“…Often the unstated assumption of many people is that it is God’s job to create a world in which things benefit us. We saw how the Deism of the eighteenth century explicitly promoted this idea though it was at loggerheads with the book of Genesis and the rest of the Bible. Nevertheless, this idea has captured the hearts of most people, as sociologist Christian Smith points out. From his research he concluded that most young American adults are “practical Deists”—though few of them have ever heard the term. Smith means that they see God as a being whose job it is to meet their needs. The implicit but strong cultural assumption of young adults is that God owes all but the most villainous people a comfortable life. This premise, however, inevitably leads to bitter disappointment. Life is nasty, brutish, and always feels too short. The presumption of spiritual entitlement dooms its bearers to a life of confusion when things in life inevitably go wrong.”
(Timothy Keller, “The Challenge of Faith,” Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, p 115, 2013)
Kingdom Scribe 