Answering Andy Rhodes on the Problem of Pain

On the Amazon page for a book by Hector Avalos about the "bad Jesus," an apparently sincere, and obviously thoughtful, reader posted a series of challenges to me.  His name is Andy Rhodes, a former Christian who says he is open to returning to Christianity, if his questions can be answered.  I will not pretend that I can answer them all to Andy's satisfaction or even, in some cases, to my own.  But frankly, it is not every day that I come across skeptics whose challenges are this strong and internally coherent.  So I'd like to give his arguments a shot.  (He gave me permission to post them here and reply, not that I always ask.)

Andy's first post (of six in this bunch) is about the "Problem of Pain" or divine hiddenness, along with the Christian record.  I've been known to duck and run from this former problem, but let's give it a bit of a shot now. 

I'll respond to Andy's comments one paragraph or so at a time. 

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