The Problems of Evil

Goal of Course: to assist students develop their own understanding of evil and suffering, through a critical survey of historical understandings.

Students: everyone is welcome - from those with no background in theology to those with advanced degrees and pastoral experience. The assignments can be tailored to the students’ objectives.

Readings: The attached bibliography describes several interesting books, categorized by topic and depth. The suggested weekly readings are often differentiated for the student’s focus or level of experience. It is expected that students will read at least one general survey book and two books with a particular focus that is of interest to the student.

Course Requirements: students auditing the course are welcome and are not required to submit any essays. Students taking the course for credit are required to submit three essays, as described in the accompanying pages. There is no examination.

Class Structure: We will begin each class with a lecture on the assigned topic, followed by class discussion. After a break, we will begin with a second lecture, concluding with class discussion. The class topics are explained in the following syllabus, but the dates of those topics may change to accommodate the schedules of guest speakers.

WEEK 1

INTRODUCTION TO ISSUES AND INTRODUCTION TO COURSE

Summary of the problems of evil and various responses over time; glossary of terms and concepts; levels of student engagement; review of recommended literature; seminar structure and course requirements.

CONCEPTS OF EVIL IN NEIGHBORING CULTURES AS CONTEXT FOR THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

Creation/Combat Myths, Enuma Elish, Gilgemesh, Persian Myths, Dualism; Adam & Eve

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

T.J. Wray, The Birth of Satan: Ch. 4,or
John Sanford, Evil, the Shadow Side of Reality : Ch. 2
Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed,
Adam & Eve: Genesis 3

WEEK 2

CONCEPTS OF EVIL IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURE

Development of the idea of “a satan”; evil and suffering as a problem for monotheism

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

Wray: Ch. 2 and 3;
or Sanford: Ch. 3; or
Bart D. Ehrman, God’s Problem,

Excerpts from Hebrew Scripture: (hand-out):
Gen. 1:31; 2:16; 6:5-8, 8:21: Num.14:26-29, 22: 21-35; Deut. 6:4-5, 28:15-20; 31: 16-17; 1Chron. 21:1,17; 2Sam. 24:1; 1Sam 16:14-15, 18:10-11; Job 2:1-10; Psalm 23:4; Isaiah:45:5-7; Jer.18:11; Ez 20:25-26; Amos 3:6; Jonah 3:10, Zech 3:1-3

WEEK 3

CHANGING CONCEPT OF EVIL IN THE INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD

Exile and Diaspora, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi, Essenes, apocalyptic literature, interpretation of scriptural references to evil as social history

Recommended Readings:

Wray, Ch. 5; or
Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satan: Ch.1, 2
Excerpts from Scripture and Apocrypha (hand-out):
Dan. 4:13,17,23; Isa 14:12, 1 Enoch 40:7, 53:3, 69:6; Jub. 10:8-11,

WEEK 4

CHANGING CONCEPT OF EVIL IN THE CHRISTIAN TESTAMENT

Emerging role of Satan; evil as “political” instrument among early followers

Recommended Readings:

Wray, Ch.6; or
Pagels, Ch. 3-6
Excerpts from Scripture (hand-out)
Mat 4:5-6, 10; 12: 25-27; 16:23
Mk 1:12-13, 34, 39
Lk 4:5-6, 13; 11:14
Jn 8:44

WEEK 5

DEVELOPMENT OF AN “ORTHODOX” UNDERSTANDING OF SUFFERING AND EVIL IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Efforts at orthodoxy; Plato, Neo-Platonists, Augustine, Aquinas; Calvin, Luther, Barth; evil as “non-being”; the “free will” defense

Recommended Readings:

Jeffrey Burton Russell, The Prince of Darkness: Ch.4-7; or
John Hick, Evil and the God of Love: Ch. 2-3, 8; or
C.S Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sec. 309

WEEK 6

“ORTHODOX” UNDERSTANDINGS REFLECTED IN THE ARTS AND PUBLIC CULTURE

The “devil”, evil and suffering have always been popular subjects in the arts; even when these depictions veered substantially from “orthodox” understandings.

Recommended readings and experiences:

Dante: Inferno; Milton: Paradise Lost; Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, Harry Potter; The Fallen; Devil’s Advocate; Miller:The Crucible; Rosemary’s Baby; Sympathy for the Devil; Black Sabbath; 2012; Day Before Tomorrow; Exorcist; True Blood; Twilight

WEEK 7

ALTERNATIVE UNDERSTANDING: EVIL AND SUFFERING AS INSTRUMENTS FOR THE GOOD: “SOUL-MAKING”

Suffering and evil understood as a principal means of “making souls”, finding “meaning” and revealing God

Recommended Reading:

Hick: Ch.9-12; or
Viktore Fankl, Man’s Search for Meaning: Ch. 2; or
Carlo Carretto, Why Lord? The Inner Meaning of Suffering

WEEK 8

ALTERNATIVE UNDERSTANDING: “PROTEST” OR “HOLOCAUST” THEOLOGY

Evil on the monstrous, collective scale of the Holocaust can be understood only by questioning the goodness or omnipotence of God or through a belief that “God is dead”

CONTEMPORARY JEWISH PERSPECTIVES

Competing intrinsic instincts of moral conscience (yetzer tov) and reckless self-satisfaction (yetzer ra)

Recommended Readings:

Book of Job
William Hasker, The Triumph of God over Evil: Ch. 2; or
William Safire, The First Dissident: Parts 1-3; or
Richard Rubenstein, After Auschwitz: Ch. 2,3, Part 3; or
Elie Wiesel, Night

WEEK 9

ALTERNATIVE UNDERSTANDING: GOD IS NOT “OMNIPOTENT” AND SUFFERS WITH US IN AN EVOLVING CREATION

Process theology: re-conception of divine power as persuasive rather than compelling; creation as evolving; God affects and is affected by evil and suffering.

ALTERNATIVE UNDERSTANDING: POWERS AND PRINCIPALITIES

God is in everything, in an integral reality, which includes social structures and institutions (powers and principalities). When they betray their divine vocations (evil), that can be redeemed.

Recommended Readings:

David Ray Griffin, God, Will & Power: Ch. 18; or
David Ray Griffin, Evil Revisited: Ch. 1, 6; or
Walter Wink, The Powers That Be, Ch. 1,2,3,10

WEEK 10

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL UNDERSTANDINGS:

Carl Jung: there is an archetypal “Shadow” within all of our personalities, which can be repressed and projected; it must be recognized and reckoned with or it becomes “evil” and destroys divine wholeness.

Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck encounters demonic possession attempts exorcisms.

Neuroscientists and philosophers find evil in the banality and neurons of “ordinary” humans

Recommended readings:

John A. Sanford, Evil: the Shadow Side of Reality, Ch. 5-9; or
M. Scott Peck, “Glimpses of the Devil, Ch. 2, 6, Part III; or
Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil”

Also:
National Geographic Science of Evil, (available on Netflix)

WEEK 11

OTHER RESPONSES TO THE PROBLEMS OF EVIL AND SUFFERING: ISLAM, HINDUISM, BUDDHISM

Recommended reading:

John Bowker, Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World:
Ch. 3, 5, 6

WEEK 12

“NATURAL” EVIL

Are hurricanes, floods, diseases and other natural disasters “caused” by God? Are they punishments? Are they “evil”?

ATHEISTIC, AGNOSTIC AND MISOTHEISTIC ARGUMENTS FROM EVIL AND ABOUT EVIL

Since evil exists in many forms, it is intellectually dishonest to claim that there is a God who is good and powerful. The “fee will” defense is illogical. Evil is simply a projection on others- often for sinister purposes.

Recommended readings:

Susan Neiman, Evil in Modern Thought; or
François-Marie Arouet, Voltaire, Candide; or
John Feinberg, Many Faces of Evil: Ch. 9; or
Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom and Evil, Part 1; or
William Hasker, The Triumph of God over Evil: Theodicy for a World of Suffering: Ch. 3, 5, 6; or
Bernard Schweizer, Hating God: the Untold Story of Misotheism

WEEK 13

EXPERIENCED EVIL AND RESPONSES

Is theorizing about the origin and abstract “problems of evil” pointless? It is a mystery. More importantly, can it ever provide any consolation to the victims of evil? Pastoral responses to suffering and evil.

Recommended readings:

Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, or
John Feinberg, The Many Faces of Evil: Ch. 14, or
Paula D’Arcy, When People Grieve: The Power of Love in the Midst of Pain

WEEK 14

REVIEW

WEEK 15

PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF ESSAYS