Suffering, theodicy, and defense -- Philosophy and narrative -- Narrative as a means of knowledge : Francis and Dominic -- Narrative and the knowledge of persons -- The nature of love -- Union, presence, and omnipresence -- Willed loneliness -- Other-worldly redemption -- The story of Job : suffering and the second-personal -- The story of Samson : self-destroying evil -- The story of Abraham : the desires of the heart -- The story of Mary of Bethany : heartbrokenness and shame -- Theodicy in another world -- What we care about : the desires of the heart -- The defense of the defense : suffering, flourishing, and the desires of the heart.
Summary
Virtually no one would deny the extent and intensity of suffering in the world. Can one also consistently hold that there is an omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good God? This book argues that the difficult questions raised by the problem of suffering can be considered best in the context of biblical narratives.
