D.A. Carson’s Six Pillars for thinking through suffering
Don Carson is wicked smart. He writes, teaches, and is generally one of the most intelligent, most God-centered men around. He recently lectured at Western Seminary, as posted on the Paul and Timothy Blog, a great resource for men looking for biblical instruction and discipleship in the NT model of Paul and Timothy.
There are 6 pillars that support a way of looking at reality that guarantees Christian maturity if you live by them. These 6 pillars are not something in which you tell someone who is—at the moment—going through suffering. But these are pillars that one should think and reflect on in order to prepare you for suffering. In this way you will be sustained through the times of pain.
The 6 Pillars:
- Insights From Creation—everything God made was originally good.
- Insights from the end of the Bible’s story line.
- Insights from the place of innocent suffering
- Insights from the mystery of Providence
2 propositions
1. God is absolutely sovereign but his sovereignty never serves to mitigate human responsibility
2. Human beings are morally responsible creatures. These two poles are taught throughout the Scriptures:- Insights from the Centrality of the Cross
- Insights from Our Obligation to Take Our Own Cross and Follow Jesus
