The Problem of Evil and the Power of God. (Studies in Systematic Theology)

The problem of evil can be defined theoretically as the apparent inconsistency between, on the one hand, belief in the existence of a perfectly good and omnipotent God and, on the other hand, the existence of evil. This book discusses four different solutions to this problem, provided by Richard Swinburne, Keith Ward, David Griffin and Johan Hygen, with the goal of finding the most coherent solution. The author makes several suggestions for improvement and concludes that there is a coherent answer to the problem of evil. While the focus is on Christian approaches to the problem, many of the approaches and solutions are applicable to other religions as well. The Problem of Evil and the Power of God......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 10 The Problem of Evil......Page 12 Responses to the Problem of Evil not Discussed in this Book......Page 16 Material......Page 24 Method and Outline......Page 27 PART ONE PRESENTATION OF THE FOUR THEODICIES......Page 32 II. Richard Swinburne’s Theodicy......Page 34 Greater Goods......Page 36 Necessary Evils......Page 38 Swinburne’s Theodicy......Page 42 III. Keith Ward’s Theodicy......Page 45 Concept of God......Page 46 Goals for Creation......Page 49 Ward’s Theodicy......Page 50 IV. David R. Griffin’s Theodicy......Page 58 Critique of Traditional Theism......Page 60 Introduction to Process Theism......Page 63 Griffin’s Theodicy......Page 68 The Problem of Evil......Page 72 The Concept of Almightiness......Page 77 Hygen’s Theodicy......Page 80 PART TWO CRITERIA AND TERMINOLOGY......Page 90 Puntel on Coherence......Page 92 Theory of Truth......Page 96 Value Judgments......Page 100 VII. Second Criterion: Authenticity......Page 106 Pannenberg on Systematic Theology......Page 109 The Philosophical Idea of God......Page 117 The Problem of Evil......Page 119 VIII. Terminology......Page 123 ‘Evil’......Page 127 ‘The Problem of Evil’......Page 130 ‘God’ as Concept......Page 132 God as a Perfectly Good Moral Actor in the World......Page 137 God as Personal......Page 139 God as Immutable, Impassible, Timeless and Omniscient......Page 140 God as Trinitarian......Page 145 God as Necessary......Page 147 God as Infinite......Page 157 God as Creator......Page 161 God’s Power......Page 163 PART THREE DISCUSSION OF THE FOUR THEODICIES......Page 170 IX. Swinburne......Page 172 Some Evils do not Lead to Greater Goods......Page 174 God Ought not to Use Evils as a Means......Page 184 There are Better Ways to Reach God’s Goals......Page 187 Some Evils are not Outweighed......Page 196 X. Ward......Page 207 God Ought not to Allow Genuine Evils......Page 208 Independence does not Require Suffering......Page 213 Independence is not Worth the Suffering......Page 224 Less Independent Beings would be Better......Page 229 XI. Griffin......Page 231 God’s Non-Coercion is Incoherent......Page 232 God’s Non-Coercion is Inauthentic......Page 240 XII. Hygen......Page 251 Hygen’s God is not Praiseworthy......Page 252 Why does God only Perform Miracles Sometimes?......Page 254 There are no Supernatural Evil Powers......Page 256 God’s Fight is not Genuine......Page 258 Constructive Proposals......Page 263 Final Conclusion......Page 271 Bibliography......Page 276 Index......Page 280 Introduction Part 1. Presentation of the four theodicies. Richard Swinburne's theodicy Keith Ward's theodicy David R. Griffin's theodicy Johan B. Hygen's theodicy Part 2. Criteria and terminology. First criterion : coherence Second criterion : authenticity Terminology Part 3. Discussion of the four theodicies. Swinburne Ward Griffin Hygen Conclusion. This book discusses four different answers to the problem of evil, provided by Richard Swinburne, Keith Ward, David Griffin and Johan Hygen. The author suggests several improvements to these answers and concludes that there is a coherent answer to the problem of evil.