question: Why didn’t God step in to save him again? I went to the funeral because Ethan’s tragic story was gripping. But I also attended because I wanted to hear the answer to that question.
Pastor J. P. Jones told mourners that Ethan’s death “reveals our deepest fears” about God. And the honest answer, he said, is that we don’t know why God allowed Ethan to die. And we won’t fully know until “we pass from this life into heaven when we see things as God sees them.”
It was one thing for the pastor to say that, but what would the parents say? If it were my child, I would rage at God for what He allowed to happen—especially after answering so many prayers for Ethan. It seemed cruel.
The Sechrests, who lost their first child to a stillborn birth, were confident they’d see glimpses of God’s plan in the years to come.
“After the death of our first son, I couldn’t see any blessings in that,” Alan Sechrest said. “But over time, I could. Our marriage got stronger. We became better parents. But we just couldn’t see it right away.
“We’re going to be okay. Not today, not next week. But we’re going to be okay because we trust in God.”
Using the Sechrests as a yardstick, I had a long way to go in my faith. They provided inspiration and a model for me.
I still felt like I was a relatively new believer, and I had lots of questions about my faith. Scripture—the Bible—was a major source of them because, at least to a close reader, the Word of God contains contradictions, bizarre laws and hard-to-believe anecdotes. For me, the Bible was a puzzle I hadn’t figured out yet. I found great wisdom in Scripture when I cherry-picked the passages. Among my favorites: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7) And, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23)
But trying to read the whole book through—which I attempted unsuccessfully several times—I bumped up against long recitations of boring genealogies (the opening chapters of First Chronicles), several of God’s laws where the punishment didn’t quite fit the crime (the Book of Leviticus recommends the death penalty for cursing your mother or father, for being a medium or “spiritist,” for committing adultery, incest, bestiality or acts of homosexuality and for blaspheming the name of the Lord) and a wilder and more angry Jesus than I had known (the Gospel of Mark). I certainly didn’t take everything in the Bible literally, but even viewing some passages figuratively didn’t help—what was I to understand, metaphorically, about God and His plan for me when he kills “every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal” because Pharaoh won’t free the Hebrews? That God was a son of a bitch when messed with? Still, I didn’t doubt the Bible was inspired by God; the trouble, I believed, was my ability to interpret it.
Several of my columns dealt with Christian apologetics—the study of the historical accuracy of the faith. I needed to hear Christians more intelligent than I who had the utmost confidence—and evidence to back it up—in what the Bible said, even those uncomfortable passages that most believers skip or ignore. That was why I loved interviewing people like Bill Creasy.
When he started working on his doctorate in medieval literature, a friend warned Creasy, “Don’t waste your career being the world’s leading expert on a third-rate Victorian poet. Choose a major author or a major
Pastor J. P. Jones told mourners that Ethan’s death “reveals our deepest fears” about God. And the honest answer, he said, is that we don’t know why God allowed Ethan to die. And we won’t fully know until “we pass from this life into heaven when we see things as God sees them.”
It was one thing for the pastor to say that, but what would the parents say? If it were my child, I would rage at God for what He allowed to happen—especially after answering so many prayers for Ethan. It seemed cruel.
The Sechrests, who lost their first child to a stillborn birth, were confident they’d see glimpses of God’s plan in the years to come.
“After the death of our first son, I couldn’t see any blessings in that,” Alan Sechrest said. “But over time, I could. Our marriage got stronger. We became better parents. But we just couldn’t see it right away.
“We’re going to be okay. Not today, not next week. But we’re going to be okay because we trust in God.”
Using the Sechrests as a yardstick, I had a long way to go in my faith. They provided inspiration and a model for me.
I still felt like I was a relatively new believer, and I had lots of questions about my faith. Scripture—the Bible—was a major source of them because, at least to a close reader, the Word of God contains contradictions, bizarre laws and hard-to-believe anecdotes. For me, the Bible was a puzzle I hadn’t figured out yet. I found great wisdom in Scripture when I cherry-picked the passages. Among my favorites: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7) And, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23)
But trying to read the whole book through—which I attempted unsuccessfully several times—I bumped up against long recitations of boring genealogies (the opening chapters of First Chronicles), several of God’s laws where the punishment didn’t quite fit the crime (the Book of Leviticus recommends the death penalty for cursing your mother or father, for being a medium or “spiritist,” for committing adultery, incest, bestiality or acts of homosexuality and for blaspheming the name of the Lord) and a wilder and more angry Jesus than I had known (the Gospel of Mark). I certainly didn’t take everything in the Bible literally, but even viewing some passages figuratively didn’t help—what was I to understand, metaphorically, about God and His plan for me when he kills “every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal” because Pharaoh won’t free the Hebrews? That God was a son of a bitch when messed with? Still, I didn’t doubt the Bible was inspired by God; the trouble, I believed, was my ability to interpret it.
Several of my columns dealt with Christian apologetics—the study of the historical accuracy of the faith. I needed to hear Christians more intelligent than I who had the utmost confidence—and evidence to back it up—in what the Bible said, even those uncomfortable passages that most believers skip or ignore. That was why I loved interviewing people like Bill Creasy.
When he started working on his doctorate in medieval literature, a friend warned Creasy, “Don’t waste your career being the world’s leading expert on a third-rate Victorian poet. Choose a major author or a major
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