Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy

by Gregory A. Boyd

Overview

• Where does evil come from?
• If there is a sovereign creator God, as Christian faith holds, is this God ultimately responsible for evil?
• Does God's sovereignty mean that God causes each instance of sin and suffering?
• How do Satan, his demons and hell fit into God's providential oversight of all creation and history?
• How does God interact with human intention and action?
• If people act freely, does God know in particular every human decision before the choice is made?

In this important book Gregory A. Boyd mounts a thorough response to these ages-old questions, which remain both crucial and contentious, both practical and complex.In this work Boyd defends his scripturally grounded trinitarian warfare theodicy (presented in God at War) with rigorous philosophical reflection and insights from human experience and scientific discovery. Critiquing the classical Calvinist solution to the problem of evil, he advocates an alternative understanding of the sovereignty of the trinitarian God and of the reality of Satan that sheds light on our fallen human condition. While all may not agree with Boyd's conclusions, Satan and the Problem of Evil promises to advance the church's discussion of these critical issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514015100
Publisher:	IVP Academic
Publication date:	08/04/2025
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	456
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Gregory A. Boyd (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is a pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Previously, he was a professor of theology at Bethel University, also in St. Paul. His books include Recovering the Real Jesus in an Age of Revisionist Replies, Letters from a Skeptic, God of the Possible, Repenting of Religion, Seeing is Believing, Escaping the Matrix, The Jesus Legend, Myth of a Christian Nation, Is God to Blame, God at War and Satan and the Problem of Evil.

Gregory A. Boyd (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is a pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Previously, he was a professor of theology at Bethel University, also in St. Paul. His books include Recovering the Real Jesus in an Age of Revisionist Replies, Letters from a Skeptic, God of the Possible, Repenting of Religion, Seeing is Believing, Escaping the Matrix, The Jesus Legend, Myth of a Christian Nation, Is God to Blame, God at War and Satan and the Problem of Evil.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I
1. The World at War: The Warfare Worldview of the Bible the Early Church
2. The Free Fall: Free Will the Origin of Evil
3. A Risky Creation: Divine Foreknowledge the Trinitarian Warfare Worldview
4. A Question of Balance: Issues Surrounding the Foreknowledge of God the Openness of the Future
5. Love and War: Risk the Sovereignty of God
6. No Turning Back: The Irrevocability the Finitude of Freedom
Part 2
7. Praying in the Whirlwind: Miracles, Prayer the Arbitrariness of Life
8. "Red in Tooth and Claw": Perspectives on the Origin of Natural Evil, Part 1
9. When Nature Becomes a Weapon: Perspectives on the Origin of Natural Evil, Part 2
10. This an Enemy Has Done: "Natural" Evil the Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy
11. A Clash of Doctrines: Eternal Suffering Annihilationism
12. A Separate Reality: Hell, das Nichtige the Victory of God
Appendix 1: Remaining Objections
Appendix 2: Four Philosophical Arguments for the Incompatibility of EDF Self-Determining Free Will
Appendix 3: On Incomplete Probationary Periods
Appendix 4: A Theology of Chance
Appendix 5: Explanations of Texts Used to Support Compatibilism
Glossary
Bibliography
Author/Subject Index
Scripture Index