Providence and the Problem of Evil

This book offers an answer to one of the most difficult problems of religious belief: why does a loving God allow humans to suffer so much? Swinburne argues that God wants us to learn and to love, to make our choices about good and evil for ourselves and others on our own, to form our characters in the way we choose, and, above all, to be of great use to each other. If we are to have all these choices and commitments, then there will inevitably be suffering for the short period of our time on Earth. This controversial work concludes Swinburne's acclaimed four-volume philosophical examination of Christian doctrine.

This book offers an answer to one of the most difficult problems of religious belief: why does a loving God allow humans to suffer so much? Swinburne argues that God wants us to learn and to love, to make our choices about good and evil for ourselves and others on our own, to form our characters in the way we choose, and, above all, to be of great use to each other. If we are to have all these choices and commitments, then there will inevitably be suffering for the short period of our time on Earth. This controversial work concludes Swinburne's acclaimed four-volume philosophical examination of Christian doctrine.

Richard Swinburne has been Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford since 1985; he is a Fellow of the British Academy.