Where Was God: Evil, Theodicy, and Modern Science PDF Download

Author:
Publisher: Gary Stilwell
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Author: Chad Meister
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830891749
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
Evil abounds. And so do the attempts to understand God in the face of such evil. 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. This Spectrum Multiview volume stages a dialogue between the five key positions in the current debate: Phillip Cary: A Classic View William Lane Craig: A Molinist View William Hasker: An Open Theist View Thomas Jay Oord: An Essential Kenosis View Stephen Wykstra: A Skeptical Theism View 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. Edited and with an introduction by Chad Meister and James K. Dew Jr., God and the Problem of Evil hosts a generous and informative conversation on one of the most pressing issues in the Christian life. Spectrum Multiview Books offer a range of viewpoints on contested topics within Christianity, giving contributors the opportunity to present their position and also respond to others in this dynamic publishing format.

Author: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Publisher: e-artnow
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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"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.

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

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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.

Author: David Ray Griffin
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664229061
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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The baffling age-old question, if there is a good God, why is there evil in the world? has troubled ordinary people and great thinkers for centuries. God, Power, and Evil illuminates the issues by providing both a critical historical survey of theodicy as presented in the works of major Western philosophers and theologians--Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Spinoza, Luther, Calvin, Leibniz, Barth, John Hick, James Ross, Fackenheim, Brunner, Berkeley, Albert Knudson, E. S. Brighton, and others--and a brilliant constructive statement of an understanding of theodicy written from the perspective of the process philosophical and theological thought inspired primarily by Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne.

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.

Author: R. Douglas Geivett
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781566393973
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
How to reconcile the existence of evil with the belief in a benevolent God has long posed a philosophical problem to the system of Christian theism. This work redress this difficulty in modern terms.

Author: Antii Laato
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047402626
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 884

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Book Description
Is it justice when deities allow righteous human beings to suffer? This question has occupied the minds of theologians and philosophers for many centuries and is still hotly disputed. All kinds of argument have been developed to exonerate the 'good God' of any guilt in this respect. Since Leibniz it has become customary to describe such attempts as 'theodicy', the justification of God. In modern philosophical debate this use of 'theodicy' has been questioned. However, this volume shows that it is still a workable term for a concept that originated much earlier than is commonly realised. Experts from many disciplines follow the emergence of the theodicy problem from ancient Near Eastern texts of the second millennium BCE through biblical literature, from both Old and New Testament, intertestamental writings including Qumran, Philo Judaeus and rabbinic Judaism.

Author: William A. Dembski
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805427430
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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A leading intelligent-design supporter writes to prove a good God's existencein an evil world, in turn explaining what the end result of true Christianitymust be.

Author: David Birnbaum
Publisher: KTAV Publishing House, Inc.
ISBN: 9780881253078
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
V. 1. David Birnbaum's God and Evil is a major theological study which systematically confronts the philosophical problem of evil, and the Holocaust in particular. It presents an extensively researched and comprehensive review of the subject. In a clearly presented and readable exposition, Birnbaum then proposes a refreshing and powerful formulation. Combining modern and classic, rationalist and mystic themes, Birnbaum's proposed solution to the ancient problem of evil is perhaps the most elegant to appear in modern times. Though proceeding from a Jewish context, Birnbaum's compelling presentation and original synthesis will be of considerable value to adherents of all Western religions. God and Evil has been acclaimed by philosophers and theologians of all faiths. V. 2. This is a highly intuitive work attempting to advance our speculative conjecture about the cosmos but fully comporting to our knowledge of the spectrum of various realities, across the sciences, both physical and social. The work is written within a Jewish context, but its motifs are universal. If the construct proposed herein proves to stand the test of time, mainstream Jewish philosophy and theology will comport to its contours and other belief systems will find ways to accommodate its assertions. -- Amazon.com.