An extended review of a 2025 book by Mark Clark
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Zondervan, 2025. 272 pages. $29 (ebook $19, audio $25)
This book investigates life’s biggest questions. Anyone who seeks answers to such questions, or simply has an interest in ways to address them will benefit from Clark’s accessible presentation of biblical principles.
Author Mark Clark grew up in Toronto and moved to Vancouver with his wife Erin in 2004. He received a Master of New Testament Studies from Regent College before founding Village Church in 2010. Clark preached there until 2022, when he moved to California to join the pastoral team at Bayside Church.
The book begins with a personal story. Clark mistakenly informs a member of his church that her husband is dead. This unfortunate incident at least gave her a renewed appreciation for her still living husband – an insight into her life’s meaning. Clark refers to such meanings as “soulish things.” Personal stories like this one are throughout the book and make the content engaging and understandable.
Clark then investigates the Genesis account of human origins; we were made in God’s image, fell and were tasked with journeying back to Him. These details are crucial for our self-understanding, just as Clark’s origins are crucial for our understanding of him. One important element of Clark’s biography is the childhood trauma which caused him to develop Tourette’s tics – he humorously observes that these “are not ways to be cool in high school.”
Clark’s analysis of human origins places him in scientific and philosophical discussions. Francis Crick and Klaus Dose, for instance, share Clark’s opinion that purely scientific explanations of the origin of life are incomplete. Further, philosophical arguments for God’s existence, such as the cosmological and fine-tuning arguments discussed by Clark, are expounded in depth by William Lane Craig.
The Bible tells us that we are limited beings. Clark believes this to be an essential component of our identity. In Genesis, humans resisted their limitations and tried to be like God; recent attempts to solve perennial human problems with technology and psychology show that we are still trying. The Bible denies our ability to be gods while also rejecting that we are only animals.
We have the divine within us, and victory in Christ. Clark argues that with this knowledge we can resist the victim narrative promoted by contemporary culture. This section on identity demonstrates Clark’s ability to apply old, biblical ideas to current issues, which he does well throughout the book.
Christianity grapples with pain and suffering, as any good world view must. Clark reminds us that goodness exists along with suffering. This reality was present in Jesus’ own life, as it is for us today. Suffering is often part of life’s meaning and purpose. Relationships, for instance, carry elements of risk and tragedy – “We all come to learn the vicious truth that grief is the cost of loving.”
Clark understands stewardship to be part of our purpose. God gives Adam and Eve the task of “finishing” creation, and we are meant to continue this process. Clark took up this call in his own life in founding Village Church – an endeavour that was rewarding even with its challenges.
In each section of this book, Clark manages to make theological ideas accessible. For instance, when exploring eschatology he says, “Eternal life isn’t disconnected from this one, but like walking through a door from one room in your house to another, it continues on in the same vein, with wider expanse.” And regarding wrong worship he says, “The fool’s errand is trying to derive joy from created things . . .”.
In the book’s last section, Clark addresses death. It’s a reality we must face – “The Great Insult” that can take us away unannounced. We are to fully acknowledge this reality and maintain the hope of the life to come.
Clark defends this hope against atheistic arguments, but very briefly. A more thorough exploration of the arguments in favour of life after death might have made a more compelling case.
Clark closes the book with a continuation of the initial story of the mistaken death; he ends up encouraging the woman he misled at a timely moment.
The Problem of Life engages with life’s biggest questions in a personal and accessible way. Clark’s unique theological insights provide a fresh presentation of biblical principles which can be applied to daily life. For Clark, the hope of the gospel extends even to death – “Faith in Jesus doesn’t mean we won’t die but that we are safe in dying.”
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