In this episode Dr. Trent Dougherty of Baylor University tells us about his spiritual journey from secular, to evangelical, to Roman Catholic. Then we then discuss his general approach to what philosophers call “the problem of evil.” If God is perfect, and perfectly good, then why do so many terrible things happen?

Like most Christian philosophers, Dr. Dougherty does not think it is enough to say that this is a “mystery.”

We talk about just what the problem is, and then discuss questions such as:

Is it enough to simply point to the fact of human free will ?

? What about “ skeptical theism ” – is it helpful to emphasize the limits of human knowledge when it comes to understanding the purposes of God? If so, how?

” – is it helpful to emphasize the limits of human knowledge when it comes to understanding the purposes of God? If so, how? Is God simply exempt from moral evaluation, so that it is incoherent or meaningless to ask whether God, if God exists, would be blameworthy for allowing or causing evils?

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