When I first typed out my editorial on viral non-evil, the coronavirus was still novel and the panic not quite a pandemic. But as I type now, close to a 1.5 million have died worldwide and the virus proliferates relentlessly, a conflagration with plenty of wood yet to burn as we await a vaccine and…

I am grateful to the organizers of this Areopagite for the invitation to consider this spiritually demanding question, one that reaches down into the heart of our confidence in the Good God, and in our constant need for repentance, confession and renewal. Of course such a question touches on complex doctrines—of sin, of providence, of…

Before I reveal the One Correct Way Christians ought to understand the coronavirus, let’s clear some brush out of the way and establish some basic principles. It would seem that something can be neither good nor bad, just existing. An icicle hanging off the edge of a roof seems devoid of moral valence—until it suddenly…

Jesus once told a parable about a farmer who sowed good seeds in his field. Once “the plants came up and bore grain,” however, his servant discovered that the field also contained weeds. The servant approached his master and asked him, “Where . . . did these weeds come from?” The good farmer replied, “An…

Every time there is a natural disaster the question of God’s goodness and the nature of evil resurfaces. How can a good God allow bad things to happen? Is what we experience as evil bad in itself, or is our suffering from it part of the fallen order of creation? What do we say when…

The shadow of suffering and death casts widely over human life, not only in the midst of toil and the hope for a brighter tomorrow, but also in the intellectual struggle for the belief in a sovereign and benevolent God. While many issues wax and wane with the passing of time, the seeming futility of…

Yesterday I received an urgent email from a good friend, the President of an indigenous evangelical denomination among the Aguaruna of Peru, with whom I worked closely many years ago. I would like to translate his letter here into English, using pseudonyms, and provide commentary on the way witchcraft issues continue to play out among…

Suffering in all forms is pervasive and present in all humans regardless of age, race, religion, status, or sex. It is almost as if human beings are born to suffer.  From the beginning of the first humans, suffering has been part of human existence. It is natural for human beings to seek the cause(s) of…

Aru is the name of my small home town located in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the Ituri District. It could have been called the “Salem of DRC.” In June 2001, several hundred people accused of witchcraft were brutally killed exclusively in Aru, one of the counties of the…

Before I moved with my family to Northwestern Tanzania 20 years ago, we were quite healthy. I had written research papers on demons and powers in the Bible, but I had no awareness of witches or witchcraft. Then, within the first year of our time in Africa, we were sick 40 times. I began having…

What is witchcraft? Various terms and interpretations have been offered in attempts to understand the phenomenon of witchcraft in Africa. E. Evans-Pritchard’s classic distinction between witchcraft and sorcery, which has been altered by other anthropologists, is relevant in many places in Africa. The assumption is that witchcraft is an inherent quality and a psychic act….