares. In his interest he does not want his people to suffer, but according to the agreed rules of engagements he works within those limits. However, from Job’s story we see that even the devil has some limits that he cannot break. This explains why God will not allow him to tempt us more than what we can handle. Every temptation that comes our way, there is a way out. If we trust in God, Jesus is there to show us the way of escape. Eventually, we have hope that there is a day when those who were victimized by the devil shall be saved if in their involvement in this great controversy, they chose not to be swayed away by the devils attempts to create doubt in them concerning God’s love. Scripture says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believer in Him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.
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