When Bad Things Happen to Good People

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Summary: A new perspective on God
Review: Rabbi Kushner describes a very different kind of god who does not cause suffering, who is not all powerful and who does not interfere in nature by pulling the strings of the world to make it fit into some master plan. He also explains why it is still proper to pray to a god who is not as commanding as one originally thought.

This is a very short book which will be of value for both religious and atheist people who cannot accept the traditional view of an omnipotent god because of tragedy and misfortune which affect those who do not deserve it. For those who do hold a more orthodox view of God, this should provide an interesting alternative to grapple with.

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Summary: Must Reading If You Have "Religious Issues"
Review: When many of us were small, we were told that God is both all-powerful and all-loving. It makes sense, even to a child, that one or the other chacteristics makes sense, but not both simultaneously. God could be all-powerful and then phenomena such as earthquakes, cancer and AIDS would be "divine retribution." OR, God could be all-loving but not all-powerful, in which case S/He could only grieve along with us when these tragedies occur.

It is Kushner's great insight to see that people who are caught in tragic circumstances not of their own making usually get stuck in some version of the same dilemma above. Patiently, and with great wisdom, he sorts through issues of God and grace. I'm a Protestant but I got more out of this book than years of Sunday School. "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" may be a little oversimplified in places but it's a great place to start--especially if you're mad at God!

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Summary: This Book Created a Turning Point in My Life
Review: I read When Bad Things Happen to Good People following the death of my infant daughter. As I struggled to make sense of what had happened, Rabbi Kushner's book became the singularly most important element in helping me to come to peace with my experience. Kushner reminds us that the one thing we can still do for our dead loved one is to ensure that they will remembered in a positive way by others. We do this through our own personal growth from the experience, and by continuing to live purposeful and meaningful lives. This book changed my life. I have read all of Rabbi Kushner's books and have found his philosophy to be among the most insightful and spiritually enlightening of our time. If you have found yourself shaken to the very foundation of your being by a loss or other significant event in your life, this book will provide you with food for thought as you attempt to create new meaning in your life.

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Summary: When Bad Reviews Happen to Intelligent Authors
Review: The book was a disappointment to me because I have a different view of people. I think it was because Mr. Kushner and I define what good people are differently. He does give some insight and writes well. I suggest giving it a read since it has impacted so many others.

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Summary: God - a silent spectator?
Review: Herold Kushner's WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE has almost the same questions that I had had in my mind when I lost my beloved wife a year ago in an accident, when she was hardly 28. I found this life very cruel, ruthless, and totally meaningless. As long as sufferings prevail in this world, God has no role to play here. Only those who do not know what a suffering is in reality, and those who fear of losing their fortune (whatever little they have), end up prasing Him "Kind & Loving". Kushner's attempt to protect God even amidst the unexplainable sufferings amounts to ridiculing the pains of a sufferer. While I don't endorse H.K's "God-protecting" views, I respect him for his daring questions about sufferings and God's role as a lame-duck/silent spectator.

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Summary: IT'S DANGEROUS ...four years later
Review: My grandaughter is now 12. The book is dangerous. Readers need approach this when they are emotionally and spiritually strong not in crisis. I was told this book could help me in a crisis mode and I approached it thinking I could use the book as a spiritual guide in dealing grief. I would tell anyone that is in crisis mode and believes in a kind and loving and interacting God to talk with their spiritual leader and stay away from this book. This philosophy is not kind. It is brutal and those in crisis don't need the brutal approach.
It is interesting reading when you can view it and not be involved. Go to your place of worship read cs lewis A Grief Observed.
I read WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE and then HOW GOOD DO WE HAVE TO BE. I have a 7 year old Granddaughter with a brain tumor who has endured one year of hell. I don't believe anymore. Both of Mr. Kushner's books are logical, perhaps too much so and maybe too simple in theory. If God is passive then why do we pray at all because God 'can do nothing' and why would he give one family strength to endure life over the person who does not ask. If God assumes no role, I can't believe. I can't believe in a loving God that could be passive with sickness,war,and events of hunger,and human destruction. The books have created more thought processing in my life than any other book because they challenged my belief in a God of intervention. The answer according to Mr. Kushner is to be thankful for life and accept what we have created for ourselves or life has given us. I can't.

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Summary: Introspective book
Review: It was a few years ago I had read this book. It was one of the required books in a religion class I had in college. It was also the year my mother died, and a year before I lost my 19 year old son.

I found it very helpful in that we were required to question and answer ourselves throughout the book. I find that essentially that is what religion and belief is in the end.

It certainly helped me at that time and I plan to read it a second time.

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Summary: A half-way solution that may ultimately be harmful
Review: This book deals with the question of how evil and God can coexist--a question that is sometimes referred to as "the theodicy problem." The basic question goes: If God is all good and all-powerful, how can evil exist? One common answer is that evil doesn't really exist, but only appears to exist because we limited humans have inadequate information about, and can't take the long view of, God's plans; we only see part of the picture. I think this is a weak solution, which one can believe only by seriously twisting one's mind; it is pollyannaism, writ large and projected onto the entire universe. I believe that such a position is psychologically destructive, because it forces one to abdicate moral judgement and to deny and repress one's immediate moral responses to such obvious evils as the beating and sexual abuse of children and the torture or mass murder of innocents. The author, Rabbi Kushner, deserves credit for not adopting this very easy and mind-distorting "solution" to the theodicy problem.

Instead, Kushner posits that evil exists because God, while good, is not all-powerful. Kushner says that God wants the good, and assists in its achievement, but He is unable to be fully effective because His power is limited. This view has a certain plausibility to it and is logically consistent. It also may be reassuring to those who want to believe in a good God, but without twisting their mind into denying the existence of evil. By offering this honest solution to the theodicy problem, I believe Kushner will provide a way for some people to avoid the mind-distorting and psychologically damaging attempt to deny the existence evil.

Still, I think Kushner's solution is a cop out. I believe it is attractive to people only to the extent that they are unable or unwilling to seriously contemplate the possibility that there either (a) is no God or (b) is a God but He is so weak as to be insignificant to human life. I believe that an honest examination of world history--which really has been an endless sea of blood and pain from time immemorial--demonstrates that if there is any divine force for good at play, it is close to impotent. That is, I just don't think Kushner's view stands up to the facts of existence and history, which has consisted of endless waves of mass murder and vast suffering. I think the more honest solution to the theodicy problem is that God--as anything remotely resembling the traditional conception of a just force that intervenes in human life--simply does not exist.

Even if Kushner's view is wrong, might it still be beneficial? That is, might Kushner's view be a supportive and reassuring fiction? Perhaps it will serve this function for some, as the many positive customer comments below seem to suggest. But I believe the more important result is that it deflects attention from the real issues, and keeps people from digging deeper or seeking more adequate, honest solutions to their problems.

Evil is of two types: that arising from the natural world (natural disasters, disease, wild animals, etc.), and that inflicted by humans. For those concerned with suffering caused by the natural world, I think the best response is to recognize that such "evil" arises from an indifferent physical world, and that we can work to prevent or ameliorate such suffering in the future by striving to better understand the natural laws that govern the world, and to apply what knowledge we already have.

As for those who are concerned about evil caused by human beings, both in the world at large and in their own lives, a more helpful and honest author is Alice Miller. Her books, all sold through amazon, include Drama of the Gifted Child, For Your Own Good, Banished Knowledge, Breaking Down the Walls of Silence, and The Untouched Key. I believe that Miller's work provides a fairly complete understanding of the origins of evil inflicted by humans--everything from child abuse to mass murder.

Someone faced by a personal crisis, who feels they need the support of a more-or-less traditional religious faith, might gain from reading Rabbi Kushner's book. It's a fast, easy read, and may give one the boost one's looking for. But for those who are willing to devote the time and effort required to grapple with serious ideas, I believe Miller's unflinchingly honest books will prove more satisfying and useful.

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Summary: A THEORY TO CHANGE YOUR CONCEPT OF GOD
Review: I have an 8 year old Granddaughter with a brain tumor and the book was suggested.As a 55 year old I thought my concept of God was fairly stable. The logic used by Mr. Kushner is good but the concept that "God can't" is against every theory I've ever been taught.But to see God as loving, one must accept the theory. It will take some time to process the information and apply it my religious beliefs. I have the book HOW GOOD DO WE HAVE TO BE, I'll have to wait until the ideas settle.

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Summary: Elegant in its simplicity
Review: Elegant in its simplicity, this book will provide comfort and a sense of hope in the face of loss. Rabbi Kushner works through examples from personal experiences, including the illness and death of his son, to help develop an understanding of how we can live with the fact that bad things happen to good people. This book helped widden my understanding of prayer, relationship to community, and how God and religion can play a crucial role in the healing process. The author helped me to understand how I can pray so that the good in me lives on, even in the face of inevitable loss that is a part of life.