Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413072 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Customer Reviews

Very interesting philosophical discourse
This book is a collection of articles from theologians and philosophers alike on "The Evidential Argument From Evil". What makes this book a fantastic read is the approach of the book: every article takes the arguments of the preceding article into consideration. Thus the articles build up an interesting dialog to the problem given. If the topic appeals to you, grab this book to obtain fascinating insights into different views on this problem and their respective flaws.

AtheistWorld.Com Book Review
The existence of evil - undeserved human and animal pain and suffering - has been a barrier to religious belief for many people. One of those people was this reviewer's mother, raised Catholic but turned atheist after witnessing terrible suffering in her native Scotland during World War II. As she once told me, "when you've seen mothers holding their children, both riddled with machine gun bullets from German planes, it's impossible to believe there's a good God in heaven". Bertrand Russell once made the comment that "no one can believe in a good God if they've sat at the bedside of a dying child."

C.S. Lewis called this issue "The Problem of Pain" in his book of that title. The current preferred term is "The Evidential Argument From Evil" because, as explained in the Introduction, it's not a "Problem" except for people who believe in God.

Readers of this book will discover why belief in an all-good, all-powerful God, in the face of human suffering and evil, is not necessarily "cognitively dissonant". It provides a balanced, fair treatment of the issue by both believers and atheists.

The book is quite technical at times. Several of the essays feature complex equations purporting to illustrate various logical propositions. There is also a good deal of philosophical jargon used. Nonetheless, while the book is not as readable as anything by C.S. Lewis (or Ayn Rand for that matter), it provides the best treatment I've seen in print of the arguments for both sides in this perennial issue.

At last, a fair and balanced treatment of this issue
The existence of evil - undeserved human and animal pain and suffering - has been a barrier to religious belief for many people. One of those people was this reviewer's mother, raised Catholic but turned atheist after witnessing terrible suffering in her native Scotland during World War II. As she once told me, "when you've seen mothers holding their children, both riddled with machine gun bullets from German planes, it's impossible to believe there's a good God in heaven". Bertrand Russell once made the comment that "no one can believe in a good God if they've sat at the bedside of a dying child."

C.S. Lewis called this issue "The Problem of Pain" in his book of that title. The current preferred term is "The Evidential Argument From Evil" because, as explained in the Introduction, it's not a "Problem" except for people who believe in God.

Readers of this book will discover why belief in an all-good, all-powerful God, in the face of human suffering and evil, is not necessarily "cognitively dissonant". It provides a balanced, fair treatment of the issue by both believers and atheists.

The book is quite technical at times. Several of the essays feature complex equations purporting to illustrate various logical propositions. There is also a good deal of philosophical jargon used. Nonetheless, while the book is not as readable as anything by C.S. Lewis (or Ayn Rand for that matter), it provides the best treatment I've seen in print of the arguments for both sides in this perennial issue.