“It is not easy to believe in God.  There are times when it does not seem ‘good to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises to His name.’”

In this sermon, Rabbi Olan gets to a core dilemma of our existence – perhaps the core dilemma.  It is what Leibniz called theodicy: the question of why a good God allows humanity to experience so much suffering from natural disasters, human cruelty, war, poverty, and disease.

After discussing two common responses to this dilemma – blind faith and atheism – he makes the case for a mature faith in God despite the presence of evil.

**Written by guest blogger Joshua Hirsch.**

(Rabbi Olan quotes Archibald MacLeish, Job 13:15, Psalm 118:1, Genesis 18:25, Psaln 22:1, and Jeremiah 15:18. This sermon was originally broadcast over KRLD and WFAA on January 13, 1963.)