There is a long line of people who have attempted climb a Mount Everest of human existence – why do we suffer. Or perhaps to reference the good rabbi – “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The question of theodicy has taken down many worthy theologians and philosophers and yet the line of individuals waiting to climb the mountain wraps around the mountain again and again. I recently read an article that attempts to tackle this very problem. John Schneider’s article “Seeing God Where the Wild Things Are: An Essay on the Defeat of Horrendous Evil” is the article in question. It is part of a larger work Christian Faith and the Problem of Evil edited by Peter van Inwagen (a collection of theologians and philosophers all making a group expedition up the beguiling mountain of theodicy).
Schneider starts by charting out the current landscape of discourse concerning theodicy, specifically in the Christian Orthodox arena. He begins referencing J.L. Mackie’s article “Evil and Omnipotence” as a ground braking work. I have not read the article yet, but will try to get to it. Regardless, Schneider’s article is one that can be read without previous knowledge of Mackie’s work.
Schneider starts by making a number of theistic claims: God exists, is good, is omnipotent, etc…. and then invites Christians theologians to return or stay involved in the philosophical debate of evil and the rationality of a deism in the human experience. It reminds me of Abraham’s epistemological claim for the sake of Christianity in the discussion of epistemology. It is good that Schneider is being honest about his claims. He then considers the idea of “horrendous evils,” which is an evil that makes one question one’s purpose of life. This is the evil that causes unrest in the conscience of humanity. Schneider discusses other Christian responses to theodicy, pointing out their faults and failings. There is a problem with giving not enough power to God (Hick), or taking free will away from humanity. There is the question of the suffering of God and how that can occur with an all powerful, all perfect God. Schneider surveys the landscape well before turning to the crux of his argument.
The argument starts with the book of Job. It starts with a common interpretation of Job (especially the end of the book), and then considering some alternative options for understanding the biblical book. Schneider’s interest is in the final conversation between God and Job. Many understand that conversation as God telling Job to not question and accept that some things are just beyond understanding, and Schneider is not happy with this reading and offers another reading suggested by other scholars. This reading considers the symbolic aspect of God controlling the Leviathan, the chaos and the hope which it gives to Job. In this particular reading of Job, the author is claiming that God is in control of the chaos. Job was finding chaos in his life, and God was suggesting that never was Job out of the Lord’s care.
Schneider finally takes this reading of Job to the gospel of Mark. In Mark, Jesus is depicted as one who is in control of the chaos through a narrative reading of the text. Even in the chaos of the cross itself, we should find some hope that God is ultimately in control, hence the resurrection.
Unless I have missed something, Schneider is offering a understanding to the issue of evil that many have considered before. To claim that God is in control, and has tamed the chaos of the horrible evil does not seem that removed from the Calvinistic claim that God is in control of all of our lives. How is this answer different from a soft predestination? Hartshorn has criticized such a response, as has Caputo and others. They have argued for a weakness of God that does not force a happy ending out of the most horrendous situation. Schneider is offering a good synopsis of current creative exegetical work of Job and Mark, but is not offering anything new to the larger discourse of theodicy.
Further, I do not find the same kind of hope that Schneider offers in his understanding of Job. The only hope I can find is that even those whose lives are lost in horrible evil (i.e. the holocaust) are not lost in vain. God can make that life worthwhile. This does not answer the problem of evil, but find hope in the face of evil. I fear this could lead toward the cheap answer to suffering: this is all done for a reason. Or to look for a silver lining in the horrendous situation.
I agree with Schneider’s entrance of Mark. Mark give us the Trinitarian foundation of hope that God suffers, and find hopes in the suffering. This gives some hope without a pie-in-the-sky kind of Pollyanna sunshine. It does not offer a good answer for why evil occurs, but does if it does one can find some hope in the suffering. In the end it is a good essay, but nothing new in this climb up the question of theodicy.
Schneider starts by charting out the current landscape of discourse concerning theodicy, specifically in the Christian Orthodox arena. He begins referencing J.L. Mackie’s article “Evil and Omnipotence” as a ground braking work. I have not read the article yet, but will try to get to it. Regardless, Schneider’s article is one that can be read without previous knowledge of Mackie’s work.
Schneider starts by making a number of theistic claims: God exists, is good, is omnipotent, etc…. and then invites Christians theologians to return or stay involved in the philosophical debate of evil and the rationality of a deism in the human experience. It reminds me of Abraham’s epistemological claim for the sake of Christianity in the discussion of epistemology. It is good that Schneider is being honest about his claims. He then considers the idea of “horrendous evils,” which is an evil that makes one question one’s purpose of life. This is the evil that causes unrest in the conscience of humanity. Schneider discusses other Christian responses to theodicy, pointing out their faults and failings. There is a problem with giving not enough power to God (Hick), or taking free will away from humanity. There is the question of the suffering of God and how that can occur with an all powerful, all perfect God. Schneider surveys the landscape well before turning to the crux of his argument.
The argument starts with the book of Job. It starts with a common interpretation of Job (especially the end of the book), and then considering some alternative options for understanding the biblical book. Schneider’s interest is in the final conversation between God and Job. Many understand that conversation as God telling Job to not question and accept that some things are just beyond understanding, and Schneider is not happy with this reading and offers another reading suggested by other scholars. This reading considers the symbolic aspect of God controlling the Leviathan, the chaos and the hope which it gives to Job. In this particular reading of Job, the author is claiming that God is in control of the chaos. Job was finding chaos in his life, and God was suggesting that never was Job out of the Lord’s care.
Schneider finally takes this reading of Job to the gospel of Mark. In Mark, Jesus is depicted as one who is in control of the chaos through a narrative reading of the text. Even in the chaos of the cross itself, we should find some hope that God is ultimately in control, hence the resurrection.
Unless I have missed something, Schneider is offering a understanding to the issue of evil that many have considered before. To claim that God is in control, and has tamed the chaos of the horrible evil does not seem that removed from the Calvinistic claim that God is in control of all of our lives. How is this answer different from a soft predestination? Hartshorn has criticized such a response, as has Caputo and others. They have argued for a weakness of God that does not force a happy ending out of the most horrendous situation. Schneider is offering a good synopsis of current creative exegetical work of Job and Mark, but is not offering anything new to the larger discourse of theodicy.
Further, I do not find the same kind of hope that Schneider offers in his understanding of Job. The only hope I can find is that even those whose lives are lost in horrible evil (i.e. the holocaust) are not lost in vain. God can make that life worthwhile. This does not answer the problem of evil, but find hope in the face of evil. I fear this could lead toward the cheap answer to suffering: this is all done for a reason. Or to look for a silver lining in the horrendous situation.
I agree with Schneider’s entrance of Mark. Mark give us the Trinitarian foundation of hope that God suffers, and find hopes in the suffering. This gives some hope without a pie-in-the-sky kind of Pollyanna sunshine. It does not offer a good answer for why evil occurs, but does if it does one can find some hope in the suffering. In the end it is a good essay, but nothing new in this climb up the question of theodicy.
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