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God's goodness and God's evil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2005

JAMES KELLENBERGER
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff St, Northridge, CA 91330

Abstract

Starting with Job's reaction to evil, I identify three elements of Job-like belief. They are: (1) the recognition of evil in the world; (2) the conviction that God and God's creation are good; and (3) the sense of beholding God's goodness in the world. The interconnection of these three elements is examined along with a possible way of understanding Job-like believers beholding and becoming experientially aware of God's goodness. It is brought out why, given that they are as they understand themselves to be, Job-like believers properly do not see evil as evidence against God's goodness. Finally, Job-like belief is related to the different reactions to evil by Ivan and Aloysha in The Brothers Karamazov.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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