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When God Is Not There
The world we live has been called a 'vale of tears', a 'place of weeping' - perhaps with good reason. Wherever you turn you see pain, sorrow, undeserved suffering, death, and sin. The 'ruler of this world' (Jn 12:31), the 'world ruler' (Eph. 6:12) is the devil. He is constantly to be seen.
God, who is named 'He who is', meaning the One from whom everything comes into being, is nowhere to be seen. 'No one has seen God at any time' (John 1:18). That is why his very existence is a matter of dispute. He has, however, 'revealed himself' (John 21:1), and he promises to manifest himself to whomsoever keeps his commandments and loves him: 'I will manifest myself to him' (John 14:21).
This book records simple events and conversations, all the while grappling with difficult questions. We see the human struggle to discover the person of God when he is veiled by the logic of this world, our limited understanding, and the arrogant pretentions of human littleness. The book engages intensely with complex and difficult issues...but which leave us confused and at times scandalised. What it does not do is give any direct answers, or try to persuade the reader through logic or impressive arguments. Its aim is to convey the sense of the discreet yet persuasive presence of the true God precisely in situations where He is not visible: in pain, in disability, in the tragedies of life, in inexorable death, as this comes across in true events and is reflected in the lives of real people.
God, who is named 'He who is', meaning the One from whom everything comes into being, is nowhere to be seen. 'No one has seen God at any time' (John 1:18). That is why his very existence is a matter of dispute. He has, however, 'revealed himself' (John 21:1), and he promises to manifest himself to whomsoever keeps his commandments and loves him: 'I will manifest myself to him' (John 14:21).
This book records simple events and conversations, all the while grappling with difficult questions. We see the human struggle to discover the person of God when he is veiled by the logic of this world, our limited understanding, and the arrogant pretentions of human littleness. The book engages intensely with complex and difficult issues...but which leave us confused and at times scandalised. What it does not do is give any direct answers, or try to persuade the reader through logic or impressive arguments. Its aim is to convey the sense of the discreet yet persuasive presence of the true God precisely in situations where He is not visible: in pain, in disability, in the tragedies of life, in inexorable death, as this comes across in true events and is reflected in the lives of real people.
- GenresReligion
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Νικόλαος Χατζηνικολάου
14 books16 followersΟ Μητροπολίτης Νικόλαος (κατά κόσμον Νικόλαος Χατζηνικολάου) είναι επίσκοπος της Ελληνικής Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας και Μητροπολίτης Μεσογαίας και Λαυριωτικής (από το 2004).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 26, 2018
Διαβάζοντας το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο έκλαψα αρκετές φορές...άλλες από συγκίνηση, άλλες από την συνειδητοποίηση της ματαιότητας και άλλες από την δύναμη της ανθρώπινης ψυχής... Λόγος απλός, κατανοητός με το βάθος παιδικου συναισθήματος και προβληματισμούς ενός κοινού"θνητού" και όχι ενός εκπροσώπου της εκκλησίας... Χωρίς ίχνος διδακτισμου, χαίρομαι που "γνώρισα" κάποιους ανθρώπους μέσα από αυτές τις απλές, καθημερινές τους ιστορίες
April 18, 2015
Η πίστη,η αυθεντική,αθώα,παιδική πίστη στη θεότητα του Χριστού δείχνει τον Θεό....εκεί που Αυτός δεν φαίνεται.
March 29, 2016
Μια προσεκτική προσέγγιση του πόνου, μέσα από το πρίσμα της ελπίδας και της πίστης στο Θεό..Εκεί που δεν φαίνεται ο Θεός, είναι τελικά εκεί που τον βρίσκεις...
June 30, 2024
There are many questions in this book that the author asks which may lead one to believe God is absent, especially when things are unfair or unjust. There are far more questions than explicit answers.
But through the amazing and inspirational stories captured in this book, you can find relief, reassurance, and beauty of pain. The stories made me emotional multiple times and also made me awe many times.
Below are passages from the book I enjoyed most
How to arrive at salvation from undeserved suffering:
"Somewhere you need to find an answer, a solution of some sort, a support, some small hope of seeing daylight. Witnessing these problems leads to disillusionment. Logic becomes inadequate. The stereotypical religious answers, if not simply an affront, are at least unconvincing. What is convincing is faith; only faith; deep faith. Faith embraces the problem and transforms it from a problem that you fear into an opportunity that you long for. Faith is a one-way street. It needs only to be authentic – and truthful."
"Faith is a gift from God that is granted to us. What we can and should give is the hope of faith, given the fact that it is deeply rooted within us."
"Whoever has faith creates round him or her the warmth of communion, and inoculates death with the hope of life."
This faith is exemplified through many stories from the Metropolitan such as when he had visited a paralyzed young man:
"I give glory to God because through the suffering of my body, my soul has come alive and is constantly journeying to the most beautiful corners of the spiritual world. If I were like other people, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy God’s love. As it is, I do enjoy it."
He also draws the similarity between the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda and us:
"This Gospel account is not simply a reminder of one miracle, but serves as a wake-up call for all of us. All of us are paralyzed with spiritual blindness and physical infirmity, all of us are cheated by our rationalism; and we are all sitting round the pool of Bethesda, the pool of the tears and lost hopes of this life. The Church tries to re-orientate our hearts away from the Old Testament idea of drops of divine mercy towards the God-man’s ocean of love."
The product of pain and suffering
"Pain gives rise to patience in us, but, at the same time, to loving bonds with our brothers. It also gives rise to truth; the compassion of others plants the truth in our own heart."
"Suffering cannot be responded to with arguments. Nor can injustice and death be met with reasoning. These problems are resolved only by receiving the divine breath of God. They are resolved through the Holy Spirit. They are overcome through a humble acceptance of God’s will which is so true, but at the same time usually so incomprehensible."
"In our dialogue with suffering, injustice and death we are obliged to exceed human measures. This is not only a way of overcoming our trial but it is also a blessing."
"Embracing our suffering will give rise to newly-discovered sensitivities and will unfold realities which cannot otherwise be seen. The challenge is not the events and revelations themselves – these exist. The challenge is for us to open our eyes in order to be able to see them truly. Unfortunately, it is an undeniable truth that we acknowledge and gain the greatest things only when we lose what we love above anything else. Certainly, pain and injustice cannot abolish God’s love. God exists. He is love and life; perfect love and the fullness of life. And the greatest miracle of His existence is that He coexists with pain, injustice and death."
On special needs:
"Each child with special needs such as this does not come into the world in order to make our lives difficult and make us suffer. They each come into this world for a reason and have their secret inner voice. It remains to us to offer love; to ‘bear one another’s burdens’; to experience a collective humbling – to realize, that is, that we are not as powerful and important as we think; and to try to lighten that person’s burden and understand their language. These children are better at speaking the language of God."
To conclude:
"As we project the sufferings that we undergo onto the Cross of the Lord ‘on which by suffering His Passion He slew the passions’, and project death onto His tomb which He transformed into His throne, we are able to experience the great blessing of faith in the Conqueror of death: ‘he who believes in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38); ‘he who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these’ (John 14:12); ‘he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die’ (John 11:25-26). Faith, genuine, innocent, childlike faith in the divinity of Christ, reveals God – in those places of desolation when He is not there."
But through the amazing and inspirational stories captured in this book, you can find relief, reassurance, and beauty of pain. The stories made me emotional multiple times and also made me awe many times.
Below are passages from the book I enjoyed most
How to arrive at salvation from undeserved suffering:
"Somewhere you need to find an answer, a solution of some sort, a support, some small hope of seeing daylight. Witnessing these problems leads to disillusionment. Logic becomes inadequate. The stereotypical religious answers, if not simply an affront, are at least unconvincing. What is convincing is faith; only faith; deep faith. Faith embraces the problem and transforms it from a problem that you fear into an opportunity that you long for. Faith is a one-way street. It needs only to be authentic – and truthful."
"Faith is a gift from God that is granted to us. What we can and should give is the hope of faith, given the fact that it is deeply rooted within us."
"Whoever has faith creates round him or her the warmth of communion, and inoculates death with the hope of life."
This faith is exemplified through many stories from the Metropolitan such as when he had visited a paralyzed young man:
"I give glory to God because through the suffering of my body, my soul has come alive and is constantly journeying to the most beautiful corners of the spiritual world. If I were like other people, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy God’s love. As it is, I do enjoy it."
He also draws the similarity between the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda and us:
"This Gospel account is not simply a reminder of one miracle, but serves as a wake-up call for all of us. All of us are paralyzed with spiritual blindness and physical infirmity, all of us are cheated by our rationalism; and we are all sitting round the pool of Bethesda, the pool of the tears and lost hopes of this life. The Church tries to re-orientate our hearts away from the Old Testament idea of drops of divine mercy towards the God-man’s ocean of love."
The product of pain and suffering
"Pain gives rise to patience in us, but, at the same time, to loving bonds with our brothers. It also gives rise to truth; the compassion of others plants the truth in our own heart."
"Suffering cannot be responded to with arguments. Nor can injustice and death be met with reasoning. These problems are resolved only by receiving the divine breath of God. They are resolved through the Holy Spirit. They are overcome through a humble acceptance of God’s will which is so true, but at the same time usually so incomprehensible."
"In our dialogue with suffering, injustice and death we are obliged to exceed human measures. This is not only a way of overcoming our trial but it is also a blessing."
"Embracing our suffering will give rise to newly-discovered sensitivities and will unfold realities which cannot otherwise be seen. The challenge is not the events and revelations themselves – these exist. The challenge is for us to open our eyes in order to be able to see them truly. Unfortunately, it is an undeniable truth that we acknowledge and gain the greatest things only when we lose what we love above anything else. Certainly, pain and injustice cannot abolish God’s love. God exists. He is love and life; perfect love and the fullness of life. And the greatest miracle of His existence is that He coexists with pain, injustice and death."
On special needs:
"Each child with special needs such as this does not come into the world in order to make our lives difficult and make us suffer. They each come into this world for a reason and have their secret inner voice. It remains to us to offer love; to ‘bear one another’s burdens’; to experience a collective humbling – to realize, that is, that we are not as powerful and important as we think; and to try to lighten that person’s burden and understand their language. These children are better at speaking the language of God."
To conclude:
"As we project the sufferings that we undergo onto the Cross of the Lord ‘on which by suffering His Passion He slew the passions’, and project death onto His tomb which He transformed into His throne, we are able to experience the great blessing of faith in the Conqueror of death: ‘he who believes in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38); ‘he who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these’ (John 14:12); ‘he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die’ (John 11:25-26). Faith, genuine, innocent, childlike faith in the divinity of Christ, reveals God – in those places of desolation when He is not there."
July 28, 2024
“Observarea realității conduce la decepție. Rațiunea e insuficientă. Ceea ce convinge e credința, numai credința: credința profundă. Aceasta îmbrățișează problemele, transformă ceea ce îți provoacă spaimă în șansa pe care o cauți. Credința este un drum cu sens unic. E îndeajuns să fie autentică, adevărată.”
“Dumnezeu e viață și numai viață. Și atunci când moartea își declară stăpânirea, Dumnezeu este Înviere.”
O lectură purificatoare despre teologia suferinței, despre oameni striviți de încercări dureroase, dar al căror suflet n-a putut fi sfărâmat. Despre un Dumnezeu care poate nu se vede de la prima vedere, dar este prezent mereu indiferent de dificultățile vieții.
O lectură care pune accent pe întrebarea: de ce mi se întâmplă mie una ca asta, Dumnezeul meu? , dar al cărui răspuns nu poate fi exprimat prin viu grai, “nu i se poate răspunde decât cu lacrimi, si nu cu vorbe; cu simțăminte, nu cu gânduri; cu tăcere, nu cu opinii; cu compasiune, și nu cu răspunsuri.”
O carte în care deși moartea este privită având o înfățișare groaznică și un chip tragic, religia ne oferă o altă perspectivă asupra ei, ca fiind trecerea spre viața adevărată, unde “nu este durere, nici întristare, nici suspin, ci viață fără de sfârșit.”
Mi-a plăcut, însă așteptam o abordare mai intensă și mai filosofică a cărții, în locul prezentării diferitelor minuni săvârșite de Dumnezeu.
“Atunci când cineva crede în Dumnezeu, nu-l întreabă ce o să facă; pur și simplu are încredere în El.”
“Dumnezeu toate le lucrează spre binele celor ce iubesc pe Dumnezeu.”
“Dumnezeu e viață și numai viață. Și atunci când moartea își declară stăpânirea, Dumnezeu este Înviere.”
O lectură purificatoare despre teologia suferinței, despre oameni striviți de încercări dureroase, dar al căror suflet n-a putut fi sfărâmat. Despre un Dumnezeu care poate nu se vede de la prima vedere, dar este prezent mereu indiferent de dificultățile vieții.
O lectură care pune accent pe întrebarea: de ce mi se întâmplă mie una ca asta, Dumnezeul meu? , dar al cărui răspuns nu poate fi exprimat prin viu grai, “nu i se poate răspunde decât cu lacrimi, si nu cu vorbe; cu simțăminte, nu cu gânduri; cu tăcere, nu cu opinii; cu compasiune, și nu cu răspunsuri.”
O carte în care deși moartea este privită având o înfățișare groaznică și un chip tragic, religia ne oferă o altă perspectivă asupra ei, ca fiind trecerea spre viața adevărată, unde “nu este durere, nici întristare, nici suspin, ci viață fără de sfârșit.”
Mi-a plăcut, însă așteptam o abordare mai intensă și mai filosofică a cărții, în locul prezentării diferitelor minuni săvârșite de Dumnezeu.
“Atunci când cineva crede în Dumnezeu, nu-l întreabă ce o să facă; pur și simplu are încredere în El.”
“Dumnezeu toate le lucrează spre binele celor ce iubesc pe Dumnezeu.”
October 11, 2022
Λογος απλος κατανοητος.. συγκινηθηκα , μπηκα σε σκεψεις, συνειδητοποιησα πολλα πραγματα τ καθημερινης ζωης
May 29, 2018
Παρόλο που ο τρόπος γραφής του συγγραφέα είναι αδιαμφισβήτητα όμορφος, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ενθουσιάστηκα. Περίμενα ίσως μία πιο έντονα θεολογική προσέγγιση, παρά το γεγονός ότι ο συγγραφέας στον πρόλογο αναφέρει ότι δεν είναι αυτός ο σκοπός του. Θα ήθελα να μάθω περισσότερα σχετικά με την άποψη της εκκλησίας για τις περιπτώσεις που «δε φαίνεται ο Θεός».
April 14, 2017
This is a book to read when you are suffering. It's very moving and very comforting, and Metropolitan Nikolaos shares his doubts, and his experiences and miracles openly.
January 23, 2025
Πράγματι το βιβλίο αυτό, όπως λέει και στο οπισθόφυλλο, "δεν δίνει κάποια άμεση απάντηση ούτε προσπαθεί να πείσει με λογικό τρόπο και εντυπωσιακές επιχειρηματολογίες". Αλλά είναι γεμάτο αγάπη, καθημερινά γεγονότα και είναι μια υπενθύμιση οτι στην ζωή όλα υπάρχουν (καλά και κακά) και εμείς καλούμαστε να τα διαχειριστούμε με όλες μας τις δυνάμεις. Όντας και εγώ άνθρωπος με αμφισβητήσεις και απορίες, νιώθω παρόλα αυτά οτι δεν πρέπει πέρα απο τις όποιες δυσκολίες που παρουσιαάζονται να μην ξεχνάμε να είμαστε και ευγνώμονες για ότι ήδη έχουμε.
Τέλος, κρατάω μια ευχή σε μια ετοιμοθάνατη κοπέλα:
"Ζητούμε απο τον Θεό να σκεπάσει την ζωή της Νατάσας, να τη συνοδεύσει στην κρίση που περνά και να χαρίσει σε μας αφ'ενός μεν δύναμη να δεχθούμε το θέλημά Του, αφ'ετέρου δε φωτισμό να ξεπεράσουμε τα διλήμματά μας με ταπείνωση, σεβασμό και πίστη.
Τέλος, κρατάω μια ευχή σε μια ετοιμοθάνατη κοπέλα:
"Ζητούμε απο τον Θεό να σκεπάσει την ζωή της Νατάσας, να τη συνοδεύσει στην κρίση που περνά και να χαρίσει σε μας αφ'ενός μεν δύναμη να δεχθούμε το θέλημά Του, αφ'ετέρου δε φωτισμό να ξεπεράσουμε τα διλήμματά μας με ταπείνωση, σεβασμό και πίστη.
February 12, 2020
Βιβλίο που σε στεναχωρεί διαβάζοντας το διότι αναφέρεται σε σοβαρά θέματα υγείας που περνάνε οι άνθρωποι τα οποία άλλωτε καταλήγουν στο θάνατο και άλλωτε όχι. Ο συγγραφέας μας αναλύει την "αγιότητα" της ασθένειας και μας παρηγορεί λέγοντας ότι παρόλο που είναι πολύ δύσκολες καταστάσεις, το καλύτερο που μπορούμε να κάνουμε είναι να αφεθούμε στην Πρόνοια του Θεού η οποία μας φέρνει διάφορα εμπόδια και απώλειες στη ζωή μας που ως στόχο έχουν την σωτηρία της δική μας ζωής αλλά και την σωτηρία των ανθρώπων που ζουν αυτές τις καταστάσεις.
November 7, 2021
Δύσκολο....αλλά καταπληκτικό.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews