Theodicy and the Bible

Relating theodicy and the Bible is crucial to understanding Abrahamic theodicy because the Bible "has been, both in theory and in fact, the dominant influence upon ideas about God and evil in the Western world".^[1] Theodicy, in its most common form, is the attempt to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil. Theodicy attempts to resolve the evidential problem of evil by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence and omnipotence, in either their absolute or relative form, with the occurrence of evil or suffering in the world.^[2]

Theodicy is an "intensely urgent" and "constant concern" of "the entire Bible".^[3] The Bible raises the issue of theodicy by its portrayals of God as inflicting evil and by its accounts of people who question God's goodness by their angry indictments. However, the Bible "contains no comprehensive theodicy".^[4]

The most common theodicy is free will theodicy, which lays the blame for all moral evil and some natural evil on humanity's misuse of its free will.^[5]^[6]

^ Griffin, David (1976). God, Power, and Evil. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. p. 31. ISBN 0664207537.
^ Mackie, John "Evil and Omnipotence", Mind, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 254. (Apr., 1955), pp. 200–12, included in The Philosophy of Religion, ed. Basil Mitchell (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 92 and online at http://www.ditext.com/mackie/evil.html. Accessed September 27, 2015. Mackie says that “in its simplest form the [theodic] problem is this: God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists.”
^ Anthony J. Tambasco, ed. (2002). The Bible on Suffering. New York: Paulist Press. p. 436. ISBN 0809140489.
^ Kelly, Joseph (2001). The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition. Collegeville: Liturgical Press. p. 227. ISBN 0814651046.
^ "Is Free Will the Reason God Allows Evil and Suffering". Retrieved 11 June 2012.
^ Alcorn, Randy, If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah Books, 2009), 238–50, illustrates this interaction with the Bible in a section on "The Free will Debate" that covers the freedom given Adam and Eve along with what Jesus and Paul say regarding free will.

[1] Griffin, David (1976). God, Power, and Evil. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. p. 31. ISBN 0664207537.

[2] Mackie, John "Evil and Omnipotence", Mind, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 254. (Apr., 1955), pp. 200–12, included in The Philosophy of Religion, ed. Basil Mitchell (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 92 and online at http://www.ditext.com/mackie/evil.html. Accessed September 27, 2015. Mackie says that “in its simplest form the [theodic] problem is this: God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists.”

[3] Anthony J. Tambasco, ed. (2002). The Bible on Suffering. New York: Paulist Press. p. 436. ISBN 0809140489.

[4] Kelly, Joseph (2001). The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition. Collegeville: Liturgical Press. p. 227. ISBN 0814651046.

[5] "Is Free Will the Reason God Allows Evil and Suffering". Retrieved 11 June 2012.

[6] Alcorn, Randy, If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah Books, 2009), 238–50, illustrates this interaction with the Bible in a section on "The Free will Debate" that covers the freedom given Adam and Eve along with what Jesus and Paul say regarding free will.

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