The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition: From the Book of Job to Modern GeneticsThe question of evil presents a profound challenge to humanity--why do we do what we know to be wrong? This is especially a challenge to religious believers. Why doesn't an all-good and omnipotent God step in and put an end to evil? The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition examines how Western thinkers have dealt with the problem of evil, starting in ancient Israel and tracing the question through post-biblical Judaism, Early Christianity (especially in Africa), the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and to the twenty-first century when science has raised new and important issues. Joseph Kelly covers the book of Job, the book of Revelation, Augustine of Hippo, Aquinas, Luther, Marlow, Milton, Voltaire, Hume, Mary Shelley, Darwin, Jung, Flannery O'Connor, Karl Rahner, Teilhard de Chardin, and modern geneticists. Chapters are "Some Perspectives on Evil," "Israel and Evil," "The New Adam," "Out of Africa," "The Broken Cosmos," "The Middle Ages," "Decline and Reform of Humanism," "The Devil's Last Stand," "Rationalizing Evil," "The Attack on Christianity," "Dissident Voices," "Human Evil in the Nineteenth Century," "Science, Evil, and Original Sin," "Modern Literary Approaches to Evil," "Some Scientific Theories of Evil," and "Modern Religious Approaches to Evil." Joseph F. Kelly, Ph.D., is professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the author of The World of the Early Christians, published by The Liturgical Press. |
From inside the book
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... Gospels , narrative works about Jesus , called the Christ ( the Anointed One or Messiah ) by his followers . " Gospel " is a modern form of an Old English word , godspel , a translation of a Greek word meaning " the good news . " The ...
... Gospel . He revived a traditional theme , the combat myth , but now the devil re- placed the sea monster . He set the pattern , and the other ... Gospels record the triumph of Jewish 30 The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition.
... Gospel makes this most clear with its opening verse , " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God " ( 1 : 1 ) . The Word of God is Jesus , and he was with God at the creation of the cosmos . The Gospels repeatedly show ...
... Gospel of Luke ( 4 : 1-13 ) , the devil first offers Jesus bread , appealing to his physical desires , but Jesus ... Gospels were being composed , many Christians had begun to separate themselves from Judaism , unable to reconcile ...
... Gospels depict a world dominated by the forces of evil and Jesus as the savior liberating us from them , but there is something wrong with this picture . Jesus had lived and died and yet evil remained . If he conquered evil , why was it ...
Contents
1 | |
8 | |
29 | |
40 | |
The Broken Cosmos | 51 |
The Middle Ages | 62 |
Decline and Reform and Humanism | 87 |
The Devils Last Stand | 102 |
Human Evil in the Nineteenth Century | 154 |
Science Evil and Original Sin | 172 |
Modern Literary Approaches to Evil | 188 |
Some Scientific Theories of Evil | 200 |
Modern Religious Approaches to Evil | 213 |
Epilogue | 230 |
A Personal Reflection | 233 |
Select Bibliography | 235 |