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Book overview:
If you thought nothing new could come of the stalled, stale debates in analytic philosophy over the problem of evil, think again. With characteristic elegance and precision, Marilyn McCord Adams decisively advances the discussion by including overlooked problems―notably, the horrendous evils of her title―and overlooked resources―from the Bible and the history of Christian thought.― Kathryn Tanner, University of Chicago
When confronted by horrendous evil, even the most pious believer may question not only life's worth but also God's power and goodness. A distinguished philosopher and a practicing minister, Marilyn McCord Adams has written a highly original work on a fundamental dilemma of Christian thought—how to reconcile faith in God with the evils that afflict human beings.
Adams argues that much of the discussion in analytic philosophy of religion over the last forty years has offered too narrow an understanding of the problem. The ground rules accepted for the discussion have usually led philosophers to avert their gaze from the worst—horrendous—evils and their devastating impact on human lives. They have agreed to debate the issue on the basis of religion-neutral values, and have focused on morals, an approach that—Adams claims—is inadequate for formulating and solving the problem of horrendous evils. She emphasizes instead the fruitfulness of other evaluative categories such as purity and defilement, honor and shame, and aesthetics. If redirected, philosophical reflection on evil can, Adams's book demonstrates, provide a valuable approach not only to theories of God and evil but also to pastoral care.
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From the United States:
Top reviews from the United States
William L. Bell
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
A Challenging but Worthwhile Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2009
The literature in contemporary analytic philosophy devoted to the problem of theodicy is vast and deep, but among the numerous books and articles, this one stands out to me. Adams admits at the end of the book that she has written enough that all readers will likely find something to be offended by in the text, but I believe it is also true that anyone who reads this book will find something of value in it.
A particular strength of the work is that instead of only thinking about how to justify God and his allowance of evils in the world in the abstract (e.g. Plantinga's free will defense, Hick's "soul-making" theodicy), Adams focuses upon the problem of evil from the perspective of the victim, and in doing this, comes across as being more sensitive to the sheer awfulness and horror that participants of horrendous evils experience. Adams defines "horrendous evils" as "evils that participation in which (that is, the doing or suffering of which) constitutes prima facie reason to doubt whether the participant's life could (given their inclusion in it( be a great good to him/her on the whole" (26). In providing a response to the problem of horrendous evils, Adams is concerned not with a global or generic explanation to the problem of evil, but wishes to show how God can make each individual participant's life a great good to him/her on the whole. If God is to be considered good to all, God must restore meaning to the life of the individual who has been a victim of horrendous evils.
Another positive in Adams's treatment of theodicy is her use of Christian resources in addressing the problem. Adams argues that the only way for horrendous evils to be defeated from within the perspective of the victim is by "integrating participation in horrendous evils into a person's relationship with God." In particular, it is the event of the cross, where the crucified Christ submits to death in god-forsakeness, that creates a point of identification between God and a humanity harassed by horrendous evils. God's participation in human horrors at the cross makes it possible for every victim of horrendous evils to integrate their narrative into God's own life and story, and thus suffuse their life with meaning and significance. An interesting consequence of her argument is that it entails a strong affirmation to universalism (hell turns out to be the paradigmatic example of a horrendous evil).
41 people found this helpful
Rev. William C. Green
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Important book!
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023
Good buy.
New Age of Barbarism
5.0 out of 5 stars
Only for the brave!
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2000
Marilyn McCord Adams takes on some of the ugliest theologico-philosophical tangles known to man - and does so very courageously. The fundamental dilemma, Does the believer in God commit himself to a logically untenable position when he posits the existence of an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful deity, and yet acknowledges the presence of evil in the world? I.e. is there a possible world in which such a situation manifests itself? Of course, these issues have been debated to death by analytical philosophers (and some have concluded that believing in such a God is inconsistent with the existence of evil).
Dr. Adams moves away from the traditional formulations of this question within analytic circles, which makes use of the utilitarian pain/pleasure calculus type approach to morality (championed by philosophers such as Bentham and Mills). Instead, she offers alternative approaches by examining the works of various theologians throughout the ages. Among the approaches considered are purity/defilement (cf. Rudolph Otto, The Idea of the Holy), the honor code, and aesthetics. She examines the most horrible of horrors encountered by man, and uses them to show how her God can overcome these horrors despite their apparent intractibility. Among some of the more interesting ideas suggested are the notion that God indeed suffers along with us humans and that even Christ (as God) had to experience abandonment by God, in order to fully participate in the human condition (even though these have been originally suggested by others).
While I will not comment on the validity of her arguments (I think the difficulties are too great for me), I do think that she offers profound insight into the nature of God (whatever such an entity might be). It is nice to know that someone still has faith in an all-loving merciful deity, despite the fact that we live in a post-consumerist, post-industrial, post-Marxist, post-Auschwitz world.
83 people found this helpful
Lars Larson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sad swan song to a once sparkling career
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2004
This was a very very painful book to read. The author when at the height of her career was a brilliant logician, and all aspiring medievalists from far and wide marvelled at her investigations into William of Ockham's thought. But now, alas, those days are over and the author has overextended her talent by attempting to take on the problem of evil (something she has engaged in before, if only qua editor) but this time by using obsolete, archaic theories of anthropology. Where did her degree in anthropology come from? There is no degree. Where are the references to contemporary anthropology? Not in this book -- in fact it seems like the author didn't bother to even read anyone whose written later than 1980! Good grief! What kind of book is this? Many of her colleagues and former students probably have tremendous sympathy over her loss of faith in analytic philosophy and all its false promises to truth and certainty. But just as many are probably chuckling at this ham-handed attempt to start anew, as if one could invent a discipline of anthrology ex nihilo. This book, as the Magistra would say if she knew any better, " is totally underwhelming."
19 people found this helpful
Jay J
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Very Advanced Philosophy - But Still Worth the Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2022
I read quite a bit of religious philosophy and this one was a particularly difficult. At one point, I had to bust out my phone and search for definitions.
She does do a phenomenal job of exploring the Problem of Evil from several different angles. She definitely isn’t light-handed with the realities the problem poses. She’s willing to discuss Auschwitz and several different examples of horrendous evils in order to make her case for a Good God in spite of such evil. In some discussions, she even says that such evil can point to the existence of a Benevolent God- an intriguing argument, but I disagree with her on viewing this as an argument for the existence of God.
3 people found this helpful
PembrokeSorbonne
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another interesting formulation of the problem of evil
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2023
This work is another original and creative formulation of the logical problem of evil by Adams which she coined as the problem of "horrendous evil". She reformulated it to apply to Mackie's formulation of the logical problem of evil, namely, the two propositions (1) God is omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good (2) Evil exists in the world, are logically contradictory. A missing premise is (3) There is no morally sufficient reason (msr) for God to allow evil. Adams gave this formulation a tweak. Instead of just any evil, consider the notion of "horrendous evil" which can make the situation incompatible with God exist.
Adams defines horrendous evils as the evils the participation in which (as victims or perpetrators) constitute prima facie reason to doubt whether the participant's life could be a great good to him/her on the whole.” One might say, horrendous evils are the kind that is so egregious that can make a person wish they had never been born. They are evils that devalue the humanity of their participants. They are not necessarily evils committed by conscious decisions, such as genocide. Examples she gave include a father running over his daughter by mistake, the mother in Sophie's Choice who was forced by Auschwitz's doctor to choose which girl to gas first, as well as non-human action related mass casualty events in natural disaster or accident (building collapse). The idea is that there are evils so dehumanizing that God has no msr to allow even if he allows some evil.
For the approach to this version of the problem of evil, Adams thinks it is misguided to find a msr that God has to disarm this problem. This is because doing so presumes limited human cognitive capacity can know a possible msr an omniscient God may use. Any speculated msr may just be suspected partial reason as full reason, thereby attributing mistaken reasoning to God. Instead of finding msr, Adams thinks it is logically possible for God to be good to participants in spite of the horrendous evil. Instead of finding a msr, consider God expressing goodness to participants of horrendous evil that would balance off or defeat the horrors making the participants lives worth living. That is, God's goodness can defeat horrendous evil whether he has msr to allow it. Adams invokes such goodness from Chaldcedonian Christology that God incarnated himself with a human nature in Christ to be participants in horror to share with human in suffering for expressing God's goodness. God suffering as participant is both as victim and perpetrator. As victim, christ was betrayed by his own people and suffered a horrible and dehumanizing death. As perpetrator, his death by crucifixion is ritualistic cursed and blasphemous. Such soteriogical undertaking as horror participants expressed goodness that would defeat horrors for participants of horrendous evil making their lives as a whole worth living and rehumanising them.
Adams also considered other expression of the goodness of God. showing how God might overcome horrendous evil: 1) Divine Suffering and Symbolic Defeat in Rolt and Hartshorne 2) Suffering as a Vision into the Inner Life of God in Simone Weil 3) Divine Gratitude, Heavenly Bliss in Julian of Norwich ; 4) Jurgen Moltmann: Crucified God, Trinitarian Solidarity. Despite the expression of divine goodness proposed here, it is unclear how Adams Chaldcedonian solution meets her objective/subject (recognised by participants). Christ suffering in human nature in both victim and perpetrator role may "objectively" meets sufficient goodness rendered. It seems unclear how token suffering of different kinds share some common goodness currency for the victims of a particular suffering, say some father who ran over his daughter, to recognise or grasp God's suffering in christ surely balancing off what the father and daughter experienced. In that case, it would suggest objective goodness fulfillment is sufficient to show God's goodness as victorious over horrendous suffering whether the participants can grasp or not.
Adams work offers an interesting angle to rethink the logical problem of evil and summarises nicely different similar approaches from recent treatments to address the problem, making a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion in the problem of evil.