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Of all the issues in the philosophy of religion, the problem of reconciling belief in God with evil in the world arguably commands more attention than any other. For over two decades, Michael L. Peterson’s The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings has been the most widely recognized and used anthology on the subject. Peterson's expanded and updated second edition retains the key features of the original and presents the main positions and strategies in the latest philosophical literature on the subject. It will remain the most complete introduction to the subject as well as a resource for advanced study. Peterson organizes his selection of classical and contemporary sources into four parts: important statements addressing the problem of evil from great literature and classical philosophy; debates based on the logical, evidential, and existential versions of the problem; major attempts to square God's justice with the presence of evil, such as Augustinian, Irenaean, process, openness, and felix culpa theodicies; and debates on the problem of evil covering such concepts as a best possible world, natural evil and natural laws, gratuitous evil, the skeptical theist defense, and the bearing of biological evolution on the problem.
The second edition includes classical excerpts from the book of Job, Voltaire, Dostoevsky, Augustine, Aquinas, Leibniz, and Hume, and twenty-five essays that have shaped the contemporary discussion, by J. L. Mackie, Alvin Plantinga, William Rowe, Marilyn Adams, John Hick, William Hasker, Paul Draper, Michael Bergmann, Eleonore Stump, Peter van Inwagen, and numerous others. Whether a professional philosopher, student, or interested layperson, the reader will be able to work through a number of issues related to how evil in the world affects belief in God.
“Peterson’s well-selected and skillfully structured collection of papers on the problem of evil is an excellent resource for students of philosophy who want an up-to-date sourcebook on this important topic and so can be recommended without hesitation to all academic libraries collecting in philosophy of religion or philosophical theology.” —Catholic Library World
"This classic anthology just got even better. Students need not choose between historical perspectives and up-to-date arguments. Here, they get it all in one complete volume." —Trent Dougherty, Baylor University
“Edited by one of the most able philosophers in the field, this is simply the best anthology on the problem of evil available. Ranging from traditional texts such as Job, Augustine, Aquinas, and Hume to such contemporary authors as Plantinga, Rowe, Stump, and van Inwagen, there is no significant writer or topic that Peterson fails to include. The selections are both balanced and representative of the important issues and challenges that confront the serious student engaged in contemporary discussions on theodicy. This volume is an essential guide to the field.” —Craig A. Boyd, Saint Louis University
“No other anthology effectively organizes so many previously published essays and excerpts covering such a wide range of issues on the problem of evil.” —Christian Scholar’s Review
Michael L. Peterson is professor and chair of the philosophy department at Asbury College. He is the author of With All Your Mind, also published by the University of Notre Dame Press.
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction: The Problem of Evil
PART I Statements of the Problem
Explorations in Great Literature
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Job’s Complaint and the Whirlwind’s Answer From the Book of Job
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The Lisbon Earthquake by Voltaire
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Rebellion by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Treatments in Traditional Philosophy
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No Evil Comes from God by St. Thomas Aquinas
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Best of All Possible Worlds by Gottfried Leibniz
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Evil Makes Belief in God Unreasonable by David Hume
PART II Versions of the Problem
The Logical Problem
- Evil and Omnipotence by J.L. Mackie
8 The Free Will Defense by Alvin Plantinga
The Evidential Problem
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Evil, Evidence, and Skeptical Theism—A Debate by William L. Rowe, Daniel Howard-Snyder, and Michael Bergmann
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Christian Theism and the Evidential Argument from Evil by Michael L. Peterson
The Existential Problem
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On Regretting the Evils of This World by William Hasker
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Redemptive Suffering as a Christian Solution to the Problem of Evil by Marilyn M. Adams
**PART III Perspectives in Theodicy **
Augustinian Theodicy
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A Good Creation’s Capacity for Evil by St. Augustine
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Augustine and the Denial of Genuine Evil by David Ray Griffin
Irenaean Theodicy
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Soul-Making Theodicy by John Hick
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Paradox and Promise in Hick’s Theodicy by William L. Rowe
Process Theodicy
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Divine Persuasion Rather than Coercion by David Ray Griffin
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Evil, Omnipotence, and Process Thought by Bruce R. Reichenbach
Openness Theodicy
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God, Evil, and Relational Risk by John Sanders
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God’s Providence Takes No Risks by Paul Helm
Felix Culpa Theodicy
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Supralapsarianism, or “O Felix Culpa” by Alvin Plantinga
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Are Sin and Evil Necessary for a Really Good World? By Kevin Diller
PART IV Issues in the Problem of Evil
God and the Best Possible World
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Must God Create the Best? By Robert M. Adams
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God, Moral Perfection, and Possible Worlds by Philip L. Quinn
Natural Evils and Natural Laws
25 Natural Evils and Moral Choice by Richard Swinburne
- Knowledge, Freedom, and the Problem of Evil by Eleonore Stump
Gratuitous Evil and God’s Relation to the World
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God and Gratuitous Evil by William Hasker
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Theism and Gratuitous Natural Evil by David O’Connor
Skeptical Theist Defense
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Skeptical Theism and Rowe’s New Evidential Argument from Evil by Michael Bergmann
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The Skeptical Theist Response to Rowe’s Evidential Argument from Evil by Nick Trakakis
Theism, Naturalism, and the Explanation of Pain and Pleasure
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The Distribution of Pain and Pleasure as Evidence for Atheism by Paul Draper
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The Problem of Evil, the Problem of Air, and the Problem of Silence by Peter van Inwagen