For anyone who knows first hand the evil of which humans are capable and who live with the consequences of evil that has been perpetrated upon them. This book offers innovative perspectives on thee healing. For the Rapists who deal with the toughest issues of abuse and its aftermath, the synthesis of narrative, trance, and relationship approaches provides a practice, expanding vision of positive therapevtie interactive.

Gratuitous Suffering and the Problem of Evil: A Comprehensive Introduction is among the first book-length discussions of theistic approaches to the problem of evil. Bryan Frances's lucid analyses of a variety of possible responses to the problem of evil will provide serious students or general readers much material with which to consider this ancient and contemporary concern. The book offers many useful pedagogical features, including chapter overviews, study questions, summaries, and suggested readings.

Contrary to what many philosophers believe, Calvinism neither makes the problem of evil worse nor is it obviously refuted by the presence of evil and suffering in our world. Or so most of the authors in this book claim. While Calvinism has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years amongst theologians and laypersons, many philosophers have yet to follow suit. The reason seems fairly clear: Calvinism, many think, cannot handle the problem of evil with the same kind of plausibility as other more popular views of the nature of God and the nature of God's relationship with His creation. This book seeks to challenge that untested assumption. With clarity and rigor, this collection of essays seeks to fill a significant hole in the literature on the problem of evil. The collection includes twelve original essays by David E. Alexander, James N. Anderson, James E. Bruce, Anthony Bryson, Christopher Green, Matthew J. Hart, Paul Helm, Daniel M. Johnson, Hugh J. McCann, Alexander R. Pruss, Greg Welty, and Heath White.

Provocative essays that seek “to turn the attention of analytic philosophy of religion on the problem of evil . . . towards advances in ethical theory” (Reading Religion). The contributors to this book—Marilyn McCord Adams, John Hare, Linda Zagzebski, Laura Garcia, Bruce Russell, Stephen Wykstra, and Stephen Maitzen—attended two University of Notre Dame conferences in which they addressed the thesis that there are yet untapped resources in ethical theory for affecting a more adequate solution to the problem of evil. The problem of evil has been an extremely active area of study in the philosophy of religion for many years. Until now, most sources have focused on logical, metaphysical, and epistemological issues, leaving moral questions as open territory. With the resources of ethical theory firmly in hand, this volume provides lively insight into this ageless philosophical issue. “These essays—and others—will be of primary interest to scholars working in analytic philosophy of religion from a self-consciously Christian standpoint, but its audience is not limited to such persons. The book offers illustrative examples of how scholars in philosophy of religion understand their aims and how they go about making their arguments . . . hopefully more work will follow this volume’s lead.”—Reading Religion “Recommended.”—Choice

Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love grapples with the same fundamental question that has vexed philosophers and theologians since the advent of monotheistic religion, and continues as a barrier to belief for many today. Namely, if God is so good, how can natural disaster, genocide, trauma - and my present suffering - occur? Historically, there have been two apparently very different approaches to the problem: the pastoral, or practical, on the one hand and the systematic on the other. Richard Norton, however, suggests that these two lines of thought may not be as separate as they seem, and may indeed be dependent on one another for their cohesion. Drawing on Julian’s medieval experience of personal and population-wide suffering, alongside that of more recent theologians such as Dorothy Solle and Jürgen Moltmann, Norton constructs a compassionate model of theodicy that can be of use to both pastoral and systematic theologians. Throughout, he remains sensitive to the raw atrocity of evil, while preserving a vision of God as the one who ensures that all shall be well.

First published in 2003. Part of the Studies in Ethics and Philosophy of Religion series which seeks to provide an opportunity for philosophical discussions of a limited length which pursue some detail topics, presenting work by contemporary philosophers. Volume I looks at the problem of evil.

What kind of maniacal deviant preys on young teenage girls and viciously terrorizes a small town in upstate New York? Roman Wolfe, a.k.a. Wolfman, is a Vietnam combat veteran who had specialized in the stealthy, nighttime-stalking and killing of the enemy. After the war Roman gets a college education and becomes an elementary school teacher who is still haunted by his violent war experiences on the killing fields and in the jungles of Vietnam. Roman feels the need to end his teaching career when his schools community is informed about his specialized actions in Vietnam and many parents react negatively. When most parents no longer want their children placed in Romans classroom, he resigns his teaching position and becomes a Private Investigator who prefers to handle cases involving children. Shortly after becoming a PI, his two high-ranking state trooper friends ask him for help as a consultant in solving a serial murders case involving the killing of female children. Now Wolfman must emerge again to hunt a sadistic, but intelligent killer.

The problem of evil has produced many responses and elicited vigorous debate. In this multiview book, five philosophical theologians discuss and defend different solutions to this ancient problem: Phillip Cary on the classic view, William Lane Craig on Molinism, William Hasker on open theism, Thomas J. Oord on essential kenosis, and Stephen Wykstra on skeptical theism.

Arguments are clearly presented, and rival theories are presented with fairness and accuracy."--BOOK JACKET.