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The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective

Doug Erlandson

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Description:“If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, why is there evil in the world? An all-powerful and all-knowing God would have the ability to eliminate evil while an all-good God would want to eliminate evil. Yet, evil exists. So, how can God possibly be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good?”Commonly known as the “problem of evil,” this question has perplexed philosophers and theologians for centuries. Countless books and articles have been devoted to trying to justify the goodness of God in the face of evil. Others have sought to show that these justifications are unpersuasive.In The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective, Dr. Doug Erlandson takes a fresh approach to the problem, one that is based on the revelation given in the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Drawing on his nearly forty years of teaching and writing on the issue, Erlandson first of all looks at the traditional attempts to provide a justification of God in light of the evil in the world. These justifications, known as “theodicies,” fall into three major types--metaphysical theodicies, the freewill defense, and greater-good theodicies. Erlandson devotes a chapter to each of these.Metaphysical theodicies are those that argue that there is something in the nature of creation or in human beings that makes the existence of evil inevitable. Through an examination of St. Augustine’s theodicy as well as that of C.S. Lewis, Erlandson shows that this approach is particularly unpromising as a way of trying to solve the problem of evil.The widely-held freewill defense, which argues that evil results from the wrong choices of free human beings, is shown to rest on certain debatable assumptions, the most crucial of which is that genuine free choice must result in evil. Through a careful analysis of the relationship between divine omniscience and human free will as well as an explication of what free will is, Erlandson demonstrates that this assumption is mistaken and that attempts to salvage the freewill defense through appeal to middle knowledge and timelessness are confused.Finally, Erlandson examines greater-good theodicies, using the monumental work of John Hick (Evil and the God of Love) as his primary example. He shows that this approach, which argues that God permits evil to bring about a greater good, is as fraught with difficulties as are the other two approaches.The second half of The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective presents Erlandson’s fresh approach to theodicy. Arguing that the problem with the traditional theodicies is that they are anthropomorphic (man-centered), he proposes that we take a theocentric approach to the problem, one that assumes that God has created the world first and foremost to manifest His glory, and that He has created the world that is best suited to this purpose. We must also adopt the stance we consistently find in Scripture, as when God confronts Job: God is the eternal Creator of the universe. He knows what He is doing. We may not understand why He has created this world with its seemingly gratuitous evil. But He has promised to lead His children to glory. In the meantime, He asks us simply to trust Him.Even so, although we must begin with trust, God has also revealed Himself sufficiently that we can gain some understanding of why He has chosen to create this world with its mixture of good and evil. The manifestation of God’s glory in creation involves the revelation of His attributes. Those that bear most crucially on the problem of evil are His righteousness, justice, mercy, and grace. Each of these is most adequately displayed in a world much like the one in which we live.Finally, Erlandson points to the incarnation and the resurrection as proof that a good and loving God has not only experienced our sufferings and weaknesses but will fulfill His promise to bring His children to the eternal new creation where He will fully reveal to us how everything works to His glory and our good.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective. To get started finding The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: 87

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: —

Release: 2012

ISBN

Description: “If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, why is there evil in the world? An all-powerful and all-knowing God would have the ability to eliminate evil while an all-good God would want to eliminate evil. Yet, evil exists. So, how can God possibly be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good?”Commonly known as the “problem of evil,” this question has perplexed philosophers and theologians for centuries. Countless books and articles have been devoted to trying to justify the goodness of God in the face of evil. Others have sought to show that these justifications are unpersuasive.In The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective, Dr. Doug Erlandson takes a fresh approach to the problem, one that is based on the revelation given in the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Drawing on his nearly forty years of teaching and writing on the issue, Erlandson first of all looks at the traditional attempts to provide a justification of God in light of the evil in the world. These justifications, known as “theodicies,” fall into three major types--metaphysical theodicies, the freewill defense, and greater-good theodicies. Erlandson devotes a chapter to each of these.Metaphysical theodicies are those that argue that there is something in the nature of creation or in human beings that makes the existence of evil inevitable. Through an examination of St. Augustine’s theodicy as well as that of C.S. Lewis, Erlandson shows that this approach is particularly unpromising as a way of trying to solve the problem of evil.The widely-held freewill defense, which argues that evil results from the wrong choices of free human beings, is shown to rest on certain debatable assumptions, the most crucial of which is that genuine free choice must result in evil. Through a careful analysis of the relationship between divine omniscience and human free will as well as an explication of what free will is, Erlandson demonstrates that this assumption is mistaken and that attempts to salvage the freewill defense through appeal to middle knowledge and timelessness are confused.Finally, Erlandson examines greater-good theodicies, using the monumental work of John Hick (Evil and the God of Love) as his primary example. He shows that this approach, which argues that God permits evil to bring about a greater good, is as fraught with difficulties as are the other two approaches.The second half of The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective presents Erlandson’s fresh approach to theodicy. Arguing that the problem with the traditional theodicies is that they are anthropomorphic (man-centered), he proposes that we take a theocentric approach to the problem, one that assumes that God has created the world first and foremost to manifest His glory, and that He has created the world that is best suited to this purpose. We must also adopt the stance we consistently find in Scripture, as when God confronts Job: God is the eternal Creator of the universe. He knows what He is doing. We may not understand why He has created this world with its seemingly gratuitous evil. But He has promised to lead His children to glory. In the meantime, He asks us simply to trust Him.Even so, although we must begin with trust, God has also revealed Himself sufficiently that we can gain some understanding of why He has chosen to create this world with its mixture of good and evil. The manifestation of God’s glory in creation involves the revelation of His attributes. Those that bear most crucially on the problem of evil are His righteousness, justice, mercy, and grace. Each of these is most adequately displayed in a world much like the one in which we live.Finally, Erlandson points to the incarnation and the resurrection as proof that a good and loving God has not only experienced our sufferings and weaknesses but will fulfill His promise to bring His children to the eternal new creation where He will fully reveal to us how everything works to His glory and our good.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective. To get started finding The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective

The Problem of Evil: A Biblical Perspective

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