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In thephilosophy of religion, atheodicy (/θiːˈɒdɪsi/; meaning 'vindication of God', fromAncient Greek θεόςtheos, "god" and δίκηdikē, "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve theproblem of evil that arises whenall power andall goodness are simultaneously ascribed toGod.[1]
Unlike adefence, which merely tries to demonstrate that the coexistence ofGod and evil is logically possible, a theodicy additionally provides a framework wherein God and evil's existence is considered plausible.[2] The German philosopher and mathematicianGottfried Leibniz coined the term "theodicy" in 1710 in his workThéodicée, though numerous attempts to resolve the problem of evil had previously been proposed.
Similar to a theodicy, acosmodicy attempts to justify the fundamental goodness of the universe, and ananthropodicy attempts to justify the goodness of humanity.
As defined byAlvin Plantinga, a theodicy is "an answer to the question of why God permits evil".[3] Theodicy is defined as a theological construct that attempts to vindicate God in response to theproblem of evil that appears inconsistent with the existence of anomnipotent andomnibenevolent God.[4] Another definition of theodicy is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil. The wordtheodicy derives from theGreek wordsΘεός,Theos andδίκη,dikē.Theos is translated "God" anddikē can be translated as either "trial" or "judgement".[5] Thus, 'theodicy' literally means "justifying God".[6]
In theInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Nick Trakakis proposed an additional three requirements which must be contained within a theodicy:
As a response to the problem of evil, a theodicy is distinct from a defence. A defence attempts to demonstrate that the occurrence of evil does not contradict God's existence, but it does not propose that rational beings are able to understand why God permits evil. A theodicy shows that it is reasonable to believe in God despite evidence of evil in the world and offers a framework which can account for why evil exists.[8] A theodicy is often based on a priornatural theology, which exist to prove the existence of God,[clarification needed] and seeks to demonstrate that God's existence remains probable after the problem of evil is posed by giving a justification for God's permitting evil to happen.[9] Defenses propose solutions to theproblem of evil, while theodicies attempt to answer the problem.[7]
Pseudo-Dionysius defines evil by those aspects that show an absence of good.[10]: 37 Writers in this tradition saw things as reflecting 'forms' and evil as a failure to reflect the appropriate form adequately: as a deficit of goodness where goodness ought to have been present. In the same line of thinking,St. Augustine also defined evil as an absence of good, as did the theologian and monkThomas Aquinas, who stated "a man is calledbad insofar as he lacks a virtue, and an eye is calledbad insofar as it lacks the power of sight."[11]: 37 Bad as an absence ofgood resurfaces inHegel,Heidegger andBarth. Very similar are theNeoplatonists, such asPlotinus and the contemporary philosopher Denis O'Brien, who say that evil is a privation.[12][13]
It is important to note that there are at least two concepts of evil: a broad concept and a narrow concept. The broad concept picks out any bad state of affairs ... [and] has been divided into two categories: natural evil and moral evil. Natural evils are bad states of affairs which do not result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents. Hurricanes and toothaches are examples of natural evils. By contrast, moral evils do result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents. Murder and lying are examples of moral evils. Evil in the broad sense, which includes all natural and moral evils, tends to be the sort of evil referenced in theological contexts ... [T]he narrow concept of evil picks out only the most morally despicable ... [it] involves moral condemnation, [and] is appropriately ascribed only to moral agents and their actions.[14]
Marxism, "selectively elaborating Hegel", defines evil in terms of its effect.[10]: 44 Philosopher John Kekes says the effect of evil must include actual harm that "interferes with the functioning of a person as a full-fledged agent".[15][14] Christian philosophers and theologians such asRichard Swinburne andN. T. Wright also define evil in terms of effect, stating that an "act is objectively good (or bad) if it is good (or bad) in its consequences".[11]: 12 [10]Hinduism defines evil in terms of its effect, saying "the evils that afflict people (and indeed animals) in the present life are the effects of wrongs committed in a previous life."[10]: 34 Some contemporary philosophers argue a focus on the effects of evil is inadequate as a definition since evil can observe without actively causing the harm, and it is still evil.[14]
PhilosopherSusan Neiman says "acrime against humanity is something for which we have procedures, ... [and it] can be ... fit into the rest of our experience. To call an actionevil is to suggest that it cannot [be fitted in]".[16]: 8
Immanuel Kant was the first to offer a purely secular theory of evil, giving an evaluative definition of evil based on its cause as having a will that is not fully good. Kant has been an important influence on philosophers likeHannah Arendt,Claudia Card, and Richard Bernstein.[17] "Hannah Arendt ... uses the term ['radical evil'] to denote a new form of wrongdoing which cannot be captured by other moral concepts."[14] Claudia Card says evil is excessive wrongdoing; others likeHillel Steiner say evil is qualitatively, not quantitatively, distinct from mere wrongdoing.[14]
John Locke,Thomas Hobbes, andGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz define good and evil in terms of pleasure and pain.[18][19][20] Others such as Swinburne find that definition inadequate, saying, "the good of individual humans ... consists ... in their having free will ... the ability to develop ... character ..., to show courage and loyalty, to love, to be of use, to contemplate beauty and discover truth ... All that [good] ... cannot be achieved without ... suffering along the way."[11]: 4
Most theorists writing about evil believe that evil action requires a certain sort of motivation ... the desire to cause harm, or to do wrong, ... pleasure (Steiner 2002), the desire to annihilate all being (Eagleton 2010), or the destruction of others for its own sake (Cole 2006). When evil is restricted to actions that follow from these sorts of motivations, theorists sometimes say that their subject is pure, radical, diabolical, or monstrous evil. This suggests that their discussion is restricted to a type, or form, of evil and not to evil per se.[14]
Some theorists define evil by what emotions are connected to it. "For example, Laurence Thomas believes that evildoers take delight in causing harm or feel hatred toward their victims (Thomas 1993, 76–77)."[14][citation needed] Buddhism defines various types of evil, one type defines as behavior resulting from a failure to emotionally detach from the world.[21]
Christian theologians generally define evil in terms of both human responsibility and the nature of God: "If we take the essentialist view of Christian ethics ... evil is anything contrary to God's good nature ... (character or attributes)."[22] The Judaic view, while acknowledging the difference between the human and divine perspective of evil, is rooted in the nature of creation itself and the limitation inherent in matter's capacity to be perfected; the action of free will includes the potential for perfection from individual effort and leaves the responsibility for evil in human hands.[23]: 70
As Swinburne notes: "[It is] deeply central to the whole tradition of Christian (and other western) religion that God is loving toward his creation and that involves him behaving in morally good ways toward it."[11]: 3 Within Christianity, "God is supposed to be in some way personal ... a being who is essentially eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, Creator and sustainer of the universe, and perfectly good. An omnipotent being is one who can do anything logically possible ... such a being could not make me exist and not exist at the same time but he could eliminate the stars ... An omniscient being is one who knows everything logically possible for him to know".[11]: 3–15 "God's perfect goodness is moral goodness."[11]: 15
Theodicies are developed to answer the question of why a goodGod permits the manifestation ofevil, thus resolving the issue of theproblem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of anall-knowing,all-powerful andall-good or omnibenevolent God consistent with the existence of evil or suffering in the world".[24]
The philosopher Richard Swinburne says "most theists need a theodicy, [they need] an account of reasons why God might allow evil to occur."[11]: 2
According toLoke, theodicies might have a therapeutical use for some people, though their main purpose is to provide a sound theistic argument rather than to succeed as a therapy.[25] However, theodicies do "seek to provide hope to the sufferers that... evils can be defeated just as minor tribulations can be defeated.[26]
The termtheodicy was coined by the German philosopherGottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work, written in French,Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil).[27] Leibniz'sThéodicée was a response toskeptical Protestant philosopherPierre Bayle, who wrote in his workDictionnaire Historique et Critique that, after rejecting three attempts to solve it, he saw no rational solution to the problem of evil. Bayle argued that this state of affairs must simply be accepted because the Bible asserts the coexistence of God and evil.[28]
InThe Catholic Encyclopedia (1914), Constantine Kempf argued that, inspired by Leibniz's work, philosophers called their works on the problem of evil "theodicies", and philosophy about God was brought under the discipline of theodicy. He argued that theodicy began to include all ofnatural theology, meaning that theodicy came to consist of the human knowledge of God through the systematic use of reason.[29]
In 1966, British philosopherJohn Hick publishedEvil and the God of Love, in which he surveyed various Christian responses to the problem of evil, before developing his own.[30] In his work, Hick identified and distinguished between three types of theodicy:Plotinian, which was named afterPlotinus,Augustinian, which had dominatedWestern Christianity for many centuries, andIrenaean, which was developed by the EasternChurch FatherIrenaeus, a version of which Hick subscribed to himself.[31]
In his dialogue "Is God a Taoist?",[32] published in 1977 in his bookThe Tao Is Silent,Raymond Smullyan claims to prove that it is logically impossible to have sentient beings without allowing "evil", even for God, just as it is impossible for him to create a triangle in the Euclidean plane having an angular sum other than 180 degrees. Therefore, the capability of feeling implies free will, which may allow for "evil", understood here as hurting other sentient beings. The problem of evil happening to good or innocent people is not addressed directly here, but both reincarnation and karma are hinted at.[33][34]
"Writings and discourses on theodicy by Jews, Greeks, Christians, and Eastern religions have graced our planet for thousands of years."[35] In theMiddle Kingdom of Egypt (2000–1700 BC) as "in Ancient Mesopotamian and Israelite literature", theodicy was an important issue.[36][non sequitur]
Philip Irving Mitchell ofDallas Baptist University notes that some philosophers have cast the pursuit of theodicy as a modern one, as earlier scholars used the problem of evil to support the existence of one particular god over another, explain wisdom, or explain a conversion, rather than to justify God's goodness.[37]Sarah Iles Johnston argues that ancient civilizations, such as the ancientMesopotamians,Greeks,Romans, andEgyptians heldpolytheistic beliefs that may have enabled them to deal with the concept of theodicy differently. These religions taught the existence of manygods andgoddesses who controlled various aspects of daily life. These early religions may have avoided the question of theodicy by endowing their deities with the same flaws and jealousies that plaguedhumanity. No one god or goddess was fundamentally good or evil; this explained that bad things could happen to good people if they angered a deity because the gods could exercise the same free will that humankind possesses. Such religions taught that some gods were more inclined to be helpful and benevolent while others were more likely to be spiteful and aggressive. In this sense, the evil gods could be blamed for misfortune, while the good gods could be petitioned with prayer and sacrifices to make things right. There was still a sense of justice in that individuals who were right with the gods could avoid punishment.[38]
The "Epicurean trilemma", however, was already raisedc. 300 BC byEpicurus, according toDavid Hume in 1779. According to Hume, the trilemma describes the problem of reconciling an omnipotent deity with its benevolence and the existence of evil. However, if Epicurus did write a discussion on the specific problems that Hume attributes to him, it would not have been tied with the question of an omnibenevolent and omniscient God, as Hume assumes (for Hume does not cite, nor make any implication that he had knowledge of Epicurus's writings on this matter that held any greater weight than academic hearsay or legend).[original research?]
The biblical account of the justification of evil and suffering in God's presence has similarities and contrasts in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. For the Hebrew Bible, theBook of Job is often quoted as the authoritative source of discussion.[39][full citation needed][40]: Chapter 3: Job
The author of Job seeks to expand the understanding of divine justice ... beyond mere retribution, to include a system of divine sovereignty [showing] the King has the right to test His subject's loyalty ... The book of Job corrects the rigid and overly simplistic doctrine of retribution in attributing suffering to sin and punishment. It closes with a focus on the bond between creator and creation, on placing one in that, and on hope rooted in belief that God is in ultimate control.
It is generally accepted that God's responsive speeches in Job do not directly answer Job's complaints; God does not attempt to justify himself or reveal the reason for Job's suffering to him; instead, God's speeches focus on increasing Job's overall understanding of his relationship with God. This exemplifies Biblical theodicy.[41]: 21, 28 There is general agreement among Bible scholars that the Bible "does not admit of a singular perspective on evil ... Instead we encounter a variety of perspectives ... Consequently [the Bible focuses on] moral and spiritual remedies, not rational or logical [justifications] ... It is simply that the Bible operates within a cosmic, moral and spiritual landscape rather than within a rationalist, abstract, ontological landscape."[41]: 27
This is evidenced by God's first and second speeches in Job. God's first speech concerns human ignorance and God's authority. Job had seen himself at the center of events, lamenting that God had singled him out to oppress; God responded that Job was not the center; God was; his kingdom was complex, and he governed on a large scale. Since God is in dominion over all the earth, Job cannot conceivably condemn him unless Job proves that he can do all the things God can.[40]: Chapter 3:Job God's second speech is against human self-righteousness. Job has vehemently accused God of thwarting justice as "the omnipotent tyrant, the cosmic thug". Some scholars interpret God's response as an admission of failure on his part, but he goes on to say he has the power and, in his own timing, will bring justice in the end.[40]: Chapter 3:Job
"Isaiah is generally recognized as one of the most progressive books of the prophetic corpus."[42]: 208 Christian theologians state that in the Bible "suffering is understood as having transcendent meaning ... human agency can give particular instances of suffering a mystical significance that transforms it into something productive."[43]
Theodicy in theBook of Ezekiel (and also in Jeremiah 31:29–30) confronts the concept of personal moral responsibility. The book exemplifies the power of sin in that "The main point is stated at the beginning and at the end—'the soul that sins shall die.'" To Christians, the 'power of sin' was abolished in the death and resurrection ofJesus, which rendered all Christians forgiven and righteous. The main point "is explicated by a case history of a family traced through three generations". It is not about heredity but understanding divine justice in a world under divine governance.[44]: 82
"Theodicy in the Minor Prophets differs little from that in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel."[45] For example, the first chapter ofHabakkuk raises questions about God's justice, laments God's inaction in punishing injustice, and looks for God's action in response—then objects to what God chooses.[40]: Chapter 1 Instead of engaging in debate, God gives Habakkuk a vision of the future which includes five oracles that form a theodicy:
Joel and the other minor prophets demonstrate that theodicy and eschatology are connected in the Bible.[45]: 201
Psalm 73 presents the internal struggle created by personal suffering and the prosperity of the wicked. The writer gains perspective when he "enters the sanctuary of God (16–17)" seeing that God's justice will eventually prevail. He reaffirms his relationship with God, is ashamed of his resentment, and chooses trust.[40]: Chapter 3:Psalm 73 Psalm 77 contains real outspokenness to God as well as determination to hold onto faith and trust.[40]: Chapter 3:Psalm 77
For Christians, the scriptures assure them that the allowance of evil is for a good purpose based on relationship with God.[46]: 184 "Some of the good ... cannot be achieved without delay and suffering, and the evil of this world is indeed necessary for the achievement of those good purposes. ... God has the right to allow such evils to occur, so long as the 'goods' are facilitated and the 'evils' are limited and compensated in the way that various other Christian doctrines (of human free will, life after death, the end of the world, etc.) affirm ... the 'good states' which (according to Christian doctrine) God seeks are so good that they outweigh the accompanying evils."[11]: Intro., 51
This is somewhat illustrated in—according to Christian interpretation—theBook of Exodus when Pharaoh is described as being raised up that God's name be known in all the earth (Exodus 9:16). In Christian theology, this is mirrored inRomans 9, wherein Paul appeals to God's sovereignty as sufficient explanation, with God's goodness experientially known to the Christian.[46]: 178–79
TheProtestant andCalvinist reading ofAugustinian theodicy, as promoted primarily byJohn Hick, is based on the writings ofAugustine of Hippo, aChristian philosopher and theologian who lived from AD 354 to 430.[47] The Catholic (pre-Reformation) formulation of the same issue is substantially different and is outlined below. In Hick's approach, this form of theodicy argues that evil does not exist except as aprivation—or corruption—of goodness, and therefore God did not create evil.[48] Augustinian scholars have argued that God created the world perfectly, with no evil or human suffering. Evil entered the world through the disobedience ofAdam and Eve, and the theodicy casts the existence of evil as a just punishment for thisoriginal sin.[49] The theodicy argues that humans have an evil nature in as much as it is deprived of their original goodness, form, order, and measure due to the inherited original sin ofAdam andEve, but still ultimately remains good due to existence coming from God, for if nature were completely evil (deprived of the good), it would cease to exist.[50] It maintains that God remains blameless and good.[51]
In theRoman Catholic reading of Augustine, the issue ofjust war as developed in his bookThe City of God substantially established his position concerning the positive justification of killing, suffering and pain as inflicted upon an enemy when encountered in war for a just cause.[52] Augustine asserted that peacefulness in the face of a grave wrong that could only be stopped by violence would be a sin. Defense of oneself or others could be necessary, especially when authorized by a legitimate authority. While not elaborating the conditions required for war to be just, Augustine nonetheless originated the very phrase, itself, in his workThe City of God.[53] In essence, the pursuit of peace must include the option of fighting with all of its eventualities in order to preserve peace in the long-term.[53] Such a war could not be pre-emptive but defensive to restore peace.[54]Thomas Aquinas, centuries later, used the authority of Augustine's arguments in an attempt to define the conditions under which a war could be just.[55][56]
Irenaeus (diedc. 202), born in the early 2nd century, expressed ideas that explained the existence of evil as necessary for human development. Irenaeus argued that human creation is comprised of two parts: humans are made first in the image and then in the likeness of God. The image of God consists of having the potential to achieve moral perfection, whereas the likeness of God is the achievement of that perfection. To attain moral perfection, Irenaeus suggested that humans must have free will. To achieve such free will, humans must experience suffering, and God must be at anepistemic distance (a distance of knowledge) from humanity. Therefore, evil exists to allow humans to develop as moral agents.[57] In the 20th century,John Hick collated the ideas of Irenaeus into a distinct theodicy. He argued that the world exists as a "vale of soul-making" (a phrase that he drew fromJohn Keats) and that suffering and evil must therefore occur. He argued that human goodness develops through the experience of evil and suffering.[58]
According to the strong version of Compensation Theodicy advanced by Seyyed Jaaber Mousavirad, there are two elements that, when considered together, can solve the problem of evil:
Given the strong version of this theodicy, if evils will be compensated, the existence of some good is enough to justify them, even though there will be no resulting greater good in this world.
Likewise, if evils will be compensated, it is not necessary for them to be distributed equally. Even if evil has no good for an individual, while it has some good for others, it is reasonable for it to occur.[59]
In direct response to John Hick's description of theodicy, Mark Scott has indicated that neitherAugustine of Hippo norIrenaeus of Lyons provide an appropriate context for the discussion of Hick's theistic version of theodicy. As a theologian among theChurch Fathers who articulated a theory ofapokatastasis (oruniversal reconciliation),Origen of Alexandria provides a more direct theological comparison for the discussion of Hick's presentation of universal salvation and theodicy. Neither Irenaeus nor Augustine endorsed a theology of universal salvation in any form comparable to that of John Hick.[60]
Michael Martin summarizes what he calls "relatively minor" theodicies:[61]
A defence has been proposed by the American philosopherAlvin Plantinga, which is focused on showing the logical possibility of God's existence. Plantinga'sversion of the free-will defence argued that the coexistence of God and evil is not logically impossible and that free will further explains the existence of evil without contradicting the existence of God.[63]
Most Sunni theologians analyzed theodicy from an anti-realistmetaethical standpoint.[64]Ash'ari theologians argued that ordinary moral judgments stem from emotion andsocial convention, which are inadequate to either condemn or justify divine actions.[64] Ash'arites hold that God creates everything, including human actions, but distinguish creation (khalq) from acquisition (kasb) of actions.[65] They allow individuals the latter ability, though they do not posit existence of free will in a fuller sense of the term. In the words ofAl-Shahrastani (1086–1153):[65]
God creates, in man, the power, ability, choice, and will to perform an act, and man, endowed with this derived power, chooses freely one of the alternatives and intends or wills to do the action, and, corresponding to this intention, God creates and completes the action.
Ash'ari theology insists on ultimate divine transcendence and teaches that human knowledge regarding it is limited to what has been revealed through the prophets, so that on the question of God's creation of evil, revelation has to be acceptedbila kayfa (without asking how).[66][65]
In contrast to Ash'arites,Maturidi adheres tomoral realism (human mind is able to grasp good and evil independent from revelation),[67] yet disagrees with the Mu'tazilite assertion that God's wisdom entails creating only what is good. Good and evil, though real, are considered to be created by God, thus God is not subject to good and evil, humans merely learn whatever God created. Blaming God for a violation of right and wrong is thus considered undue, since God createdright andwrong in the first place.[68] Whatever is considered evil by humans, would be ultimately good. A distinction exists among those who followtawhid and those who reject it. Maturidi cites SurahAl Imran verse 178, to point out that God does not regard believers and unbelievers as equal; God would increase the sin of the sinners (and guide the believers).[68]
According to the Maturidite school of thought, ontological evil serves a greater purpose and is a in essence a hidden good.[citation needed] Since God's wisdom is not considered to focus on choosing between good and evil, it is concerned with putting things in their proper place. The existence of evil as separate from good (or opposing good) is rejected throughout sources of Maturidite thinkers. Maturidi himself criticizes believing in the opposition of good and evil as a remnant ofPersiandualistic religions.[69]Rumi likewise said in his refutation ofAhriman (principle of evil) that "good cannot exist without evil" and "there is no separation between them".[70]
Mu'tazila theologians approached the problem of theodicy within a framework ofmoral realism, according to which the moral value of acts is accessible to unaided reason, so that humans can make moral judgments about divine acts.[64] They argued that the divine act of creation is good despite existence of suffering, because it allows humans a compensation of greater reward in the afterlife.[64] They posited that individuals have free will to commit evil and absolved God of responsibility for such acts.[64] God's justice thus consists of punishing wrongdoers.[64] Following the demise of Mu'tazila as a school, their theodicy was adopted in theZaydi andTwelver branches ofShia Islam.[64]
Ibn Sina, the most influential Muslim philosopher, analyzed theodicy from a purely ontological,neoplatonic standpoint, aiming to prove that God, as the absolutely good First Cause, created a good world.[64] Ibn Sina argued that evil refers either to a cause of an entity (such as burning in a fire), being a quality of another entity, or to its imperfection (such as blindness), in which case it does not exist as an entity. According to Ibn Sina, such qualities are necessary attributes of the best possible order of things, so that the good they serve is greater than the harm they cause.[64]
Philosophical Sufi theologians such asIbn Arabi were influenced by the neoplatonic theodicy ofIbn Sina.[64]Al-Ghazali anticipated the optimistic theodicy of Leibniz in his dictum "There is nothing in possibility more wonderful than what is."[71]Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, who represented the mainstream Sunni view, challenged Ibn Sina's analysis and argued that it merely sidesteps the real problem of evil, which is rooted in the human experience of suffering in a world that contains more pain than pleasure.[64]
TheHanbali scholarIbn Taymiyya, whose writings became influential inWahhabism, argued that, while God creates human acts, humans are responsible for their deeds as the agents of their acts.[72] He held that divine creation is good from a causal standpoint, as God creates all things for wise purposes.[72] Thus apparent evil is in actuality good in view of its purpose, and pure evil does not exist.[72] This analysis was developed further with practical illustrations byIbn al-Qayyim.[72]
In 1998, Jewish theologianZachary Braiterman coined the term anti-theodicy in his book(God) After Auschwitz to describe Jews, both in a biblical and post-Holocaust context, whose response to the problem of evil is protest and refusal to investigate the relationship between God and suffering. An anti-theodicy acts in opposition to a theodicy and places full blame for all experience of evil onto God, but must rise from an individual's belief in and love of God. Anti-theodicy has been likened toJob's protests in theBook of Job.[73] Braiterman wrote that an anti-theodicy rejects the idea that there is a meaningful relationship between God and evil or that God could be justified for the experience of evil.[74]
TheHolocaust prompted a reconsideration of theodicy in someJewish circles.[75] French Jewish philosopherEmmanuel Levinas, who had himself been aprisoner of war in Nazi Germany, declared theodicy to be "blasphemous", arguing that it is the "source of all immorality", and demanded that the project of theodicy be ended. Levinas asked whether the idea ofabsolutism survived after the Holocaust; he proposed it did. He argued that humans are not called to justify God in the face of evil, but to attempt to live godly lives; rather than considering whether God was present during the Holocaust, the duty of humans is to build a world where goodness will prevail.[76]
Professor of theology David R. Blumenthal, in his bookFacing the Abusing God, supports the "theology of protest", which he saw as presented in the 1979 play,The Trial of God. He supports the view that survivors of the Holocaust cannot forgive God and so must protest about it. Blumenthal believes that a similar theology is presented in the Book of Job, in which Job does not question God's existence or power, but his morality and justice.[77] Other prominent voices in the Jewish tradition include the Nobel prize winning author Elie Wiesel and Richard L. Rubinstein in his bookThe Cunning of History.[78]
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Rebbe ofChabad Lubavitch, sought to elucidate how faith (or trust,emunah) in God defines the full, transcendental preconditions of anti-theodicy. Endorsing the attitude of "holy protest" found in the stories of Job and Jeremiah, but also in those of Abraham (Genesis 18) and Moses (Exodus 33), Rabbi Schneerson argued that a phenomenology of protest, when carried through to its logical limits, reveals a profound conviction in cosmic justice such as is first found in Abraham's question: "Will the Judge of the whole earth not do justice?" (Genesis 18:25).[79] Recalling Kant's 1791 essay on the failure of all theoretical attempts in theodicy,[80] a viable practical theodicy is identified withmessianism. This faithful anti-theodicy is worked out in a long letter of 26 April 1965 toElie Wiesel.[81]
Hannah Arendt offers notable resistance to this trend of anti-theodicy in her worksThe Origins of Totalitarianism and--more sensationally--in her reporting of theEichmann trial collected inEichmann in Jerusalem. Without resorting to transcendental authority, purely by observation, Arendt arrives at a conclusion similar to Augustine's theodicy: She ascribesAdolf Eichmann's evil actions to a lack of empathic imagination and to the thoughtlessness of his conformity to norms of careerism within theThird Reich. She finds a thoughtlessness or total absence of consideration for other perspectives at the center of his behavior. The quality of this lack she describes as "the banality of evil." Arendt did not intend to propose "the banality of evil" as a technical term or fixed nomination by which to describe the void of empathic imagination she observed--it just happened to be a phrase within her description that was appropriated by the reviewing press and by other scholarly responsa. Banality is only a facet or particular quality of her vantage point looking into this emptiness.
A number of Christian writers oppose theodicies. Todd Billings deems constructing theodicies to be a "destructive practice".[82] In the same vein,Nick Trakakis observes that "theodical discourse can only add to the world's evils, not remove or illuminate them."[83][84] As an alternative to theodicy, some theologians have advocated "reflection on tragedy" as a more befitting reply to evil.[85] For example, Wendy Farley believes that "a desire for justice" and "anger and pity at suffering" should replace "theodicy's cool justifications of evil".[86] Sarah K. Pinnock opposes abstract theodicies that would legitimize evil and suffering. However, she endorses theodicy discussions in which people ponder God, evil, and suffering from a practical faith perspective.[87]
In an essay forThe Hedgehog Review, Eugene McCarraher calledDavid Bentley Hart's 2005 bookThe Doors of the Sea "a ferocious attack on theodicy in the wake of the previous year's tsunami" (referring to the2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean).[88] As Hart says on page 58 of the book: "The principal task of theodicy is to explain why paradise is not a logical possibility." Hart's refusal to concede that theodicy has any positive capacity to explain the purpose of evil is in line with many Greek church fathers. For example, see Eric D. Perl'sTheophany: The Neoplatonic Philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite:
Dionysius' ...refusal to assign a cause to evil, then, marks not the failure but the success of his treatment of the problem. To explain evil, to attribute a cause to it, would necessarily be to explain it away, to deny that evil is genuinely evil at all. For to explain something is to show how it is in some way good. ...Only by not explaining evil, by insisting rather on its radical causelessness, its unintelligibility, can we take evil seriously as evil. This is why most "theodicies" fail precisely insofar as they succeed. To the extent that they satisfactorily account for or make sense of evil, they tacitly or expressly deny that it is evil and show that it is in fact good. Dionysius' treatment of evil, on the other hand, succeeds by failing, recognizing that the sheer negativity that is evil must be uncaused and hence inexplicable, for otherwise it would not be negativity and would not be evil. It has been wisely remarked that any satisfactory account of evil must enable us to retain our outrage at it. Most theodicies fail this test, for in supposedly allowing us to understand evil they justify it and thus take away our outrage. For Dionysius, however, evil remains outrageous precisely because it is irrational, because there is no reason, no justification for it. The privation theory of evil, expressed in a radical form by Dionysius, is not a shallow disregard or denial of the evident evils in the world. It means rather that, confronted with the evils in the world, we can only say that for no reason, and therefore outrageously, the world as we find it does not perfectly love God, the Good, the sole end of all love. And since the Good is the principle of intelligibility and hence of being, to the extent that anything fails to partake of that principle it is deficient in being. The recognition of evils in the world and in ourselves is the recognition that the world and ourselves, as we find them, are less than fully existent because we do not perfectly love God, the Good.
Karl Barth viewed the evil of human suffering as ultimately in the "control ofdivine providence".[89] Given this view, Barth deemed it impossible for humans to devise a theodicy that establishes "the idea of the goodness of God".[90] For Barth, only thecrucifixion could establish the goodness of God. In the crucifixion, God bears and suffers what humanity suffers.[91] This suffering by God Himself makes human theodicies anticlimactic.[92] Barth found a "twofold justification" in the crucifixion:[93] thejustification of sinful humanity and "the justification in which God justifies Himself".[94]
Christian Science offers a solution to the problem by denying that evil ultimately exists.[95][96]Mary Baker Eddy andMark Twain had some contrasting views on theodicy and suffering, which are well-described byStephen Gottschalk.[97]
Redemptive suffering, based inPope John Paul II'stheology of the body, embraces suffering as having value in and of itself.[98][99]Eleonore Stump inWandering in Darkness uses psychology, narrative and exegesis to demonstrate that redemptive suffering, as found in Thomistic theodicy, can constitute a consistent and cogent defence for the problem of suffering.[100]
As an alternative to a theodicy, a defense may be offered as a response to the problem of evil. A defense attempts to show that God's existence is not made logically impossible by the existence of evil; it does not need to be true or plausible, merely logically possible. American philosopherAlvin Plantinga offersa free-will defense which argues that humanfree will sufficiently explains the existence of evil while maintaining that God's existence remains logically possible.[101] He argues that, if God's existence and the existence of evil are to be logically inconsistent, a premise must be provided which, if true, would make them inconsistent; as none has been provided, the existence of God and evil must be consistent. Free will furthers this argument by providing a premise which, in conjunction with the existence of evil, entails that God's existence remains consistent.[102] Opponents have argued this defense is discredited by the existence of non-human related evil such as droughts, tsunamis and malaria.[103]
In his recent book,Evil, Sin and Christian Theism (2022),Andrew Loke develops a Big Picture free-will defense argument arguing that God's justification for allowing suffering is not mainly based on an argument from future benefits but on the very nature of love which involves "allowing humans to exercise their free will in morally significant ways."[104] He employs the Big Picture approach in which "Christian theism provides the big picture and uses a combination of theodicies" in defense of a moderate version of skeptical theism.[105] The Big Picture approach, according to him, helps to put the problem of evil and suffering in perspective of the bigger picture that answers the Big Questions of a worldview such as "What is the greatest good? What is the meaning of life? Where do I come from? Where am I going?" He argues that Christian theism provides the best overall consistent answers to these questions: "the greatest good is to have a right relationship with God, the source of all good. The meaning of life...is to live our lives for the greatest good;...to glorify God and enjoy him..."[106] The bigger picture of a just, all-powerful, and loving God who will ultimately defeat evil serves as the backdrop against which all temporal suffering can obtain a meaningful understanding.[106]
Acosmodicy attempts to justify the fundamental goodness of theuniverse in the face ofevil, and ananthropodicy attempts to justify the fundamental goodness ofhuman nature in the face of the evils produced by humans.[107]
Considering the relationship between theodicy and cosmodicy,Johannes van der Ven [de] argued that the choice between theodicy and cosmodicy is a false dilemma.[108] Philip E. Devenish proposed what he described as "a nuanced view in which theodicy and cosmodicy are rendered complementary, rather than alternative concepts".[109] Theologian J. Matthew Ashley described the relationship between theodicy, cosmodicy and anthropodicy:
In classical terms, this is to broach the problem of theodicy: how to think about God in the face of the presence of suffering in God's creation. After God's dethronement as the subject of history, the question rebounds to the new subject of history: the human being. As a consequence, theodicy becomes anthropodicy – justifications of our faith in humanity as the subject of history, in the face of the suffering that is so inextricably woven into the history that humanity makes.[110]
Essentialkenosis is a form ofprocess theology (related to "open theism") that allows one to affirm that God is almighty, while simultaneously affirming that God cannot prevent genuine evil. Because out of love God necessarily givesfreedom,agency,self-organization, natural processes, and law-like regularities to creation, God cannot override, withdraw, or fail to provide such capacities. Consequently, God is not culpable for failing to prevent genuine evil. The work ofThomas Jay Oord explains this view most fully.[111][112]
nl:Gijsbert van den Brink effectively refutes any view which says God has restricted his power because of his love saying it creates a "metaphysical dualism", and it would not alleviate God's responsibility for evil because God could have prevented evil by not restricting himself. Van den Brink goes on to elaborate an explanation of power and love within the Trinitarian view which equates power and love, and what he calls "the power of love" as representative of God's involvement in the struggle against evil.[113]
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