Christians encounter ideas about supernatural realities not only from the Bible, but from the cultures in which we live. In many cultures one finds the belief that misfortunes are caused by human third parties acting malevolently through evil occult means. The misfortunes these people are believed to cause range from infertility or economic ruin to…

When economic ruin mysteriously threatens, when sons and daughters inexplicably die, and when illness threatens life itself, people around the world struggle with the question, “Why?” Different answers to this question are provided in different cultures. The wise men of Job’s culture “knew” that everyone “reaps what they sow” and therefore that Job must have…