Is a Good God Logically Possible?

Southern Evangelical Seminary Professor Dr. Brian Huffling and Notre Dame’s Dr. James Sterba to Debate This Age-Old Question March 10

March 5, 2020

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Is it logically possible for an all-good and all-loving God to exist while acknowledging the evil and suffering that currently exists—or are the two notions contradictory?

These are age-old questions and have dominated conversations over coffee, dinner table discussions and educational inquiries. Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, www.ses.edu) will seek to answer these hard questions during a debate between two accomplished professors, authors and thinkers at an upcoming debate on March 10.

Drs. Brian Huffling of Southern Evangelical Seminary and James Sterba of the University of Notre Dame will debate the question, “Is a Good God Logically Possible?” The free event is open to the public and is set for McBryde Hall on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The 7 p.m. debate is in partnership with Ratio Christi and Southern Evangelical Seminary. Learn more here.

“Why does God ‘allow’ bad things to happen? Why do bad things happen to good people?” asks SES President and Evangelical leader Dr. Richard Land. “For generations, these profound questions have been posed by human beings of all ages—from the youngest preschooler to the oldest parishioner sitting in the church pews. ‘Is a Good God Logically Possible?’ is a question with which many people struggle. For our entire existence, Southern Evangelical Seminary has helped Christians think critically about the issues that perplex believers of all faiths. We look forward to this debate between Dr. James Sterba and our own Dr. Brian Huffling in an effort to delve further into these deep questions in the constant pursuit of truth.”

Dr. Brian Huffling is the director of the Ph.D. program at Southern Evangelical Seminary, where he serves as Associate Professor of Philosophy and Theology. His research interests include the philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, philosophical hermeneutics and general issues in apologetics and biblical studies. Huffling has been involved in various types of ministry, including two American churches as well as two Korean churches in America. He also teaches at Apologia Online Academy and has served in the Marines, Navy and is currently a chaplain in the Air Force reserves at the United States Air Force Academy. Huffling has also taught for The Art Institute of Charlotte. He received his Ph.D. and master’s degree from SES and his bachelor’s degree from Lee University.

Professor of Philosophy James P. Sterba teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in ethics and political philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He has published 33 books and over 200 articles, and has served as past president of the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; the North American Society for Social Philosophy; Concerned Philosophers for Peace; and the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, American Section. He has been a visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Rochester and at the University of Lativa in the then-Soviet Union on a Fulbright Award. Sterba has also been a visiting distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of San Francisco, the University of California at Irvine and Santa Clara University. He received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to do research and run two conferences on bringing the yet untapped resources of ethics to bear on the problem of evil.

SES recently announced its 2020 National Conference on Christian Apologetics (NCCA), set for Oct. 16-17 in Charlotte. The seminary will focus on the theme of “Hold Fast” for the 27th annual conference by welcoming some of the nation’s top apologetics speakers.

Read more about Southern Evangelical Seminary and SES President Dr. Richard Land, as well as his radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” which airs on nearly 800 stations nationwide, here.

For more information on SES, visit its web site at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (800) 77-TRUTH.

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To interview Dr. Richard Land or another representative of Southern Evangelical Seminary, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Jeff Tolson, 610.584.1096, ext. 108, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.