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A Christian response to the problem of evil

Shirley Isaac

Can God Be Trusted? Faith and the Challenge of Evil
John G. Stackhouse, Jr. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 196 pp. $34.95.

In this book, Stackhouse attempts to answer the question: Can God be trusted in a world where evil is rampant and suffering seems to serve no purpose? The question has been raised in various forms by atheists and believers alike, and it has yet to receive an answer that satisfies everyone. Stackhouse is to be commended for taking on the challenge of writing a Christian response that does not try to minimize the difficulties for faith that the problem of evil presents.

Stackhouse presents a well-informed response to the problem of evil. He provides a good overview of the problem. The free will argument [if God prevented us from sinning and thus bringing evil upon ourselves, our free will would be compromised and authentic love would be lost] is analyzed in depth. While the book doesn’t bring any creative insight to the problem, his analysis of the book of Job contains some fresh thought.

The evidence of creation, history and life itself points to a God who can be trusted, and the evidence points to Christ as one who knows what it is to suffer, and therefore provides hope to the believer that good will ultimately triumph. This argument, intended to defend God, is based on reason rather than on faith. “Examine the claims of Scripture for yourself, and you will probably come to the conclusion that God exists, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah as the gospels bear witness, and despite the widespread evil that threatens our assumptions of a moral universe, Christianity ultimately makes sense.”

Also, Stackhouse does not explore the impact of evil upon God Himself, but since the book is not directed towards Christians in particular, let alone theologians, this is not a serious weakness. A more pertinent criticism of the book is that it doesn’t adequately deal with natural evil (“acts of God”). Finally, the free will defence that Stackhouse provides may not necessarily convince those who have experienced the ravaging effects of evil first-hand. The book is written in a detached, academic style and does not make use of personal experiences.

Shirley Isaac is an instructor at Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, Sask.

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Last modified November 17, 1999.

© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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