The Puzzle of Evil

Are you ready for a challenging journey? This journeyis challenging because the reader is confronted with a number of some of the most difficult questions that philosphersand theologians have grappled with over the millenia.Is there a God? What is 'his' nature? Is he ableto prevent evil? Is he unwilling to prevent evil? Whatis evil and why does it exist? Finally, what should our responseto evil be? This journey takes us through an amazing land. Theland is not a physical one, however. It is a journey throughthe land of great ideas. The reader is presented with someof the ideas, thoughts, and arguments of great men and mindsthroughout history. The reader is introduced to Job, Socrates,Jesus, Augustine, Aquinas, Ritschl, John Scotus Eurigena, Hume,Kant, CS Lewis, Dostoyevski, and Tolstoy. The author Peter Vardy divides the issue in two.First evil is presented as a problem, relying on an assumptionwhich he admits can not be proved, namely the existence ofa loving God. How can a loving all powerful God permit evilto exist? The second half of the book deals with evil as a mystery. Perhaps the greatest weakness of the book isthe contradiction which the author does not resolve, at leastnot for me, between faith and reason. Vardy calls his faiththat God exists, a 'value judgement'. He not only poses theexistence of God, but also maintains the idea of the Trinity,judgement after death (or an eternal hell) and the idea thatall have the free choice to respond to God by developing arelationship to God. He further asserts that such a relationshipis what might be called 'carrying the cross'; that is tosay that the Christian journey is not an easy one but adifficult and unpopular one. It is one that most in theChristian community fail to make. Does the problem of evil have a solution? That is nota question which is central to the theme of the book, exceptin so far as the solution involves a relationship with God.Vardy makes clear that Christianity is more about faiththan about reason, and in my opinion, fails to make a casefor going 'beyond reason' to faith. Nevertheless, I am impressed by his ability to use reason as much as he can,and his ability to look at many issuesin a very objective way, some of the time. He points outthat "once one abandons the law of non-contradiction, one lapses into nonsense" (p 110). Vardy never lapses intononsense himself, but he does get into some very subjectiveterritory and seems to emphasize belief in things that can not, he admits, be proved. For him reason is a startingpoint and much of of what he states is his belief inthings which he accepts on 'faith'. He explores an interesting variety of approachesand issues, looking at the problem of evil from a fairnumber of angles. He left me with a sense that all thegeneral ways to look at the problem had been covered. He leaves, as it were, no major stone unturned, andin the examination of each question looks deeply enoughto anticipate different objections. Whether or notone agrees

Are you ready for a challenging journey? This journeyis challenging because the reader is confronted with a number of some of the most difficult questions that philosphersand theologians have grappled with over the millenia.Is there a God? What is 'his' nature? Is he ableto prevent evil? Is he unwilling to prevent evil? Whatis evil and why does it exist? Finally, what should our responseto evil be? This journey takes us through an amazing land. Theland is not a physical one, however. It is a journey throughthe land of great ideas. The reader is presented with someof the ideas, thoughts, and arguments of great men and mindsthroughout history. The reader is introduced to Job, Socrates,Jesus, Augustine, Aquinas, Ritschl, John Scotus Eurigena, Hume,Kant, CS Lewis, Dostoyevski, and Tolstoy. The author Peter Vardy divides the issue in two.First evil is presented as a problem, relying on an assumptionwhich he admits can not be proved, namely the existence ofa loving God. How can a loving all powerful God permit evilto exist? The second half of the book deals with evil as a mystery. Perhaps the greatest weakness of the book isthe contradiction which the author does not resolve, at leastnot for me, between faith and reason. Vardy calls his faiththat God exists, a 'value judgement'. He not only poses theexistence of God, but also maintains the idea of the Trinity,judgement after death (or an eternal hell) and the idea thatall have the free choice to respond to God by developing arelationship to God. He further asserts that such a relationshipis what might be called 'carrying the cross'; that is tosay that the Christian journey is not an easy one but adifficult and unpopular one. It is one that most in theChristian community fail to make. Does the problem of evil have a solution? That is nota question which is central to the theme of the book, exceptin so far as the solution involves a relationship with God.Vardy makes clear that Christianity is more about faiththan about reason, and in my opinion, fails to make a casefor going 'beyond reason' to faith. Nevertheless, I am impressed by his ability to use reason as much as he can,and his ability to look at many issuesin a very objective way, much of the time. He points outthat "once one abandons the law of non-contradiction, one lapses into nonsense" (p 110). Vardy never lapses intononsense himself, but he does get into some very subjectiveterritory and seems to emphasize belief in things that can not, he admits, be proved. For him reason is a startingpoint and much of of what he states is his belief inthings which he accepts on 'faith'. He explores an interesting variety of approachesand issues, looking at the problem of evil from a fairnumber of angles. He left me with a sense that all thegeneral ways to look at the problem had been covered. He leaves, as it were, no major stone unturned, andin the examination of each question looks deeply enoughto anticipate different objections. Whether or notone agrees