MSI Press Blog

  3 “Tell me you’ll love me for a million years. Then you can tell me we tried.” (The Casinos) For most people, this may be the most important topic in this book. “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” In other words, people often look to God and religion in times of crisis; in times when they recognize and acknowledge their own fragility and ultimate helplessness. As the Danish existentialist Soren Kierkegaard describes it, these are the times Of Fear and Trembling (1843). Yes, a crisis is not necessarily a bad thing. A crisis can be a wake-up call—the understanding, finally, that everything is not all right just as it is and that change, sometimes radical change, is necessary. But a crisis can also lead to terror, the terror of a past that is no longer viable and a future that is most uncertain, and terror can lead to paralysis and paralysis can lead to despair. The benefits of theology in such times have not been historically all that clear. In fact, the Deism of the 17th a...

  A Multifaith Reflection on Suffering and the Sacred It’s one of the oldest and most unsettling questions in human history: If God is good, why does evil persist? Why do the innocent suffer, the unjust thrive, and violence echo through generations? Every major religious tradition wrestles with this tension—not to solve it neatly, but to live with it faithfully. Here’s how some of them approach the paradox: ✝️ Christianity: Free Will and Redemptive Suffering Christian theology often frames evil as the consequence of human free will. God, in love, allows choice—even when that choice leads to harm. Suffering, while painful, can also be redemptive. The crucifixion of Christ is seen not as divine failure, but as a profound act of solidarity with human pain. Evil exists, but grace persists. 🕊️ Islam: Divine Wisdom Beyond Human Understanding In Islam, everything happens by the will of Allah, but not all is meant to be understood. Evil and suffering are seen as tests—opportunities for pa...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -4-   Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.   Helen Keller   The story of the man being kind to his challenged wife introduces a vital element in the idea of miracles. Thinking of miracles as “objects of wonder,” calling forth “awe and admiration,” making you smile… does not presume a rosy and gleeful understanding of life. To the contrary. Life entails suffering, and it is perhaps in the setting of suffering that the ability to pause and behold at least the shadow of the miracle can be most life-giving. As we move toward the end of the second decade of this century, the cohort of women and men who survived the Holocaust is dwindling, but their powerful stories remain. Edith Herz was born in 1926 to a comfortable Jewish family in Germany. They lived in Worms, which had...

  Arthur Yavelberg, author of A Theology for the Rest of Us , has penned another article for the Arizona Star . The topic: good and evil. It is an interesting read; makes you think. You can read the article below: For more posts by and about Arthur and his book, click HERE . For more posts about good and evil, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.