Providence and the Problem of Evil

by Richard Swinburne

Overview

This book offers an answer to one of the most difficult problems of religious belief: why does a loving God allow humans to suffer so much? Swinburne argues that God wants us to learn and to love, to make our choices about good and evil for ourselves and others on our own, to form our characters in the way we choose, and, above all, to be of great use to each other. If we are to have all these choices and commitments, then there will inevitably be suffering for the short period of our time on Earth. This controversial work concludes Swinburne's acclaimed four-volume philosophical examination of Christian doctrine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198237983
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/05/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	8.47(w) x 5.44(h) x 0.71(d)
Lexile:	1410L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Swinburne has been Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford since 1985; he is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Table of Contents

Introduction; PART I: AN INITIAL PROBLEM: 1: The Need for Theodicy; PART II: THE GOOD GOALS OF CREATION: 2: Beauty; 3: Feeling; 4: Action; 5: Worship; PART III: THE NECESSARY EVILS: 6: The Fact of Moral Evil; and Free Will; 7: The Range of Moral Evil; and Responsibility; 8: Natural Evil; and the Scope for Response; 9: Natural Evil and the Possibility of Knowledge; 10: The Evils of Sin and Agnosticism; PART IV: COMPLETING THE THEODICY: 11: God's Rights and the Privilege of Service; 12: Weighing Good against Bad; Epilogue.