Is a Good God Logically Possible?

Using yet untapped resources from moral and political philosophy, this book seeks to answer the question of whether an all good God who is presumed to be all powerful is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. It is widely held by theists and atheists alike that it may be logically impossible for an all good, all powerful God to create a world with moral agents like ourselves that does not also have at least some moral evil in it.  James P. Sterba focuses on the further question of whether God is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. The negative answer he provides marks a new stage in the age-old debate about God's existence. 

List of contents

1. Introduction.- 2. There Is No Free-Will Defense.- 3 An Attempt at Theodicy.- 4. The Pauline Principle and the Just Political State.- 5. Skeptical Theism to the Rescue?.- 6. What If God Is Not a Moral Agent?.- 7. What About a Redemptive God?.- 8. Taking Natural Evil into Account .- 9. Conclusion.

About the author

James P. Sterba is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He has published thirty-four books, including the award-winning Justice for Here and Now (1998). 

Report

"Sterba does offer a sustained argument against many contemporary theodicies, especially those that appeal to the value of soul-making and free will. ... it is a valuable contribution to the literature on the problem of evil." (Michael Almeida, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 87, 2020)

Product details

• Authors: James P Sterba, James P. Sterba
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.07.2019
• EAN: 9783030054687
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3005468-7
• No. of pages: 209
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 210 mm x 12 mm
• Weight: 296 g
• Illustrations: XI, 209 p.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion; Soziologie, Religionsphilosophie, Verstehen, B, Soziale Gruppen: religiöse Gemeinschaften, Sociology of Religion, Sociology, Religion und Politik, Philosophy, Religion & politics, Philosophy of religion, Religion and Politics, Secularism, Religion and Philosophy, Religion—Philosophy, Politics and Religion, Popular Science in Philosophy, Social groups: religious groups and communities