Tag Archives: theodicy

The Free-Will Defense and the Impossible Worlds of Molinism

Posted on 10 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The free-will defense of evil and suffering is a failure—so Hugh McCann con­tends. This verdict sur­prises, given the opinion of so many phi­losophers that Alvin Plan­tin­ga’s argument succeeds resoundingly. But it succeeds, maintains McCann, only be­cause it aban­dons God’s provi­dential … Continue reading →

Posted in Herbert McCabe & Friends, Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

C. S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, and the Free-Will Defense

Posted on 5 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Why did God create a world filled with evil and horrific violence? In the midst of World War II, C. S. Lewis offered what has become a classic Christian response: God created things which had free will. That means creatures which … Continue reading →

Posted in Hugh McCann, Philosophical Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Seeking Theodicy: Sergius Bulgakov and the Apoktastasis

Posted on 13 September 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

We seek theodicy. We desiderate a convincing justification for the suffering, privation, violence, futility, and death of this world. We desire assurance that this world is good and our Creator is good. We need hope that Christ will triumph over … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Sergius Bulgakov | Tagged , , , , , , , | 108 Comments

Creation, Theodicy, and the Problem of Evil

Posted on 12 April 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Robert F. Fortuin This essay sets forth the claim that the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation informs the nature and meaning of evil. Because God created the universe without prior constraint or necessity, His moral nature and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gregory of Nyssa, Robert Fortuin | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

If God is going to deify everyone anyway, why not deify everyone immediately?

Posted on 20 January 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by David Bentley Hart Frankly, Al, I find the question very strange. In part, because its premise is an absolute banality: that life is a kind of contest, played within the arbitrary constraints of the clock, at the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in David B. Hart, Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 132 Comments

Suffering, Theodicy, and Apocatastasis

Posted on 19 August 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“What then, one might well ask, is divine providence?” David Bentley Hart poses this ques­tion after pondering upon the evil and suffering of the world in his beautiful little book The Doors of the Sea. Hart compares the orthodox Christian … Continue reading →

Posted in David B. Hart | Tagged , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Dionysian Ponderings: The Parhypostatic Nullity of Evil

Posted on 1 August 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Ecstatic movement from the Good and Beautiful into the multiplicity of the good and beautiful, succeeded by joyful return to the Good and Beautiful. From God, in God, through God, to God. Abiding, procession, reversion; diffusion, illumination, union. Creation and … Continue reading →

Posted in Dionysius the Areopagite | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Suffering and Death: Elements of an Orthodox Theodicy

Posted on 24 April 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

I was invited to take part with two other pastors in a panel discussion yesterday at Life Pacific College in Christiansburg, Virginia on the topic of suffering, evil, and God. We were each given 20 minutes for our initial presentations. … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , | 29 Comments