A Good Beginning to the Fall at Schubach
We had a very good turnout Sunday for Ingrid Faro’s lecture, “Genesis and the Problem of Evil,” and several people joined us online as well.
The energy in the room was encouraging. Ingrid’s lecture gave people a great deal to wrestle with, and the discussion afterward showed it. People asked questions, pushed on her interpretation, and continued talking after the formal discussion had ended.
One line from Ingrid has stayed with me:
“We can think we’re doing good, doing God’s will, and actually be doing evil.”
One of the things Ingrid emphasized was the situational and relational character of good and evil in Genesis. Her point reminded me of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s discussion of ethics. Bonhoeffer was wary of an ethics in which we imagine that possessing the right moral principle guarantees that we will do the good when we apply it to a concrete situation. Responsible action requires discernment in the actual situation, before God and in relation to other people.
Ingrid was not following Bonhoeffer’s argument, but I heard a similar warning in both: our conviction that we are doing good—even that we are doing God’s will—is not itself proof that what we are doing is good.
That is the kind of question we want to make room for at the Schubach Library & Study Center. Not simply lectures in which someone speaks and everyone goes home, but opportunities to listen, ask questions, disagree, think again, and continue the conversation.
Judging from the conversations as people were leaving, there is an appetite for more of this.
Coming in October
Our next Schubach lecture will be:
Did Jesus Abolish the Jewish Law?: Rereading Ephesians 2:11–22
Dr, Joel Willitts, Professor in Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University and Director of the Schubach Library Study Center
October 11, 2026 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
It’s a nearly a universally held Christian belief that Paul claimed in Ephesians 2:15, that Jesus’ death abolished the Jewish law. But is that interpretation correct? That’s our question.
Scan the QR code for information on the Lecture and to Register
And if you joined us Sunday, either in person or online, we would like to hear from you. We are preparing a short feedback form so that we can learn what worked, what questions the lecture raised for you, and what kinds of conversations you would like Schubach to host in the future.
Thank you to Ingrid Faro and to everyone who joined us. It was a very good beginning to the fall.