Another in the series of common yet undocumented heresies: let’s call this one “non-theistic space.” Astrophysicists theorize about alternate universes that we can’t touch. Non-theistic space contains the areas which God can’t control.

The heresy… I mean, theory…of non-theistic space solves several difficulties. By providing an exception to Romans 8:28, it allows Christians to get mad when something bad happens to them. If God were in charge of everything, we wouldn’t ever have to worry. But, oh, this minor tragedy that just happened me… it must have happened in non-theistic space. Don’t you think?

For that matter, non-theistic space provides the setting for Harold Kushner’s book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I haven’t read it, but I understand that the whole book is set within non-theistic space. To misquote Francis Schaeffer, he is there, and he is not silent. But he’s so sorry that he can’t help you.

(For a criticism of a related heresy, see Paul Hiebert’s Flaw of the Excluded Middle.)