When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Author : Harold S. Kushner Number of Pages : 160 Publisher : Avon List Price : $6.99 Amazon Price : $6.60 Used Price : $0.01

Product Description

For anyone who has ever been hurt by life.

"I knew that one day I would write this book. I would write it out of my own need to put into words some of the most important things I have come to believe and know. And I would write it to help other people who might one day find themselves in a similar predicament. I would write it for an those people who wanted to go on believing, but whose anger at God made it hard for them to hold on to their faith and be comforted by religion. And I would write it for an those people whose love of God and devotion to Him led them to blame themselves for their suffering and persuade themselves that they deserved it."

-- Harold S. Kushner

Customer reviews

One of my all time favorite books... by .. Debra S. Roundtree (AZ)
I have bought this book several times and continue to give it to friends... it is a book that everyone should read.

Problematic by .. Rohan L. Ebanks (Madrid Spain)
The book is context-rich and easy to read but still problematic. Copious amount of ink has been spilled tackling the Failed Prayer problem then along comes Harold Kushner's book and PRESTO!!! problem solved. I found this book a bit hard to swallow.
Mankind has been grappling with theological topic called "The problem of evil" for a very long time. This issue was first discussed by the Greek philosopher Epicurus (371-270 BC). Since then, many philosophers and theologians have wrestled with the problem, causing some - such as the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) - to state that God does not exist. The defaces of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of this problem is called Theodicies - also stretch back to the beginnings of Christianity. St Augustine (354-430) put the problem most concisely: "Either God cannot abolish evil, or he will not; if he cannot then he is not all-powerful; if he will not then he is not all good."
I find it strange that whenever we pray for something and whatever we prayed for comes through God gets the credit. After a nation's heart-felt, sincere prayers none of the trapped Coalminers or kids that were kidnapped, raped and killed never makes it back home yet we never see it as failed prayers. God heard our pleas and said ...NO
It is quite common for God to ignore prayers. And that seems odd, because the Bible is clear about how prayer is supposed to work. In Mark 11:24 Jesus promises: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
In John chapter 14, verses 12 through 14, Jesus tells us just how easy prayer can be: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
In Matthew 18:19 Jesus says it again: Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Given these verses, and given the fact that Harold Kushner was a faithful believer, doesn't it seem like Harold Kushner's prayers should have worked?
The lost of a loved one is very hard to take. When we are grief-stricken we all need consoling, but theologically speaking Mr. Kushner fell a little short. The truth is, we have no way to know what God is thinking, and his actions at times can be quite mysterious. I am not trying to bash the Author but theologically speaking I think I make a good point when I point out that being Jewish, the good Rabbi does not accept the divinity of Jesus. Could that have been part of the problem?

a healing message by .. Sara E. Davies (Seattle, WA USA)
This book has helped me overcome the hurdles of hating God and hating myself. Rabbi Kushner offers the profoundly comforting insight that God may not be all-powerful, may not be able to prevent tragedy, and is neither punishing us nor abandoning us by allowing it. The rabbi postulates that God gave humanity free will and will not take back that gift in order to intervene in human evil. God set in motion a world of natural laws that operate apart from God's will. To some this might be a frightening message, but since I was at home with the notion that life is not fair and there is no justice, this theory frees me from the enormous burden of blaming either God or myself for the terrible tragedies that have come into my life and the lives of those closest to me. Rabbi Kushner reaffirms my belief that while suffering is terrible, it is possible to take a curse and turn it into a blessing by using what we learn about loss in order to alleviate the suffering of others. In that respect, this is a very life-affirming book.

Great insight into a problem by .. Peter S. Panos Jr. (Grapevine, TX)
After reading this book I found my relationship with GOD better! Written simply and using his experience and that from the bible the author opened my eyes! No longer do I see GOD as the creator of pain and misery, but as the source of strength and courage to face the challenges that life presents to us!

Inspiring by .. Evelyn Felice (Phoenix ,Arizona, USA)
Another great book by Rabbi KUSHNER. Readable and a solace of comfort for all beliefs

Related Search : people , things happen

Hell freezes over?! And they said it would never happen. (S&W Makes a .45 ACP 1911).: An article from: American Handgunner

Format : HTML Author : Charles E. Petty Number of Pages : 7 Release Date : 2005-07-31 Publisher : Publishers' Development Corporation Company : The Gale Group List Price : $5.95 Amazon Price : $5.95

Product Description

This digital document is an article from American Handgunner, published by Publishers' Development Corporation on July 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1977 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hell freezes over?! And they said it would never happen. (S&W Makes a .45 ACP 1911).
Author: Charles E. Petty
Publication: American Handgunner (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2003
Publisher: Publishers' Development Corporation
Volume: 27 Issue: 164 Page: 58(9)

Distributed by Thomson Gale
Related Search : s w , acp 1911 , american handgunner

Nothing Ever Happens On 90th.s

Author : Roni Schotter Number of Pages : 32 Publisher : Scholastic List Price : $16.95 Used Price : $14.38

Product Description

When Eva sits on her stoop trying to complete a school assignment by writing about what happens in her neighborhood, she gets a great deal of advice and action.

Customer reviews

Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street by .. Miss M's Fourth Graders (Santa Clara, CA)
Nothing Ever Happens On 90th Street by Roni Schotter is about a girl named Eva who has a journal and always jots in it when she sees something happen on 90th street. Eva was sitting on the stairs and waiting for something to happen on 90th street. Then Mr.Sims told her, "Everything is a stage even 90th street." Mr.Moely told her that there's always a new way with words. Then Eva started thinking putting the pencil up to her mouth should I scrawl about this? Then Eva went to go to sit back down on the stairs. Just then the door slammed from the building it was Alexis Leora. She nodded to Eva. . Eva was thinking what if Alexis met someone. Eva tried to think who that person was but she only imagined Spanish soup. Then Eva opened her eyes and Ms.Martinez was standing next to Eva. Ms.Martinez handed Eva a cup of soup. Then Ms.Martinez told Eva some writers always need some soup. Nothing was happening on 90th street and Eva wanted to try to make something happen but she had no ideas. Eva sighed. She looked down and ate her half eaten Danish. Just then Eva came up with a big idea. What if she broke her Danish into tiny little pieces. Birds where flying every where and crashed into the pizza man. Then Eva picked up her pencil really fast and started to write again. When the pizza man fell Alexis helped him up and started to like each other. The pizza man was still in the street and the limo driver said "Get out of the street." The person in the limo was Sondra. Mr.Martinez said "Can I have your autograph Sondra?" Mr.Sims cat got scared and ran up the tree and people were making him come down and he came down. "I'm sure 90th street has a solution." She tried to imagine who that person was but she couldn't. Then the pizza man and limo driver shook hands. Eva opened her notebook and read her story and it was a good story, Eva told herself it would only be better if she rewrote it.

Every day something very exciting happens if you look for it. Eva is trying her hardest every day to find that exciting thing she wants to see. She never gives up. She is a people person and always knows what people are doing. Maybe no one sees what Eva sees because she is looking very strong. I liked the way when Eva is trying her hardest to find interesting things that she really wants to see.

By Mikayla

Good book to get kids' ideas flowing by .. Luv2read (ND)
Too often, students don't think they have anything to write about. This was a very cute story that can be used as a springboard about what could happen in their own neighborhoods.

I don't get it... by .. teacher_lady (Sacramento, CA USA)
I bought this book as a companion for a lesson on writing development from a writing program that I love and use. I set up for the lesson then read this book to my students. It was a drag...It was boring...It was disjointed...we didn't get it. It seemed to lack a point. The new title could be "No Really...Nothing ever happens on 90th Street...I Mean It!" Now the illustrations were great! I love the loose style of the artist. I wish the author had developed the story better. I wished this teacher had previewed the book better.

great for teaching creative writing by .. Book Lover #52 (Ann Arbor, MI)
This book's beautiful pictures and descriptions provide models of good narrative writing, and the actual situation-- writing where first you think there's nothing to write about-- is great for reluctant writers...

Long winded by .. S. Bullock (Estero, FL United States)
This is a very long story for kids. My daughter, who delights in reading with me for up to an hour at a time, could not sit through even four pages of this book. I would have forced the issue if I had felt it was a great read and she was just not focused but I couldn't get into it either. Expect loooong wordy passages and little plot movement. I would maybe recommend it for an older elementary age child who needs some help with their creative writing (that's what the story is about)but I wouldn't really recommend it otherwise. There are so many other more interesting books out there!

Related Search : 90th s , ever happens

C/S Nothing Ever Happens Is (City Stories)

Author : Jane Manners Number of Pages : 8 Publisher : Rigby List Price : $5.00 Amazon Price : $5.00

Related Search : c s , ever happens , city stories

The Africanized honey bee in the United States: What will happen to the U.S. beekeeping industry? (Agricultural economic report)

Author : Robert McDowell Number of Pages : 33 Publisher : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Related Search : u s , beekeeping industry , states happen