Bringing the Text to Life
If You Could Ask God One Question Job 23:1-9, 16-17
God may not answer our questions, but God may use them to confront and help us.
At a Glance
Atheist Stephen Fry was once asked in a television interview what he would ask God if he had such an opportunity. It's an intriguing setup. Don't we all have a question or two we'd like to ask of God? Job certainly did.
Editors' Pick
For material based on today's epistle text, see "The Surgical Scriptures," October 14, 2012, at HomileticsOnline.com.
Earlier this year, the English comedian and actor Stephen Fry, who is a self-declared atheist, was interviewed by Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne.
At one point, Byrne said to Fry, "Suppose it's all true, and you walk up to the pearly gates, and are confronted by God. What will Stephen Fry say?"
Fry responded, "Bone cancer in children; what's that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world where there is such misery that's not our fault?" He then added a second question: "Why should I respect a ... God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain?"
That segment of the interview was soon posted on YouTube, where,...