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CVA Weekly Newsletter
September 26, 2012
- Activist Feedback
- Looking for CVA Members in Your Area
- Essay: Job and the Theodicy Problem, part 3
- This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
1. Activist Feedback
Leafleter extraordinaire Rick Hershey reports on his experience at a recent Hillsong concert:
I handed out 1075 CVA booklets this evening at the Independence Events Center in Independence, MO. About 40% of the people were teenagers and 60% adults.Upcoming Outreach Opportunities
10/3 NY New York City LaCrae Unashamed Tour
10/5 VA Roanoke Extraordinary Women Conference
10/5-6 WI Milwaukee Women Of Faith Conference
10/5-6 OR Portland Women of Faith Conference
10/6-7 CA San Francisco TABLE World Vegetarian Festival
10/7-8 PA Philadelphia Women of Faith Conference
10/11-13 CA San Jose Joyce Meyers Christian Conference
10/12-13 FL Orlando Women of Faith Conference
10/12-13 TX San Antonio Women of Faith Conference
10/14 IN Anderson David Crowder Band Concert
10/19-20 MS Southaven Extraordinary Women's Conference
10/21 FL Miami LaCrae Unashamed Tour 2012
10/25-26 NC Raleigh FREE Benny Hinn Miracle Service
10/27-28 MA Boston TABLE Vegetarian Food Festival
10/12-13 CO Colorado Springs Hearts at Home Western Women's Conference
10/13 FL Tampa TABLE VegFest
11/17 NY Albany TABLE NY's Capital Region Vegetarian Expo
2. Looking for CVA Members in Your Area
Periodically, we list people who are looking for like-minded CVA members in their area. Please respond to this e-mail if you would like to be listed. We’ll need a first name, city, state, and e-mail address, which we will list in an upcoming e-newsletter.
3. Essay: Job and the Theodicy Problem, part 3
This essay continues an exploration of God’s goodness as depicted in the Book of Job. Job has suffered immense personal loss and then he suffers from painful sores over his entire body while his three friends sit quietly with him to grieve. After the requisite period of mourning, they commence conversing with Job.
A central theme of the series of the lengthy discourses is whether Job has sinned and deserved his ill-treatment. The friends are convinced that God is good and just, and thus Job must have sinned. Job responds forcefully that he has not sinned, and increasingly Job is determined to hold God to account for Job’s suffering.
Perhaps the friends have a point. Though the text records God declaring to Satan that Job is blameless (Job 1:8), let us consider how Job might be blameworthy. Job is determined to prevent misfortune from befalling himself and his family, going so far as to offer sacrifices on behalf of his children lest they commit a transgression. If Job is righteous in order to please God and thereby gain personal wealth and contentment, then Job is missing an essential component of righteous behavior – service to others. We are social creatures, yet we find ourselves in conflict with each other when we come together. If we are to live peaceable among each other, we must strive to serve each other, not just ourselves. If we are righteous towards others only to please God, then we will be inclined to cease being righteous when we experience misfortune, which is inevitable, because suffering and death are inevitable.
Whether or not Job is blameless, nonhuman beings who do not understand morality cannot be worthy of punishment. Yet it seems that God stands by while billions upon billions of innocent creatures are abused and murdered every year in the United States alone. Many advocates have difficulty reconciling the mistreatment of nonhumans with the notion of a good and active God. I think this reconciliation can be done, which will be focus of my upcoming essays on the Book of Job.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
4. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me!
Your question and comments are welcome
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