The Rational Theologian
Where Faith and Reason Meet
Pierre Gilbert, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus
Canadian Mennonite University
Scholarly Publications
The articles posted in this section address a variety of biblical and theological issues ranging from biblical theology, the problem of evil, mission, faith and society, and spiritual warfare. While the topics may seem somewhat eclectic, they have two crucial elements in common: 1) they all focus on exegesis and biblical theology; 2) they seek to relate the biblical text to a contemporary concern.
Biblical Theology
I was invited to present a paper on the relationship between biblical and systematic theology at a conference on biblical interpretation organized by the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in October 2019. The main purpose of the lecture was to rehabilitate the discipline of systematic theology by clarifying its relationship to biblical theology and the role it can legitimately play in the overall interpretive process.
The call to conversion is at the very heart of the prophetic discourse in the Old Testament. It is impossible to read the prophets without being struck by their insistent call to return to Yahweh. For them, it is clearly a matter of life and death. The notion of conversion in the prophetic literature, however, is a very complex matter and should ideally be examined from various angles. I do not pretend, within the constraints of this article, to be in a position to do justice to the various facets of this issue. I will therefore limit my investigation to a specific dimension of this question: the oracles of judgment.
Problem of Evil
The most incisive indictment against Christianity resides in the notion of a God who created a world in which there is untold suffering and death. Is this the best God could do?
In response, most Christians will mutter something about free will or the necessity of evil to bring about God’s plan for humanity. Theologians often reply by challenging the very legitimacy of the question; God only requires that we persevere. Biblical scholars, who might otherwise be expected to offer a scriptural perspective, nervously denounce any suggestion that the presence of evil may have had something to do with a primordial couple and a fruit tree.
Is it any wonder that most people believe that evil must surely be an intractable component of human existence introduced, perhaps, by the very God Jews and Christians worship?
This book is a response to the problem of evil that unconditionally affirms the goodness and power of God. Based on a new assessment of the Genesis creation story, one of the greatest texts ever to have emerged in human history, the author contends that God never intended for humanity to experience suffering and death.
Dr. Walter Unger’s keen interest in the life of C. S. Lewis and his writings is no secret. It is also well known that the question of human free will defines, more than anything else, the theological core of C. S. Lewis’s thought. It is in keeping with this critical issue for C. S. Lewis and, I suspect, for Dr. Unger as well, that I have chosen to submit a reflection on a biblical character whose dealings with God have provoked a lot of discussions about the relationship between human free will and divine determinism: Pharaoh.
He Never Meant for Us to Die! An Incursion into Genesis 1–3. Direction 41 (2012):42-56.
Why did Jesus have to die? The answer to the question that most fundamentally motivates the contemporary debate on the atonement is both simple and infinitely complex.
Mission
“Engaging Worldviews.” In The Church in Mission. Ed. by Victor Wiens. Winnipeg, MB: Kindred Productions, 2015. 333-350.