He unmasks lazy assumptions that still predominate in the academy, our culture, and the church. Defying cliché theological summaries of sin, evil, and suffering, he offers clear analysis of these interwoven issues and the various contemporary solutions to them. “Scott provides an accessible yet comprehensive assessment of the state of theodicy today. An excellent resource for the classroom and for a general readership.” It lucidly probes the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of approaches, and readers will learn a great deal by following Scott along on this sobering but enlightening journey. “This is a rich and systematic analysis of the problem of evil as it presents itself in Christian thought, and one open to dialogue with other religious and moral traditions of reflection. Rather than promoting a single perspective, Pathways in Theodicy explores the plurality of options available to treat the problem of evil and the provisional and tentative nature of theodicy, which searches not for final, definitive solutions but for viable ways to move the conversation forward. Scott explores the strengths and weaknesses of classic and contemporary perspectives on the problem of evil and invites readers to assess the cogency and relevance of each on their own. Scott reinvigorates stalled debates in philosophy and theology through a detailed reassessment of the problem of evil and the task of theodicy and through a careful analysis of the major models and motifs in theodicy. In Pathways in Theodicy, designed for students and scholars alike, Mark S. Academic studies on theodicy, moreover, typically succumb to theological deficiency and abstraction, often devoid of any concrete connection to Christian life and practice.

Why does God permit senseless suffering? If God is good and all-powerful, why does evil exist? The problem of evil perennially vexes theology, but many theologians have abandoned the project of theodicy, or the theological explanation of evil, as either fruitless or hopeless.

Pathways in Theodicy by Mark S.M. Scott