A Theodicy for a Suffering World with a Hidden God

A Theodicy for a Suffering World with a Hidden God PDF Author: Philip Pegan
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 166692427X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
If God exists, why is there so much pain and suffering, and why isn’t his existence more obvious? In A Theodicy for a Suffering World with a Hidden God, Philip Pegan develops a theodicy in answer to these questions. This theodicy is consistent with theological determinism—the belief that everything that happens is determined by the will of God—and with the possibility that human beings are entirely physical in nature. It affirms all creatures capable of suffering will eventually enjoy a life of eternal happiness, demonstrating the plausibility of the notion that if God allows suffering in a creature, there is an outweighing good He can bring about in the creature’s life only if He allows for such suffering. Pegan’s theodicy is compatible with the claim that the world is unsurpassably good. It assumes value realism, but could be revised without fundamentally altering the framework or main substance of the theodicy, while assuming value antirealism

Theodicy

Theodicy PDF Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
"Theodicy" is a book of philosophy by the German polymath Gottfried Leibniz published in 1710, whose optimistic approach to the problem of evil is thought to have inspired Voltaire's "Candide". Much of the work consists of a response to the ideas of the French philosopher Pierre Bayle, with whom Leibniz carried on a debate for many years. The "Theodicy" tries to justify the apparent imperfections of the world by claiming that it is optimal among all possible worlds. It must be the best possible and most balanced world, because it was created by an all powerful and all knowing God, who would not choose to create an imperfect world if a better world could be known to him or possible to exist. In effect, apparent flaws that can be identified in this world must exist in every possible world, because otherwise God would have chosen to create the world that excluded those flaws. Leibniz distinguishes three forms of evil: moral, physical, and metaphysical. Moral evil is sin, physical evil is pain, and metaphysical evil is limitation. God permits moral and physical evil for the sake of greater goods, and metaphysical evil is unavoidable since any created universe must necessarily fall short of God's absolute perfection.

Wandering in Darkness

Wandering in Darkness PDF Author: Eleonore Stump
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191056316
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
Only the most naïve or tendentious among us would deny the extent and intensity of suffering in the world. Can one hold, consistently with the common view of suffering in the world, that there is an omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good God? This book argues that one can. Wandering in Darkness first presents the moral psychology and value theory within which one typical traditional theodicy, namely, that of Thomas Aquinas, is embedded. It explicates Aquinas's account of the good for human beings, including the nature of love and union among persons. Eleonore Stump also makes use of developments in neurobiology and developmental psychology to illuminate the nature of such union. Stump then turns to an examination of narratives. In a methodological section focused on epistemological issues, the book uses recent research involving autism spectrum disorder to argue that some philosophical problems are best considered in the context of narratives. Using the methodology argued for, the book gives detailed, innovative exegeses of the stories of Job, Samson, Abraham and Isaac, and Mary of Bethany. In the context of these stories and against the backdrop of Aquinas's other views, Stump presents Aquinas's own theodicy, and shows that Aquinas's theodicy gives a powerful explanation for God's allowing suffering. She concludes by arguing that this explanation constitutes a consistent and cogent defense for the problem of suffering.

Reasonable Faith

Reasonable Faith PDF Author: William Lane Craig
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433501155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
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.

Why a Suffering World Makes Sense

Why a Suffering World Makes Sense PDF Author: Chris Tiegreen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801065750
Category : Consolation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Tiegreen reveals that there is a point to suffering--it reveals God's mercy, forgiveness, and healing that can only be known in an imperfect world. He encourages readers to let God's hidden attributes be revealed in their pain, thereby helping them unravel the mystery of who God is.

Theodicy of Love

Theodicy of Love PDF Author: John C. Peckham
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 149341576X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
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 Physical Nature of Christian Life

The Physical Nature of Christian Life PDF Author: Warren S. Brown
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521515939
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
This book explores the implications of recent insights in modern neuroscience that attribute mental capacities often ascribed to a disembodied soul instead to the functions of the brain and body in collaboration with social experience. It explores how this insight changes the traditional "care of souls," encouraging more attention to fostering spiritual growth through a social and communal focus.

Paradoxology

Paradoxology PDF Author: Krish Kandiah
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830897720
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Many of us have big questions about God that the Christian faith seems to leave unanswered. But what if that tension is exactly where faith comes alive? Paradoxology boldly claims that the paradoxes that seem to undermine belief are actually the heart of our vibrant faith, and it is only by continually wrestling with them that God is most clearly revealed.

The Problem of Animal Pain

The Problem of Animal Pain PDF Author: T. Dougherty
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137443170
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
Animal suffering constitutes perhaps the greatest challenge to rational belief in the existence of God. Considerations that render human suffering theologically intelligible seem inapplicable to animal suffering. In this book, Dougherty defends radical possibilities for animal afterlife that allow a soul-making theodicy to apply to their case.

Raging with Compassion

Raging with Compassion PDF Author: John Swinton
Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN: 0334056403
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
In "Raging with Compassion", Michael Ramsey prize-winning author John Swinton argues for a practical theodicy, one embodied in the life and practices of the Christian community. This practicality does not seek to provide an explanation for the existence of evil, but rather presents ways in which evil and suffering can be resisted and transformed. This, he insists, will enable Christians to live faithfully with unanswered questions as they await God's redemption of the whole creation. Swinton explores essential practices of redemption - lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and friendship - drawing out their implications for the faithful resistance of evil. Enhanced by case studies from current events and by Swinton's own experience as a pastor and mental health nurse, "Raging with Compassion" seeks to inspire fresh Christian responses and modes of practice in our broken, fallen world.