How many times have you been faced with a question like this from a student:

Why did God let  _____________ happen?

What do you think God really thinks of ______________ and the people who do that?

Do you think God forgives people who think ______________ or do ______________?

Do you think God lets ________________ into heaven?

Would God really forgive me if I _________________ ?

How we create space for students to ask these kinds of questions, and wrestle with the difficult answers (or lack of clear-cut answers) will be significant in how their faith is shaped, owned and ultimately lived out!

If Theodicy is defined as the attempt to justify God’s ways in the world, and the college years are some of the most formative years of life, than it only makes sense that the kinds of questions our students will ask (or fail to ask) during these years will serve to establish the foundation for their faith that will last for many years to come.

We have the unique opportunity, or even responsibility, to assist students into the deeper waters of faith, through the process of wrestling with the questions about God and this world, that they cannot get their heads around.

What I’m struggling to figure out is how we get the mass population of our students to be interested in these BIGGER than life questions… because from what I am seeing, the only students really interested in exploring these questions are the ones who are going through some sort of life tragedy or personal crisis, and this is only a small percentage of our student body.

What are you seeing?

What serves as a catalyst for your students’ exploration of some of the bigger questions about God and life?

How are they dealing with tension between what they believe about God and what they see in the world?

What draws your students into the deeper waters of faith?