Mark Talbot on Understanding Our Suffering through the Christian Worldview

Suffering causes us to ask hard questions about life. It also tests our faith as we question God’s goodness, or even existence, in the reality of a deeply broken world. One of the most important factors in how we handle suffering is the story that we believe about the world and ourselves. The story we believe will determine the answers to those hard questions. My guest on today’s show argues for the Christian worldview as the story we need in order to understand the condition of life and to live well in the face of suffering. I’m glad to welcome back Mark Talbot to discuss the second volume in his series Suffering and the Christian Life titled Give Me Understanding that I May Live: Situating Our Suffering within God’s Redemptive Plan.

Mark Talbot grew up in the Seattle area. When he was seventeen, he fell off a Tarzan-like rope swing and suffered a paralyzing accident that left him partially paraplegic. After graduating from Seattle Pacific College with a B. A. in English Literature, he completed his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his teaching career as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College in 1987 and then moved to Wheaton College in 1992, where he teaches courses on suffering, philosophical theology, philosophical psychology, David Hume, and Jonathan Edwards.

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