God Evil and Redeeming Good

<p>This book offers an original contribution to debates about the problem of evil and the existence of God. It develops a Thomistic Christian theodicy the aim of which is to help us better understand not only why God allows evil but also how God works to redeem it.</p><p>In the author’s view the existence of evil does not generate any intellectual problem that theists must address or solve to vindicate God or the rationality of theism. This is because acknowledging the existence of evil rationally leads us to acknowledge the existence of God. However understanding how these two facts are compatible still requires addressing weighty wide-ranging questions concerning God and evil. The author draws on diverse elements of Aquinas’s philosophy and theology to build an argument that evil only exists within God’s world because God has created and continues to sustain so much good. Moreover God can and does bring good out of all evil both cosmically and within the context of our own individual lives. In making this argument the author engages with contemporary work on the problem of evil from analytic philosophy of religion and theology. Additionally he addresses a broad range of topics and doctrines within Thomistic and Christian thought including God creation providence original sin redemption heaven and hell and the theological virtues.</p><p><em>God Evil and Redeeming Good</em> is an essential resource for scholars and students interested in philosophy of religion philosophical theology and the thought of Thomas Aquinas.</p>