Latter-day Saint Theology and the Problem of Evil

by Val Larsen, Newell D. Wright

Overview

Abstract: The classical formulation of God as the sole, self-existent Being and ground of all that exists poses a philosophical problem. If God is omniscient and omnipotent, why does evil exist? Why does he not save humankind from moral and natural evil? If we embrace the full set of classical assumptions of creedal Christianity, these questions have no satisfactory answer and God cannot be absolved of responsibility for evil. This paper reviews and rejects several classical and modern philosophical formulations that try to solve the problem of evil. It then argues that the problem of evil dissolves if we accept Restoration theology in its most compelling form. Pluralism replaces monism, law is largely natural rather than legislated, and the necessity of atonement is located in humanity rather than in God, though God graciously provides the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes human exaltation possible.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940184607252
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	05/22/2025
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship , #64
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	377 KB

About the Author

Val Larsen was born and raised in Moreland, Idaho. He earned a BA in philosophy and English from BYU, an MA and PhD in English from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in marketing from Virginia Tech. While teaching at Virginia Tech, Truman State University, and currently at James Madison University, he has published articles on Flannery O’Connor’s fiction, the Book of Mormon, and a wide variety of marketing topics.

Newell D. Wright recently retired from North Dakota State University as a Professor of Marketing and International Business. Born in Provo and raised in Orem, Utah, he holds a PhD in marketing from Virginia Tech (1993) and an MBA (1987) and a BA (1985) in French literature from Brigham Young University. He has led or directed fifty-seven study-abroad programs worldwide since 1998 and has visited fifty-one countries, mostly with a group of students in tow. He is also a lifelong student of the Book of Mormon. He is married to the former Julie Gold of Abingdon, Virginia, and they are the parents of four children and the grandparents of twelve grandchildren.