On the recent deaths of two Jewish clergymen

Harold Kushner, member of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism and congregational rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick in Natick, Massachusetts for 24 years, died on April 28, 2023, 25 days after his 88th birthday. Rabbi Kushner wrote 16 books, and was best known for When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1981), in which he argued that a benevolent but finite God offers solace to those who suffer, but isn't powerful enough to prevent suffering. The book was very popular, appealing to people with "itching ears" (II Timothy 4:3).

On April 19, 2023, Albert Runge, born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, died in Abbotsford, British Columbia at the age of 94. He placed his trust in Jesus Christ as his saviour and lord at the age of 14, and spent his career as a pastor with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in the United States and Canada, including almost a decade (1981-1991) at Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton.

In a sermon at Beulah in 1983, Pastor Runge referred to Rabbi Kushner's most famous book, saying, "Doesn't that Jew know his scriptures? I feel sorry for that rabbi, worshipping such a weak god." Pastor Runge worshipped the true omnipotent God of the Bible and took his God seriously and kept the faith, but never took himself seriously. Pastor Runge told his story in his autobiography A Brooklyn New Meets Jesus (2001).