In His Image by Jen Wilkin
Week 5: Chapter 4 — Good
Read Chapter 4 of In His Image. Key passages: Psalm 34:8; Psalm 107; Mark 10:18; Romans 8:28.
Previewing Week 5 of In His Image
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
When life is hard, our deepest doubts often boil down to one question: Is God actually good? Wilkin takes that question seriously, refusing to offer easy answers — and shows how the goodness of God is not a pleasant idea but a bedrock conviction that holds us when circumstances give us every reason to doubt.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Jesus says in Mark 10:18, 'No one is good except God alone.' Wilkin uses this to establish that goodness, like all the attributes, originates in God and flows outward to creation. What makes this more than a theological abstraction? How does it change the way you think about goodness when you encounter it in the world?
2.Wilkin distinguishes between God's goodness as a settled theological fact and our felt sense of God's goodness in the middle of suffering. Have you ever found yourself believing God is good in your head while struggling to feel it in your gut? Describe that tension honestly.
3.Psalm 107 is a catalog of people in dire circumstances — wanderers, prisoners, sick and afflicted, storm-tossed sailors — who all cry out and are rescued by God. Wilkin uses this psalm to show that the goodness of God is most powerfully displayed not in the absence of trouble but through it. How does this reframe the question 'Why is God letting this happen to me?'