Evil and the Problem of Jesus
Ebook
Evil and the Problem of Jesus approaches age-old questions about God's relationship with evil (theodicy) from an entirely fresh angle. Rather than tweaking airy abstractions, it makes Jesus' interactions with evil our primary source for thinking about theodicy. This Christ-centered approach reveals the failure of traditional theodicy to be intellectually convincing or spiritually satisfying. Unlike that fossilized intellectual heritage, Christodicy (evil-and-Jesus) provides original insights into divine power, presence, and love that help us reengage the God Jesus reveals and the evil Jesus challenges. Presenting Jesus as a model for how to be fully human, it crafts new ways to envision our own multidimensional relationships with God and with evil. Written with both breadth and focus, the book includes pastoral experiences of tragedy, suffering, and evil; retraces philosophical, multifaith, and biblical insights; and explores the ways the Gospels describe Jesus' complex interactions with evil. Evil and the Problem of Jesus asks pointed questions and offers thoughtful conceptual frameworks to help people live more faithfully, compassionately, wisely, and justly in response to the evils around us, among us, and within us.
“In this time of mass shootings, climate catastrophe, rising authoritarianism, and racial terrorism, this book is a timely study of the overwhelming nature of the social forces that generate and perpetuate social injustice, held in tension with personal responsibility and agency critical to Christian thought. The God that emerges in these pages is a God Jews and Hindus would recognize, yet challenging for those of us who inhabit Christianity in twenty-first century America and equate God with power.”
—Winnie Varghese, Rector, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta
“Gary Commins has written a creative and innovative reflection on the nature of evil. Commins persuasively asserts that an appropriately Christian perspective begins with Jesus’ own engagement with evil, enlightened by the Hebrew Scriptures, Trinitarian doctrine, and insights from other religious traditions. Crafted in Commins’ unique and eminently readable style, the book offers a ‘Christodicy’ that honors Scripture and tradition but is resolutely contemporary.”
—John L. Kater, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, emeritus
“With incisive research and penetrating insights, Commins exposes a Christian theological and philosophical tradition that has ignored Jesus when addressing the perplexing problem of evil. By taking seriously the ways in which Jesus navigated and responded to evil in his own day, Commins offers a thoughtful, faithful, and just pathway for responding to the complex ways in which evil impacts everyday lives, from the systemic to the personal. A must-read for scholars and pastors alike.”
—Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean, Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary
“Evil and the Problem of Jesus asks: How can Christians live with daily mass shootings in America? How can they live with the evil within? As Commins states, ‘we forget to think as Christians. We forget to engage the mind of Christ as we respond to exploitation and injustice, misery and pain, and violence and death.’ This book, beautifully written, with Christodicy responds: ‘How do we justify our ways to Christ?’”
—Tim Vivian, California State University Bakersfield, emeritus
- Title: Evil and the Problem of Jesus
- Author: Gary Commins
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666793932, 9781666736083, 1666736082, 9781666793925, 1666793922, 1666793930
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666793932
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-02-12T10:51:55Z