John Hick S Theodicy

How to reconcile the existence of evil with the belief in a benevolent God has long posed a philosophical problem to the system of Christian theism. This work redress this difficulty in modern terms.

John Hick is considered to be one of the greatest living philosophers of religion. Hick's philosophical journey has culminated in the grand proposal that we should see all the major world religions as equally valid responses to the same ultimate reality (the 'Real'). This book presents a critical introduction to John Hick's speculative theology and philosophy. The book begins where Hick began, with the problems of religious language, and ends where Hick is now, exploring the questions of religious plurality. Incorporating early aspects that Hick himself would now wish to qualify, as well as explanations that reflect Hick's present focus, Cheetham offers some speculative reflections of his own on key topics, highlighting Hick's influence on contemporary theology and philosophy of religion. All those studying the work of this great philosopher and theologian will find this new introduction offers an invaluable overview along with fresh critical insight.

In 1989 John Hick published his Gifford Lectures under the title An Interpretation of Religion, a work which provided important new insights about the nature of the world's religions. Soon after, a group of scholars from around the world gathered in Claremont, California to discuss, analyze and criticize An Interpretation of Religion. This book is a written record of those proceedings - including Hick's responses - that serves to clarify both Hick's position as well as the issues which concern his critics.

When first published, Evil and the God of Love instantly became recognized as a modern theological classic, widely viewed as the most important work on the problem of evil to appear in English for more than a generation. Including a foreword by Marilyn McCord Adams, this reissue also contains a new preface by the author.

This book serves to correct the now accepted understanding of Irenaeus's theodicy. This assumption of Hick's theodicy as legitimately "Irenaean" remains due the gulf between Irenaean scholarship and discussion of the problem of evil. The present work offers a bridge between the two to allow for the continued discussion of both theologian's distinct views.

As an undergraduate the author was influenced strongly by Bertrand Russell’s rejection of Christianity due to the amount of evil in the world. After years of reading and reflecting on this topic, this book was written in the hope of providing better insight on this issue. The book’s first part offers an analysis of the two primary historical approaches to theodicy—the free-will theodicy originated by Augustine and the “soul-making” or character development theodicy elaborated by John Hick. But the great value of human free will and character development does not seem adequately to justify all the evil we perceive. The second part shows why development of relationships among God and human beings requires considerable evil. Important non-relationship oriented explanations are taken into account. Justifications for permitting horrific evils including holocausts and world wars are given. The final part provides an analysis of the argument from evil including forms of the argument which have appeared in recent years in philosophical journals. Although evidence restricted to some evils or evil alone may have some weight, when good is included as well as evil, theists are justified in claiming the evidence supports their position far better than atheism.