Theology and the Problem of Evil

Theology and the Problem of Evil

Author: Kenneth Surin

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-10-29

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1592449816

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One of the most profound problems that theologians are called on to address is the presence of evil and suffering in the world, and how this can be reconciled with the assertion of an omnipotent and morally perfect God. This book begins by showing how the problem of evil has been inextricably bound up with the problematic deity created by the philosophical theism of the Enlightenment and perpetuated ever since, demonstrating how contemporary theodicists have failed to perceive the historical and cultural determinants which affect their theorizing. Dr. Surin argues that thinking on the problem of evil consists of two fundamental perspectives. He labels these the theoretical and the practical approaches and examines the work of a number of theologians who typify each. Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, the process theologians, and John Hick exemplify the theoretical approach; Dorothee Soelle, Jurgen Moltmann, and P. T. Forsyth the practical. He uses the views of Dostoevsky's character Ivan Karamazov and the protagonists in Elie Wiesel's writing as a paradigm for evaluating the two approaches, and concludes that only the practical approach has the merit of both rooting itself in the realities of human suffering, and grounding itself in the fundamental rule of what he calls an adequate grammar of salvation, namely that God justifies himself by justifying sinners on the cross. Finally, Dr. Surin explores this grammar of the notion of an incarnate salvation with particular reference to the need for a messianic and practical solidarity with those who are afflicted. This thought-provoking book will serve both as an introduction to those new to the ideas of theodicy, and as a stimulating essay for those dissatisfied with conventional studies of theology and the problem of evil.


Reasonable Faith

Reasonable Faith

Author: William Lane Craig

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 1433501155

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This updated edition by one of the world's leading apologists presents a systematic, positive case for Christianity that reflects the latest work in the contemporary hard sciences and humanities. Brilliant and accessible.


The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil

Author: Peter van Inwagen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2008-04-17

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 0199543976

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The vast amount of suffering in the world is often held as a particularly powerful reason to deny that God exists. Highly accessible and carefully argued, Peter van Inwagen's book maintains that such reasoning does not hold, and that suffering should not undermine belief in God.


Calvinism and the Problem of Evil

Calvinism and the Problem of Evil

Author: David E. Alexander

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-07-13

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1532601026

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Contrary to what many philosophers believe, Calvinism neither makes the problem of evil worse nor is it obviously refuted by the presence of evil and suffering in our world. Or so most of the authors in this book claim. While Calvinism has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years amongst theologians and laypersons, many philosophers have yet to follow suit. The reason seems fairly clear: Calvinism, many think, cannot handle the problem of evil with the same kind of plausibility as other more popular views of the nature of God and the nature of God's relationship with His creation. This book seeks to challenge that untested assumption. With clarity and rigor, this collection of essays seeks to fill a significant hole in the literature on the problem of evil.


Theodicy of Love

Theodicy of Love

Author: John C. Peckham

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 149341576X

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If God is all powerful and entirely good and loving, why is there so much evil in the world? Based on a close canonical reading of Scripture, this book offers a new approach to the challenge of reconciling the Christian confession of a loving God with the realities of suffering and evil. John Peckham offers a constructive proposal for a theodicy of love that upholds both the sovereignty of God and human freedom, showing that Scripture points toward a framework for thinking about God's love in relation to the world.


The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil

Author: Michael L. Peterson

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 636

ISBN-13: 0268100357

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Of all the issues in the philosophy of religion, the problem of reconciling belief in God with evil in the world arguably commands more attention than any other. For over two decades, Michael L. Peterson’s The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings has been the most widely recognized and used anthology on the subject. Peterson's expanded and updated second edition retains the key features of the original and presents the main positions and strategies in the latest philosophical literature on the subject. It will remain the most complete introduction to the subject as well as a resource for advanced study. Peterson organizes his selection of classical and contemporary sources into four parts: important statements addressing the problem of evil from great literature and classical philosophy; debates based on the logical, evidential, and existential versions of the problem; major attempts to square God's justice with the presence of evil, such as Augustinian, Irenaean, process, openness, and felix culpa theodicies; and debates on the problem of evil covering such concepts as a best possible world, natural evil and natural laws, gratuitous evil, the skeptical theist defense, and the bearing of biological evolution on the problem. The second edition includes classical excerpts from the book of Job, Voltaire, Dostoevsky, Augustine, Aquinas, Leibniz, and Hume, and twenty-five essays that have shaped the contemporary discussion, by J. L. Mackie, Alvin Plantinga, William Rowe, Marilyn Adams, John Hick, William Hasker, Paul Draper, Michael Bergmann, Eleonore Stump, Peter van Inwagen, and numerous others. Whether a professional philosopher, student, or interested layperson, the reader will be able to work through a number of issues related to how evil in the world affects belief in God.


The Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil

Author: Nick Trakakis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 019882162X

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Eight leading philosophers of religion debate 'the problem of evil' - the problem of reconciling the existence of a perfectly good and loving God with the existence of sin and suffering in the world. Their dialogues explore a range of imaginative and innovative approaches to the nature of divinity and its relationship to evil.


Evil and a Selection of its Theological Problems

Evil and a Selection of its Theological Problems

Author: Benjamin Arbour

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2017-01-06

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1443862274

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Recent formulations of the inductive, continual problem of evil require us to consider new responses to the charge that there is something irrational about believing in God, given the type and amount of evil in the world. Furthermore, fresh approaches to the problem of evil offer suggestive ways to enter a new line of inquiry, in regards to both theistic defences against various articulations of the problem of evil and also theodicy. Finally, developments in contemporary theology, especially analytic philosophical theology, likewise require new treatments of the problem of evil. This volume, on the problem on evil, presents a series of essays that incorporate responses to these developments. The articles fall into three broad sections. The first critiques and examines the analytic, inductive problem of evil on the basis of its modal underpinnings, the discourse of possible worlds, and issues related to hiddenness and vagueness. The second part presents a narrative response to the problem of evil. Its approaches attempt to show the way in which peculiar features of narrative such as dramatic irony, verisimilitude, and distinctions between person-type propositions offer fresh ways to encapsulate our feelings about evil and our response to the theological problems raised by encounters with evil. Such existential concerns are valuable for our thinking about these matters. The third section relates the problem of evil to developments in contemporary analytic theology, such as open theism, idealism and the felix culpa theodicy.


The Cambridge Companion to the Problem of Evil

The Cambridge Companion to the Problem of Evil

Author: Chad Meister

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-06-09

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1107055385

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This Companion offers a state-of-the-art contribution by providing critical analyses of and creative insights on the problem of evil.


Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God

Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God

Author: Marilyn McCord Adams

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-09-05

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1501735926

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When confronted by horrendous evil, even the most pious believer may question not only life's worth but also God's power and goodness. A distinguished philosopher and a practicing minister, Marilyn McCord Adams has written a highly original work on a fundamental dilemma of Christian thought—how to reconcile faith in God with the evils that afflict human beings. Adams argues that much of the discussion in analytic philosophy of religion over the last forty years has offered too narrow an understanding of the problem. The ground rules accepted for the discussion have usually led philosophers to avert their gaze from the worst—horrendous—evils and their devastating impact on human lives. They have agreed to debate the issue on the basis of religion-neutral values, and have focused on morals, an approach that—Adams claims—is inadequate for formulating and solving the problem of horrendous evils. She emphasizes instead the fruitfulness of other evaluative categories such as purity and defilement, honor and shame, and aesthetics. If redirected, philosophical reflection on evil can, Adams's book demonstrates, provide a valuable approach not only to theories of God and evil but also to pastoral care.