God and the Problem of Evil: Five Views (Spectrum Multiview Books)
Overview
The problem of evil is a constant challenge to faith in God. How can we believe in a loving and powerful God given the existence of so much suffering in the world? Philosophers and theologians have addressed this problem countless times over the centuries. New explanations have been proposed in recent decades drawing on resources in Scripture, theology, philosophy, and science. According to the classic position, associated especially with the Augustinian tradition, God permits evil and suffering as part of the grand narrative of divine providence to bring about the redemption of creation. Molinism modifies the classic view by adding God’s middle knowledge to the picture, in which God has knowledge of what creatures would do in all possible worlds. Open theism rejects the determinism of the classic view in favor of an account of God as a risk-taker who does not know for sure what the future holds. Essential kenosis goes further in providing a comprehensive theodicy by arguing that God cannot control creatures and thus cannot unilaterally prevent evil. Skeptical theism rejects the attempt to provide a theodicy and instead argues that, if God exists, we should not expect to understand God’s purposes.
Top Highlights
“The basic answer to the problem of evil given by the classic view is that no evil takes place unless God permits it, and that God has a good reason for permitting each evil, which takes the form of a greater good that he uses the evil to bring about.” (Page 14)
“To put it in the sophisticated terms of medieval logic, evil is not the contrary of good but its privation.5” (Page 16)
“Since evil has no being of its own, it is not a being that God creates” (Page 17)
“Molina, on the other hand, thought that God has decided to actualize a world of libertarian free creatures and to skillfully play the hand he has been dealt in such a way that his ultimate ends are achieved through creaturely free decisions, despite the sinful decisions they would make and the evils they would bring about.” (Page 39)
“Molina defines providence as God’s ordering of things to their ends, either directly or mediately through secondary agents.” (Page 39)
- Title: God and the Problem of Evil: Five Views
- Authors: Chad V. Meister, Jr. James K. Dew
- Series: Spectrum Multiview Books
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Theodicy; God › Christianity; Good and evil › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9780830891740, 9780830840243, 0830891749, 0830840249
- Resource ID: LLS:GODPROBLEMEVIL
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:19:09Z