Theodicy Beyond the Death of 'God'

Theodicy Beyond the Death of 'God'
Author: Andrew Shanks
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2019-12-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9780367890421

True theodicy is partly a theoretical corrective to evangelistic impatience: discounting the distortions arising from over-eager salesmanship. And partly it is a work of poetic intensification, dedicated to faith's necessary struggle against resentment. This book contains a systematic survey of the classic theoretical-corrective theodicy tradition initiated, in the early Seventeenth Century, by Jakob Böhme. Two centuries later, Böhme's lyrical thought is translated into rigorous philosophical terms by Schelling; and is, then, further, set in context by Hegel's doctrine of providence at work in world history. The old 'God' of mere evangelistic impatience is, as Hegel sees things, 'dead'. And so theodicy is liberated, to play its proper role: illustrated here with particular reference to the book of Job, the post-Holocaust poetry of Nelly Sachs, and the thought of Simone Weil. A boldly polemical study, this book is a bid to re-ignite debate on the whole topic of theodicy. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies, theology and philosophy.

Theodicy Beyond the Death of 'God'

Theodicy Beyond the Death of 'God'
Author: Andrew Shanks
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2018-02-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351607200

True theodicy is partly a theoretical corrective to evangelistic impatience: discounting the distortions arising from over-eager salesmanship. And partly it is a work of poetic intensification, dedicated to faith’s necessary struggle against resentment. This book contains a systematic survey of the classic theoretical-corrective theodicy tradition initiated, in the early Seventeenth Century, by Jakob Böhme. Two centuries later, Böhme’s lyrical thought is translated into rigorous philosophical terms by Schelling; and is, then, further, set in context by Hegel’s doctrine of providence at work in world history. The old ‘God’ of mere evangelistic impatience is, as Hegel sees things, ‘dead’. And so theodicy is liberated, to play its proper role: illustrated here with particular reference to the book of Job, the post-Holocaust poetry of Nelly Sachs, and the thought of Simone Weil. A boldly polemical study, this book is a bid to re-ignite debate on the whole topic of theodicy. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies, theology and philosophy.

The Evils of Theodicy

The Evils of Theodicy
Author: Terrence W. Tilley
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2000-03-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1579104304

The thesis of this book is straightforward: Tilley argues that theodicy as a discourse practice creates evils while theodicists ignore or distort classic texts in the Christian tradition, unwittingly efface genuine evils in their attempts to justify God, and silence the voice of the suffering and the oppressed by writing them out of the theological picture. The result is often a theological legitimation of intolerable social evils.

Evil and Evolution: A Theodicy

Evil and Evolution: A Theodicy
Author: Richard W. Kropf
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2004-08-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725211440

First published in 1984 and recently revised and updated, this book deals with the problem of evil, or theodicy (God's justice). It contends that the process of evolution, particularly as it bears on the emergence of free will, rather than being a barrier to faith, gives us the key to understanding its greatest obstacle - the existence of so much suffering in the world. It further advances the still contested claim that God is truly our fellow sufferer in our struggle to overcome evil in all of its many forms.

Theodicy of Love

Theodicy of Love
Author: John C. Peckham
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-11-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149341576X

If God is all powerful and entirely good and loving, why is there so much evil in the world? Based on a close canonical reading of Scripture, this book offers a new approach to the challenge of reconciling the Christian confession of a loving God with the realities of suffering and evil. John Peckham offers a constructive proposal for a theodicy of love that upholds both the sovereignty of God and human freedom, showing that Scripture points toward a framework for thinking about God's love in relation to the world.

The Triumph of God Over Evil

The Triumph of God Over Evil
Author: William Hasker
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2008-03-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830828044

Noted philosopher William Hasker explores a full range of questions concerning the problem of evil. Hasker forges constructive answers in some depth showing why the evil in the world does not provide evidence of a moral fault in God, the world's creator and governor.

Tragedy, Recognition, and the Death of God

Tragedy, Recognition, and the Death of God
Author: Robert R. Williams
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2012-09-27
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019163106X

Hegel and Nietzsche are two of the most important figures in philosophy and religion. Robert R. Williams challenges the view that they are mutually exclusive. He identifies four areas of convergence. First, Hegel and Nietzsche express and define modern interest in tragedy as a philosophical topic. Each seeks to correct the traditional philosophical and theological suppression of a tragic view of existence. This suppression of the tragic is required by the moral vision of the world, both in the tradition and in Kant's practical philosophy and its postulates. For both Hegel and Nietzsche, the moral vision of the world is a projection of spurious, life-negating values that Nietzsche calls the ascetic ideal, and that Hegel identifies as the spurious infinite. The moral God is the enforcer of morality. Second, while acknowledging a tragic dimension of existence, Hegel and Nietzsche nevertheless affirm that existence is good in spite of suffering. Both affirm a vision of human freedom as open to otherness and requiring recognition and community. Struggle and contestation have affirmative significance for both. Third, while the moral God is dead, this does not put an end to the God-question. Theology must incorporate the death of God as its own theme. The union of God and death expressing divine love is for Hegel the basic speculative intuition. This implies a dipolar, panentheistic concept of a tragic, suffering God, who risks, loves, and reconciles. Fourth, Williams argues that both Hegel and Nietzsche pursue theodicy, not as a justification of the moral God, but rather as a question of the meaningfulness and goodness of existence despite nihilism and despite tragic conflict and suffering. The inseparability of divine love and anguish means that reconciliation is no conflict-free harmony, but includes a paradoxical tragic dissonance: reconciliation is a disquieted bliss in disaster.

Raging with Compassion

Raging with Compassion
Author: John Swinton
Publisher: SCM Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2017-10-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0334056403

In "Raging with Compassion", Michael Ramsey prize-winning author John Swinton argues for a practical theodicy, one embodied in the life and practices of the Christian community. This practicality does not seek to provide an explanation for the existence of evil, but rather presents ways in which evil and suffering can be resisted and transformed. This, he insists, will enable Christians to live faithfully with unanswered questions as they await God's redemption of the whole creation. Swinton explores essential practices of redemption - lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and friendship - drawing out their implications for the faithful resistance of evil. Enhanced by case studies from current events and by Swinton's own experience as a pastor and mental health nurse, "Raging with Compassion" seeks to inspire fresh Christian responses and modes of practice in our broken, fallen world.