Overview

This book presents a historical overview of how Christians have described and negotiated the causes of natural evil. Within the context of his study, John Adair defines natural evil as evils that are not an obvious, direct result of moral compromise initiated by the free choice of a moral agent, but rather stem from nature itself—e.g., natural disasters, illness, or loss of life. While historical Christian communities’ justifications for and responses to natural evil has evolved over time, Adair traces how Christian theodicy rests on a firm commitment to God’s goodness. Across seven chapters, this book narrates this evolution of thought, focusing on key figures in history who illustrate the theological continuity around God’s goodness. In doing so, Adair builds a theological conversation, prompting readers to consider the collective weight of this historic response to questions of natural evil and query how a response which affirms God’s goodness might impact our own reactions to questions of God’s relation to the horrors of our daily lives.

Full Product Details

9781666966688

Table of Contents

Reviews

The problem of natural evil is a perennial issue that every generation of Christians has wrestled with and pondered. On the one hand, God has provided humans with a beautiful, finely tuned world, but on the other hand, this world contains viruses, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Surveying ancient, medieval, and contemporary Christian thought on natural evil, John Adair has provided a wonderful resource to place this issue in its historical perspective. The Origins of Natural Evil is essential reading for anyone interested in Christian responses to natural evil throughout the centuries. * B. Kyle Keltz, South Plains College *

The problem of natural evil is a perennial issue that every generation of Christians has wrestled with and pondered. On the one hand, God has provided humans with a beautiful, finely tuned world, but on the other hand, this world contains viruses, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Surveying ancient, medieval, and contemporary Christian thought on natural evil, John Adair has provided a wonderful resource to place this issue in its historical perspective. The Origins of Natural Evil is essential reading for anyone interested in Christian responses to natural evil throughout the centuries. * B. Kyle Keltz, South Plains College * John Adair has given us a great gift. His historical theology of the origin of natural evil raises past perspectives to reconsider, challenges our own hermeneutical prejudices, and reawakens us to the brilliance, elegance, and possibility for both truth and error, saints and scoundrels, within theological cultures. Adair’s panorama thereby humbles, informs, and enriches our own methods and traditions. The landscape he portrays ultimately has this consequence: it drives us to stare into the face of the ubiquitous problems of natural evil and human torment, urging us anew, as humans, as theologians, and as ministers to seek the face of God. * D. Jeffrey Bingham, Research Professor of Historical Theology and Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology Southwestern Seminary *

Author Information

John Adair is Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

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