Evil and the Justice of God | N. T. Wright
N. T. Wright. Evil and the Justice of God. IVP, 2006. 176 pp.
Woody Allen famously pointed out that the problem is not that God doesn’t exist, but that he is an underachiever. The philosophical tendency for at least the past three centuries has been to assume that the human estimation of God is more significant than the divine estimation of humanity. And “evil” names the extent to which, in human estimation, God’s purposes have invariably been found wanting.
In a lucid treatment of this perennial conundrum, N. T. Wright argues that pondering the “problem of evil” is an activity that displaces us from the business of implementing the healing, restorative justice of God. The problem of evil is philosophically located in theoretical analysis of an inherently distant God—that is, the deist God of the Enlightenment. . . .
Reviewed by Dr. Samuel Wells, Duke Divinity School.
Read the entire review here.
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Josh
From the review, it appears that this book has Wright’s characteristic strengths: return Christians to the biblical narrative; warn Christians against too-easy answers; emphasize the political dimensions of Christ’s work.
But once Bishop Wright starts making application, he fails to offer anything new, instead baptizing left-wing politics (condemnations of President George W. Bush, advocation of debt cancellation). Wright is correct that the Bible has political implications, but his failure to understand economics and politics (American politics in particular) results in marginally useful application of his carefully-thought-out theology.
If only Bishop Wright would stick with what he’s good at (New Testament studies) and leave economics &c. to others.
Aug 31st, 2007 8:55 am