Product Description

Creative and original, here is D. Z. Phillips's most systematic attempt to address the problem of evil. He argues that the problem is inextricably linked to our conception of God and that the concept of God in recent philosophy of religion is problematic, even harmful. That intellectual inheritance, he claims, attempts to distinguish between logical and existential problems of evil and offers us distorted accounts of God's omnipotence and will. As a result, God is ridiculed out of existence or found unfit before the bar of decency.

Yet Phillips elucidates in a second part a neglected tradition in which we reach a different understanding of God's presence amid suffering and which addresses the ultimate question of how God can be said to be with those who are crushed by life's afflictions.

This new work is an ideal text for students of philosophy, religion, or theology, but it also speaks clearly to anyone who reflects seriously on the danger of adding to human evil by the way in which we write and think about it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21496 in eBooks
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Format: Kindle Book
• Number of items: 1

About the Author
D. Z. Phillips, one of the world's leading philosophers of religion, currently holds the Danforth Chair in Philosophy of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, California, and is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Wales. His recent books include Religion and Friendly Fire; Recovering Religious Concepts; and Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation.

Customer Reviews

Good but for some reason a little hard to follow in places.
Being new to the thought of DZ Phillips I was very excited to read this work. While he does a good job on the topic, he is a bit overzealous in his criticism of other philosophers.Indeed, he seems to indite most of the Christian apologetics and philosophical enterprise with illegitimacy. Perhaps this is due to what appears to me to be a denigration of the place of logic and reason in the Christian life.

Sadly, I recently discovered he had passed away. I heard from a Christian philosopher and friend that while DZ can be very "biting" in his books,he was a wonderful person.

Surprisingly easy to read
Although this book presupposes a fairly broad academic knowledge base, it is neverless relatively easy to read. Unless I'm kidding myself, this book is about how a Christian commitment turns out to be the answer to the problems of both God and Evil. And all its philosophy talk is just icing on the cake.