A while ago some of us gave Jason Rust a hard time about an essay he did for Telford on the problem of natural evil. Now he’s having another go at it, in a paper that incorporates some of our criticisms. The new essay, like all theodicy, just has to fudge some stuff, but I like it better than the previous one. (And the idea that God created a ‘becoming’ universe seems to fit better the eschatological direction of the Bible.)
Somewhat less long ago, my mother sent me an article about a study claiming that religion was bad for society. I thought, “When I have time I’ll look into this,” and then forgot about it. But in the meantime, a Christian statistician blogger opened a can of number-crunchin’ whupass on it. (More here and here.)
Bill Chu has a novel argument: we should be more dependent on foreign oil!
Dwight writes his thoughts about the All Saints business.
Michael Spencer’s talking dog takes on the incarnation in reverse. Treating a similar subject a lot more seriously, Holly wonders if justice and reconciliation can coexist. I’ve been thinking along similar lines ever since I noticed how much people in my church love to use the word “justice” (sometimes in ways I never would have thought to use it) and yet use the word “mercy” comparatively little. It’s so … so Old Testament, which is pretty strange for Mennonites (not to mention liberals).
The phrase “the idea that God created a ‘becoming’ universe” reminded me of a passage in the Catechism that caught my eye a while back while preparing a response to a question on the problem of evil:
“But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 25, 6). But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, SCG III, 71).” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 310)
The above quote also indicates that God might not exercise his infinite power to create a world that was more “free of evil” for reasons attributable to his infinite wisdom and goodness. Still trying to wrap my mind around that!
In any case, Christians aren’t the only sojourners around… so is the whole universe!
Comment by Fr. Terry Donahue, CC — November 17, 2005 @ 6:26 pm
Fr. Terry–
But, why, in His infinite goodness, did God feel it necessary to *have* a “plan”? Why did he not just create a static universe, peopled by joyful creatures, free from all pain, fear and want, to eternally share in His love from the git-go? The “plan” would make sense, and solve the problem of evil, if the plan itself could be shown to be somehow *necessary*.
Comment by Rob — November 18, 2005 @ 5:12 am
Not trying to toot my horn here, but would you mind stopping by my blog? I want to know your thoughts on posthumanism.
Comment by Tripp — November 18, 2005 @ 1:24 pm