REL313 The Problem of Evil
If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world? This question has been asked for thousands of years. In this course, we’ll the problem of evil in its various forms (e.g., logical, evidential, existential). We’ll also consider more recent challenges (e.g., evolutionary theory) that make the belief in a perfectly good God more difficult still. Students will encounter various responses to problem of evil, includingattempts to argue that God is perfect in every conceivable way despite evil’s existence to claims that God is not perfectly good and should be accused of evil-doing. The goal of the course is not to solve the problem of evil; it is rather to understand its contours and critically evaluate the various responses the problem has received from Christian philosophers and theologians.