What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory

by Scott Christensen

Publisher:

P&R

, 2020

Overview

Reconciling the existence of God and evil is a conundrum in Christian theology, and a philosophical approach—rather than a theological one—dominates. Turning to the Bible’s grand storyline, Scott Christensen examines how sin, evil, corruption, and death fit into the broad outlines of redemptive history. He argues that God’s ultimate end in creation is to magnify his glory to his image-bearers, most notably by defeating evil through the atoning work of Christ.

Key Features

• Examines how sin, evil, corruption, and death fit into the broad outlines of redemptive history
• Explains how God’s ultimate end in creation is to magnify his glory to his image-bearers
• Explores the atoning work of Christ

Contents

Top Highlights

“When discussing the problem of evil, philosophers and theologians make a distinction between moral and natural evil. Moral evil is that which proceeds from personal (i.e., human and angelic) beings as sentient creatures with moral agency—the ability and desire to make moral decisions. Such evil is perpetrated by intentional actions or by neglect of acting in a way that people ought to act.” (Page 51)

“The problem of theodicy in its more formal articulation goes back to the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 b.c.). It forms a trilemma, juxtaposing the following notions with one another: (1) God is good; (2) God is powerful; and (3) yet evil exists, putting one or both of the first two points under suspicion.” (Page 3)

“To toy with the clear revelation of God’s character when attempting a theodicy is to admit failure. To the contrary, retaining a robust understanding of the divine attributes is the starting point when seeking to bear the load of evil’s unrelenting weight. Unfortunately, we live in a time when anemic views of God within the church persist and unrealistic views of reality expose a saccharine weakness to our Christian outlook.” (Pages 4–5)

“Nietzsche saw the stark reality that without God, there is no goodness left in the world, no discernible purpose to life.⁶⁸ Nihilism is the only true heir of atheism.” (Page 30)

“God has a specific telos to evil—an end, a goal, a design. It has a teleological function” (Page 120)

Product Details

• Title: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory
• Author: Scott Christensen
• Publisher: P&R
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Pages: 544
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Theodicy; God (Christianity); Good and evil › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 9781629955353, 9781629955360, 9781629955377, 1629955353, 1629955361, 162995537X
• Resource ID: LLS:WHATABOUTEVIL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:43:47Z

About Scott Christensen

Scott Christensen (MDiv, The Master's Seminary) is the author of What about Free Will? He worked for nine years at the award-winning CCY Architects in Aspen, Colorado: several of his home designs were featured in Architectural Digest magazine. Called out of this work to the ministry, he graduated with honors from seminary and now serves as the associate pastor of Kerrville Bible Church in Kerrville, Texas.