Suffering and Evil in Early Christian Thought

by Nonna Verna Harrison (Editor), David G. Hunter (Editor)

Overview

Distinguished Scholars Explore Early Christian Views on the Problem of Evil

What did the early church teach about the problem of suffering and evil in the world? In this volume, distinguished historians and theologians explore a range of ancient Christian responses to this perennial problem. The ecumenical team of contributors includes John Behr, Gary Anderson, Brian Daley, and Bishop Kallistos Ware, among others. This is the fourth volume in Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History, a partnership between Baker Academic and the Pappas Patristic Institute of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. The series is a deliberate outreach by the Orthodox community to Protestant and Catholic seminarians, pastors, and theologians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801030789
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Series:	Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Nonna Verna Harrison (PhD, Graduate Theological Union), an experienced patristics scholar, is the author of several books, including God's Many-Splendored Image. She lives in Chatsworth, California.

David G. Hunter (PhD, University of Notre Dame) holds the Cottrill-Rolfes Chair of Catholic Studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. He coedited The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface by David G. Hunter
Introduction by Nonna Verna Harrison
1. An Overview of Patristic Theodicies
Paul L. Gavrilyuk
2. Theodicy in Apocalyptic Thought: From Ancient Visions to (Post)Modern Nightmares
John W. Martens
3. The Suffering of Martyrdom: Greek Perspectives in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries
James C. Skedros
4. Learning through Experience: The Pedagogy of Suffering and Death in Irenaeus
John Behr
5. The Enemies of God: Demons and the Persecuting Emperors in Lactantius
Dennis P. Quinn
6. Christus Victor in the Work of Ephrem, Narsai, and Jacob of Serug
Gary A. Anderson
7. Greek Patristic Perspectives on the Origins of Social Injustice
Nonna Verna Harrison
8. Sympathetic Philosophy: The Christian Response to Suffering according to John Chrysostom's Commentary on Job
Douglas Finn
9. John Chrysostom on the Man Born Blind (John 9)
Nonna Verna Harrison
10. The Deaths of Macrina and Monica in Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina and Augustine's Confessions: The Female Philosopher and the Problem of Christian Grief
Regina L. Walton
11. Evil, Suffering, and Embodiment in Augustine
David G. Hunter
12. Theodore of Mopsuestia and the Pedagogy of Destruction
Eric Phillips
13. The Word and His Flesh: Human Weakness and the Identity of Jesus in Greek Patristic Christology
Brian E. Daley, SJ
14. Suffering Impassibly: Christ's Passion in Cyril of Alexandria's Soteriology
J. Warren Smith
15. "The Impassible Suffers"
Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia
Indexes