scholarly journals THE PRIEST, THE PSYCHIATRIST AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-140
Keyword(s):  
Depth Psychology ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Carl Jung ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Book Of Job ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Ultimate Question ◽  
Post War

This paper clusters around the problem of evil within the framework of depth psychology. The first part briefly introduces the narrative of the Book of Job as an example to contextualise how the ultimate question of God’s relation to evil remained unanswered and was left open-ended in Christian theology. The second part offers a historical reconstruction of the unresolved polemic over the nature of evil between Carl Jung and the English Dominican scholar and theologian Victor White (1902-1960). It explores their different speculations and formulations concerning evil and its psychological implications, until their final fall-out following White’s harshly critical review of Jung’s most controversial work on religion, Answer to Job. The final section of this paper introduces further reflections on a challenging theme that is no less resonant and relevant in today’s world of terrorism in the name of religion than it was in a post-war Europe struggling to recover from totalitarianism and genocide.

scholarly journals Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus on the Problem of Evil: Insights from their Commentaries on the Book of Job

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-42
Author(s):  
Franklin T. Harkins
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Divine Providence ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Book Of Job ◽  
Albert The Great ◽  
The Problem Of Evil

Abstract This article broadly considers the commentaries on Job of Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great as offering a helpful theological alternative to some modern philosophical approaches to the ‘problem of evil’. We seek to show that whereas some modern philosophers understand evil as a problem for the very existence of God, whether and how God can coexist with evil was never a question that evil seriously raised in the minds of Aquinas and Albert. In fact, although the suffering of the just in particular led our medieval Dominicans to wonder about divine providence and our ability to know God in this life, they understood the reality of evil as compelling evidence for the existence of God.

scholarly journals Good grief: Lord of the Flies as a post-war rewriting of salvation history

Literator ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Van Vuuren
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Original Sin ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
Salvation History ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Lord Of The Flies ◽  
Post War

Golding’s Lord of the Flies, first published in 1954, reflects a bleak sense of post-war pessimism. But with undue attention focused on its portrayal of original sin and the problem of evil, readings have often remained reductive. In this article it is argued that the novel’s symbolic narrative is polysemic and, when it is read as anagogic myth, may be seen to span Judaeo-Christian Heilsgeschichte or salvation history, rewriting its chapters of creation, Fall, the problem of evil, the failure of law, the hope of salvation, the mission of a messianic figure, and – in the clearest departure from the Biblical narrative – an ambiguous representation of his return. This study examines the novel’s often paradoxical symbolism using Frye’s phases of anagogic myth, with its poles of apocalyptic and demonic imagery. It traces the relation of symbols to their counterparts in Biblical narratives, drawn in particular from the symbolic writings of the origin and end of humanity, to elucidate Golding’s bleak but certainly not hopeless rewriting of the salvation story for a post-faith readership.

The Use and Abuse of Theodicy

Horizons ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence W. Tilley
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
Christian Theologian ◽  
The Problem Of Evil

AbstractThe present essay distinguishes two ways to “settle” the problem of evil, “defense” and “theodicy,” as practiced in contemporary Christian philosophical theology. It argues that Christian theology can defend Christian belief from the charge of inconsistency, but that when it attempts to explain why and how God permits or wills evil in his world, it stumbles over denying the reality of evil or the goodness of God. The essay concludes by arguing that the Christian theologian cannot and should not attempt to make Christianity plausible by constructing theodicies but should concentrate on other methods of demonstrating the plausibility of Christianity.

scholarly journals Forgiveness and the Naturalistic Approach to Religion: A Contextual View of the Problem of Evil

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 756
Author(s):  
Michał Oleksowicz ◽  
Tomasz Huzarek
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Philosophical Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Slow Evolution ◽  
And Behavior

Cognitive Science of Religion and evolutionary approaches in the study of religion have opened the rapidly developing field of naturalistic explanation of religion. Since its inception, this empirically driven project has undergone a slow evolution, giving rise to the view that explaining religion is not a matter of accounting for a single (cognitive or functional) trait, but rather involves explaining a very complex repertoire of patterns of thinking and behavior. In this paper, we would like to provide a philosophical analysis of the highly complex problem of forgiveness from the Christian religious and naturalistic perspectives. Our analysis demonstrates a crucial way to understand the concepts of guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation as discussed in the context of Christian theology. At the same time, we also discuss certain strengths and weaknesses of the naturalistic accounts. Finally, we formulate some suggestions for advancing the science–religion dialogue on the problem of evil.

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