When Worlds Collide: Where is God? [Hardcover]

R. C. Sproul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2002

Where is God When Worlds Collide?

Name any catastrophic event in the course of history, and it seems as if God has abandoned the human race. Where was He while the Israelites groaned in oppressive slavery for 400 years? Where was He during the Holocaust-when children were burned and mothers were gassed-when men were shot and millions starved? Where was He on 9/11, when thousands lost their lives because a few terrorists thought it was right to fly airplanes into American landmarks? It sometimes seems that God is silent, watching the horrors of life on earth without pity or concern.

In his latest book, R. C. Sproul discusses this very issue-the role of God when the ideas of men collide and wreak havoc. God has not abandoned His people, says Dr. Sproul, but while His hands pour out blessing upon blessing, they also bring calamity and darkness. Dr. Sproul's analysis is challenging, but it is one that no Christian can afford to ignore. For it is only when we begin to understand the nature of God that we can ever hope to trust in His sovereignty during times of terror or sorrow. And it is only when we can trust in His sovereignty that we can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust . . ."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581344422
• ISBN-13: 978-1581344424
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. R.C. Sproul is the founder, chairman and president of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian education ministry located near Orlando, Florida. His teaching can be heard on the program Renewing Your Mind, which is broadcast on hundreds of radio outlets in the United States and in 40 countries worldwide. He is the executive editor of Tabletalk magazine and general editor of The Reformation Study Bible, and the author of more than seventy books and scores of articles for national evangelical publications. Dr. Sproul also serves as president of Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies and Reformation Bible College. He currently serves as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's in Sanford, FL.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rational perspectives on tragedy and suffering based on Biblical principals, August 9, 2006

By 

Daniel C. Markel (Rosharon, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Worlds Collide: Where is God? (Hardcover)

Immediately after the 9/11 tragedies, people from all walks of life attempted to make insightful observations about this devastating event. Some people believed it was God's punishment towards America's declining moral values while others emphatically denied that a loving God would allow this to happen.

In this short, 90 page book, R.C. Sproul points to Biblical principles to make better sense of all of this. The main points are:

- We exist in the providence of God and He is in sovereign control of all things. It is incorrect to think that the events that occurred on 9/11/2001 were beyond His control.

- God is loving and merciful but he is also just. God's wrath and justice is an attribute many Christians seem to be in denial of, and distorts to the character of God. Mercy is meaningless if there is no justice.

- There are clear examples in the Bible of suffering that had nothing to do with the sin of the victims (Joseph the son of Jacob, Job, and the question posed to Jesus about the blind man).

- God is just in punishing sinners, otherwise He would be an unjust God. Fortunately, because of His grace, believers in Christ receive mercy.

In conclusion, Sproul will be quick to say he has no idea why God allowed 9/11 to happen. But he reminds us that suffering is temporal for believers and that those who aren't believers need to repent as pointed out in Luke 13:1-6. Perhaps the best observation Sproul makes is when tragedy occurs, people typically ask the wrong question, "Why did this bad event happen to these people?" He points out that because of mankind's unworthiness before God the real question should be, "Why has God been so merciful to us for so long when we are so quickly deserving of His punishment?"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHen Worlds Collide, May 18, 2011

By 

Peter Butler Jr. "Peter" (Maplewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Worlds Collide: Where is God? (Hardcover)

R. C. Sproul wrote his book When Worlds Collide: Where is God? Shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

In its five chapters, he looks at the meaning of the term "worldview," and how the three strands of a worldview interrelate. Then, he looks at the doctrine of Providence and specifically that fact that God must be Sovereign over all - both peace and calamity. In the third chapter, he addresses the oxymoron of "senseless suffering," showing that all suffering must have meaning. Then, he looks at why the God of mercy must also be the God of wrath. He ends by showing that it is only in the cross that one can find peace in a world of terror.

This is a thought-provoking book - one that I hope to use in a adult study in the near future.

The one area that might be improved is in this book being written so soon after 9/11, Sproul speculates on how things might change vis-a-vis worldviews in the future. Ten years later, we have some answers - answers that would benefit by being addressed in and afterward or a new edition of the book.