Joy Through the Night: Biblical Resources on Suffering (House of Prisca and Aquila)

Joy Through the Night uniquely combines personal experience and scholarship in order that readers may face the most difficult questions Christians can ask: If God is good and all-powerful how can the world be so shot through with evil? What about the pain of so many children and other innocent people? And why is God letting me hurt so much so long? Aida and William Spencer draw on the suffering they have faced--including chronic disease and the untimely death of a sibling--to ask these questions on a practical down-to-earth level. But they also draw on their extensive theological training and ministry experience to present biblical resources for dealing with suffering. In the end this is a book both realistic and hopeful offering reassurance that even in the midst of pain we can know joy as we learn to rely on God and the communal care of the church. It will prove a valuable aid to those who minister to them. Aida Besancon Spencer is Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and author of Beyond the Curse. Her spouse William David Spencer is a pastor Adjunct Associate Professor of Theology and the Arts at Gordon-Conwell and author of Mysterium and Mystery.