Anthony Flood "The Problem of Evil"

The Occurrence of Excessive, Nondisciplinary Evil Makes It Unreasonable and Irresponsible to Affirm the Existence of the God of Classical Theism.

Worse Than a Tsunami for Classical Theism

After Christmas 2004, 226,000 are dead, and millions are homeless and susceptible to infectious disease because God couldn't or wouldn't control a couple of tectonic plates. Which is it? Historian Paul Johnson opines that it was the act, or omission to act, of a benevolent God.

God also couldn't or wouldn't even pop a car trunk in which three little friends in Camden, New Jersey decided to play before suffocating to death in it over the course of 13 hours on June 22, 2005. Or at least guide a family member or a cop, desperately searching for them, to that car.

Jesstin Pagan, 5, Daniel Agosto, 6, Anibal Cruz, 11

Couldn't or wouldn't?

My Attempts to Clarify Classical Theism's Problem of Evil

§        The Idiocy of Johnson's Theodicy: A Letter to The Spectator [UK, 2005]

§      He Would If He Could, But He Can't So He Doesn't: A Response to Benjamin D. Wiker Followed by Dr. Wiker's Reply [2004]

§      Not Even a Good Neighbor, Let Alone Worthy of Worship: A Letter to The Tablet [2002]

§      Why Does God Permit Evil? [2004]

§      Is Something Good Because God Commands It? Or Does God Command It Because It Is Good? [2004]

§      Genocide: A Catholic Dilemma

David Ray Griffin's

Ideal for Theodicy

See also essays listed on Griffin page.

A theodicy should be part of a total theo-logical position that is intended to be more consistent, adequate, and illumina-ting of our experience than any of the al-ternative philosophical and theological positions of the time. Such a theodicy cannot merely show that the evils of the world do not necessarily contradict belief in God’s perfect goodness and power. Nor can such a theodicy resort to encouraging us to believe that there is a God of perfect goodness and power in spite of the fact that the appearances suggest that some other hypothesis is more probable. Rather, such a theodicy must attempt to portray the world so that the hypothesis that the world has been created by such a God seems more likely than other hypo-theses, so that those who accept this belief can come to perceive the world in these terms. In such a theodicy the evils of the world should not be an embar-rassment to the total theological position; they should not be that ‘fact’ to which the theology somehow manages to be ‘ade-quate’ but which would fit more comfor-tably within some contrary hypothesis. Rather, the theodicy should ideally be more illuminating of the nature of evil, and the reason for its existence, than other portrayals of reality, including atheistic ones.

David Ray Griffin, “Creation Out of Chaos and the Problem of Evil,” in Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy, Stephen T. Davis, ed., Atlanta, John Knox Press, 1981, p. 119.

			AnthonyFlood.com Panentheism. Revisionism. Anarchocapitalism.
	Home Essays by Me Essays by Others Sudanese girl crawls to relief station while vulture anticipates a different outcome. Photojournalist Kevin Carter wins Pulitzer in 1994 for this, then kills self.		The Occurrence of Excessive, Nondisciplinary Evil Makes It Unreasonable and Irresponsible to Affirm the Existence of the God of Classical Theism. Worse Than a Tsunami for Classical Theism After Christmas 2004, 226,000 are dead, and millions are homeless and susceptible to infectious disease because God couldn't or wouldn't control a couple of tectonic plates. Which is it? Historian Paul Johnson opines that it was the act, or omission to act, of a benevolent God. God also couldn't or wouldn't even pop a car trunk in which three little friends in Camden, New Jersey decided to play before suffocating to death in it over the course of 13 hours on June 22, 2005. Or at least guide a family member or a cop, desperately searching for them, to that car. Jesstin Pagan, 5, Daniel Agosto, 6, Anibal Cruz, 11 Couldn't or wouldn't? My Attempts to Clarify Classical Theism's Problem of Evil § *The Idiocy of Johnson's Theodicy: A Letter to The Spectator* [UK, 2005] § He Would If He Could, But He Can't So He Doesn't: A Response to Benjamin D. Wiker Followed by Dr. Wiker's Reply [2004]** § Not Even a Good Neighbor, Let Alone Worthy of Worship: A Letter to The Tablet [2002] § Why Does God Permit Evil? [2004] § Is Something Good Because God Commands It? Or Does God Command It Because It Is Good? [2004] § Genocide: A Catholic Dilemma David Ray Griffin's Ideal for Theodicy See also essays listed on Griffin page. A theodicy should be part of a total theo-logical position that is intended to be more consistent, adequate, and illumina-ting of our experience than any of the al-ternative philosophical and theological positions of the time. Such a theodicy cannot merely show that the evils of the world do not necessarily contradict belief in God’s perfect goodness and power. Nor can such a theodicy resort to encouraging us to believe that there is a God of perfect goodness and power in spite of the fact that the appearances suggest that some other hypothesis is more probable. Rather, such a theodicy must attempt to portray the world so that the hypothesis that the world has been created by such a God seems more likely than other hypo-theses, so that those who accept this belief can come to perceive the world in these terms. In such a theodicy the evils of the world should not be an embar-rassment to the total theological position; they should not be that ‘fact’ to which the theology somehow manages to be ‘ade-quate’ but which would fit more comfor-tably within some contrary hypothesis. Rather, the theodicy should ideally be more illuminating of the nature of evil, and the reason for its existence, than other portrayals of reality, including atheistic ones. David Ray Griffin, “Creation Out of Chaos and the Problem of Evil,” in Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy, Stephen T. Davis, ed., Atlanta, John Knox Press, 1981, p. 119. Back to Problem of Evil Page