Why? God and Tragedy

Tuesday, we return to our series on the nature of God and why tragedy is part of the human condition. Our guest is the Baptist theologian Albert Mohler. For Mohler, the answer can be summarized in one word: sin. Moral evil, he says, is the direct result of man's revolt against God's authority and the responsibility for tragedy lies squarely on human shoulders. Dr. Mohler joins Doug to explain how asking why God allows suffering is the wrong question and how he understands mercy and redemption as God's answer to tragedy.

Wednesday, we continue our series on why a loving God would let bad things happen with a look at The Book of Job. It's of course the story of a successful man who loses everything: his wealth, his children and his own health. It's all the result of a contest between God and Satan, where God allows this suffering to test his faithful servant. Doug is joined by the scholar and Conservative Rabbi Harold Kushner for a discussion about the ancient fable and what it teaches us about God.

Wednesday, we offer the second in our series of conversations aimed at this age-old question: why do bad things happen to good people? Our guest is the evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins, who says that science is exactly the place to look for answers. He argues that once we acknowledge that we are on our own, without a god to question or blame, we can move on to doing something constructive about human suffering.

Why would a loving God allow horrible tragedies to happen? It's an age-old question and one that gets revisited whenever stories of mass shootings and sweeping natural disasters make headlines. Thursday, we're beginning an occasional series of conversations with theologians and thinkers to explore the question. We begin with Mormon scholars Terryl and Fiona Givens. They've recently co-authored a book called The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life