Sarah’s Laughter: Doubt, Tears, and Christian Hope
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Sarah’s Laughter provides a reflection on suffering that is deeply personal and both theologically and philosophically astute.
Vinoth Ramachandra draws on his distinctive positioning as a Sri Lankan Christian theologian—one who has lived and ministered in contexts shaped by the destruction of natural disasters and the violence of human evil—to confront the intellectual, moral, and political challenges posed to faith in the increasingly broken world of the twenty-first century. Yet far from being an abstract discussion of theodicy, this book is intimate and vulnerable, embracing the biblical practice of lament and inviting an authentic response to grief—one that makes space for serious doubt and profound questioning. Sharing his own ongoing journey with suffering and a questing faith, Ramachandra reminds us that lament and joy, faith and protest, clarity and ambiguity, belong together in faithful Christian discipleship. It is not in bypassing the darkness of the world, but in embracing it—in imitation of the incarnate God—that we may glimpse the new creation.
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- Draws on his distinctive positioning as a Sri Lankan Christian theologian
- Explores the biblical practice of lament
- Reminds us that lament and joy, faith and protest, clarity and ambiguity, belong together in faithful Christian discipleship
- Why, O Lord, Do You Hide Your Face?
- Job and the Messiness of Theology
- The Tears of God
- God and Natural Evil
- The Future Tense
In Sarah’s Laughter one of Asia’s finest Christian thinkers offers a compellingly articulate and authentically human response to the age-old question of human pain and suffering that goes beyond shallow theodicies and glib answers towards a biblical realism that is both true to reason and true to life. Ramachandra’s creative, theological genius is at its best in the robust treatment of relevant biblical material, wealth of research, depth of analysis and provocative insight. Its distinctive feature, however, is the depth of emotion and existential passion that comes through on almost every page. Sarah’s Laughter is intellectually convincing, spiritually nourishing, and of burning relevance to the times in which we live, and hence a must-read for every genuine person of faith!
—Rev Ivan Satyavrata, PhD
Sarah’s Laughter is a rich and challenging theological feast-nourishing, educating and encouraging and deeply personal and “reality” shaped, and faithful to those parts of Scripture that so easily get air-brushed out of popular piety. We need those Scriptures more than ever.
—Christopher J. H. Wright, PhD