Theodicy and Traditional Views of Problem of Evil

Theodicy has to do with the justification of God in the midst of human suffering. At the heart of theodicy is the problem of evil. It is a problem because of the issues that the prevalence of evil raises for anyone that wants to account for divine attributes of sovereignty, control, love and goodness of God. In Christian theological circles, as Louw (2000) puts it, “the problem is whether or not one can hold simultaneously that God is omnipotent, omni-benevolent and evil is real, without contradiction” (p. 25). You saw in the previous Unit that a transcendent God has control over all that is created in the heavenly above and below. That this transcendent God is so good that he provides for the needs of, cares for and protects all that is created by him. Theodicy calls into question, this affirmation in the light of the prevalence of evil and suffering. The most perplexed aspect of evil and suffering is that true believers and worshipers of the all powerful and all good God also go through untold suffering and are more often than not victims of evil (cf. Job 1-4).