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The Puzzle of Evil by Peter Vardy
Vardy sets out to explain the issues on the sides of believers and non-believers, drawing upon the work of both secular and religious writers. Complex arguments are expressed in clear and entertaining language, even as Vardy invites readers to reach new and often startling conclusions.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
Hardcover
First published April 1, 1993
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55 people want to read
About the author
Peter Vardy
31 books9 followersDr. Peter Vardy (born 1945) is a British academic, philosopher, theologian and author. Since 1999 he has held the post of Vice Principal at Heythrop College, London.
Vardy was originally a chartered accountant before becoming an academic. He holds a Masters Degree in Theology (with distinction) and a Ph.D (on ‘The Concept of Eternity’) from King's College London and has lectured in Philosophy of Religion at King's and also at the Institute of Education, London on their Masters Degree in Education programme.
Vardy was originally a chartered accountant before becoming an academic. He holds a Masters Degree in Theology (with distinction) and a Ph.D (on ‘The Concept of Eternity’) from King's College London and has lectured in Philosophy of Religion at King's and also at the Institute of Education, London on their Masters Degree in Education programme.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 4, 2022
BREAKING NEWS :
PROBLEM OF EVIL SOLVED SAYS THEOLOGIAN
GOD NOT OMNIPOTENT AFTER ALL
In a bombshell new book The Puzzle of Evil by Dr Peter Vardy, a British professor of the philosophy of religion at London University, it was claimed that Christians have got God wrong for centuries. Our Religious Affairs correspondent Emily Allbright has been talking to the radical religious reinterpreter.
Emily : So Dr Vardy, are you saying that you have solved the problem of evil?
Dr V : Well I wouldn’t put it quite like that but yeah.
Emily: And how did you do it?
DR V: Well, I realised that we live in a finely tuned universe. So although God is omnipotent in a technical sense, he can’t make all the bad things go away like you might think he could. If he did, the whole thing would come crashing down.
Emily : But the Bible constantly bangs on about how totally great God is, how he made the stars in the firmament and the lizards and the waterfalls and so forth. He is worshipped as an omnipotent being.
Dr V: Well, I think they went a little bit too far with that line. They got carried away. He did make the stars and the lizards and okapi and all, sure, but he can’t fiddle around with them otherwise there’ll be no free will and the laws of physics won’t work anymore. You see, if you have an omnipotent God, you have a real problem of evil. But if you don't, the problem goes away.
Emily: So are you saying that if God intervened to save one person from toothache or one dear little lambkin from being devoured by a wolf the whole fabric of the material world would be torn asunder?
Dr V: Well, I kind of guess I am. Yeah. I mean, when you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous. But yeah.
Emily : So what’s the point of it all?
Dr V: The point? The point of all this misery? I'm sorry, I have no idea.
Emily : Thank you for your time Dr Vardy. And with that, back to the studio.
April 26, 2021
This book was fairly interesting for an introduction to the problem of evil. It acted as a consolidation to my knowledge as I have studied this issue in depth for over a year now (at the time of me writing this review).
For a first time reader of philosophical opinion on the problem of evil, it may be difficult to garner your own opinion or understand much because of the way the book is written. However, Vardy does a good job in explaining theodicies and theories, expanding on them and then countering them which allows room for developing your own opinion.
Personally, I was particularly intrigued by Ninian Smart's Utopia Thesis and will take it upon myself in my personal endeavours to research this topic.
I also enjoyed reading about the Free Will Defence but the counters to Plantiga's arguments definitely win in my book.
For a first time reader of philosophical opinion on the problem of evil, it may be difficult to garner your own opinion or understand much because of the way the book is written. However, Vardy does a good job in explaining theodicies and theories, expanding on them and then countering them which allows room for developing your own opinion.
Personally, I was particularly intrigued by Ninian Smart's Utopia Thesis and will take it upon myself in my personal endeavours to research this topic.
I also enjoyed reading about the Free Will Defence but the counters to Plantiga's arguments definitely win in my book.
September 13, 2019
The book had one central goal: reconciling the simultaneous existences of evil and God. The first half examines basic standpoints and arguments in the debate, and the second part describes the author’s own point of view. By engaging in a personal relationship with God and dictating that God’s final goal is to create humans capable of loving, and loving God, Vardy eventually reaches unsurprising conclusions that ‘human beings are made for fellowship’, etc.
In reading it, I was constantly stuck between feeling bored by a discourse that does not concern me (it has lost my personal stance at its presumptions of an ‘omnipotent’ God) and wanting to finish it as quickly as possible, and the feeling that it’s still a worthy thought experiment or a chance to appreciate an alternative point of view. In fact, the thing that made me want to finish it anyway was a pure stubbornness, rather than so much intellectual curiosity.
The book was clearly written for students of Christian background, who may be doubting the validity of God. Since it’s for students the arguments are made simple, and for Christians, well, the whole book is a discussion of God, really. While the title is the puzzle of *evil*, its explorations are solely in relation to God. Frequently there are judgements on whether a God of certain qualities is worthy of worship, what God’s potency, omnipotency means, etc.
“In China it is bad to have more than one child, because this is socially unacceptable”
That sort of illustrates the problem with this book. It’s sort of correct, but kinda not. It’s not socially unacceptable, but legally forbidden, and that’s clearly different. In addition, the Chinese traditional culture usually looks up to a prosperous family of many children. The book simplifies, which could be a good thing for us beginners, but perhaps it’s overdone, at the cost of logical precision. In reading (the times when I was not too tired and willing to keep a somewhat clear head), I questioned whether the reasonings for argument progression are sufficient, and whether the acceptance of premises, or the uses of specific words without a clear definition (most significantly, “good” and “evil”— what are they??) are justified.
I once had the idea that man created the idea of God to answer questions we can’t— how things come to be how they are— but if analysis reveals that God, for example, doesn’t really “act” in the world, then perhaps his only purpose is to console, to accompany.
Unfortunately, in the end, the book seemed more like religious pedagogy rather than inspiring philosophical examinations. It tries to reconcile religious views with science and rational explanations of the world, but inaccuracies in the science described was somewhat irksome. Regardless, scientific theories are also only cited as examples, rather than components in a coherent examination. While repetitions make ideas clearer, the amount of seemingly repeated arguments made it eventually boring and not quite intellectually stimulating at all. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too critical, since the blame could also be on myself, refusing to carefully examine the value of words in this book, or the subtleties of judgements made; anyhow, I’m not quite the target audience of this book anyway.
In reading it, I was constantly stuck between feeling bored by a discourse that does not concern me (it has lost my personal stance at its presumptions of an ‘omnipotent’ God) and wanting to finish it as quickly as possible, and the feeling that it’s still a worthy thought experiment or a chance to appreciate an alternative point of view. In fact, the thing that made me want to finish it anyway was a pure stubbornness, rather than so much intellectual curiosity.
The book was clearly written for students of Christian background, who may be doubting the validity of God. Since it’s for students the arguments are made simple, and for Christians, well, the whole book is a discussion of God, really. While the title is the puzzle of *evil*, its explorations are solely in relation to God. Frequently there are judgements on whether a God of certain qualities is worthy of worship, what God’s potency, omnipotency means, etc.
“In China it is bad to have more than one child, because this is socially unacceptable”
That sort of illustrates the problem with this book. It’s sort of correct, but kinda not. It’s not socially unacceptable, but legally forbidden, and that’s clearly different. In addition, the Chinese traditional culture usually looks up to a prosperous family of many children. The book simplifies, which could be a good thing for us beginners, but perhaps it’s overdone, at the cost of logical precision. In reading (the times when I was not too tired and willing to keep a somewhat clear head), I questioned whether the reasonings for argument progression are sufficient, and whether the acceptance of premises, or the uses of specific words without a clear definition (most significantly, “good” and “evil”— what are they??) are justified.
I once had the idea that man created the idea of God to answer questions we can’t— how things come to be how they are— but if analysis reveals that God, for example, doesn’t really “act” in the world, then perhaps his only purpose is to console, to accompany.
Unfortunately, in the end, the book seemed more like religious pedagogy rather than inspiring philosophical examinations. It tries to reconcile religious views with science and rational explanations of the world, but inaccuracies in the science described was somewhat irksome. Regardless, scientific theories are also only cited as examples, rather than components in a coherent examination. While repetitions make ideas clearer, the amount of seemingly repeated arguments made it eventually boring and not quite intellectually stimulating at all. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too critical, since the blame could also be on myself, refusing to carefully examine the value of words in this book, or the subtleties of judgements made; anyhow, I’m not quite the target audience of this book anyway.
August 19, 2022
I picked up this book in my sixth form years by pure coincidence - it was on the shelf next to my favourite spot in the school library. It ended up being my first philosophy book and fueled a rather long lasting interest in religions.
The book deals with the contradiction of the existence of evil in this world and the omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent Christian God. While (mild spoilers) Vardy's ultimate conclusion is that the two are not reconcilable, he does not impose the view on to the reader strongly.
The book presents historical arguments and interesting thought experiments from theologians and philosophers of both sides. It was an interesting and captivating read. The terms of the problem is clearly defined, and it was very easy to read for beginners in philosophy and religion alike. Whether you are an atheist or an adherent, I think there is much to be gained from reading this book.
The book deals with the contradiction of the existence of evil in this world and the omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent Christian God. While (mild spoilers) Vardy's ultimate conclusion is that the two are not reconcilable, he does not impose the view on to the reader strongly.
The book presents historical arguments and interesting thought experiments from theologians and philosophers of both sides. It was an interesting and captivating read. The terms of the problem is clearly defined, and it was very easy to read for beginners in philosophy and religion alike. Whether you are an atheist or an adherent, I think there is much to be gained from reading this book.
August 6, 2024
This book gives some quite interesting information about the different perspectives over the problem of evil. However, I often thought that it is occasionally quite repetitive, and beats around the bush. I must say though that the conclusion was rather good and illustrated Dr Vardy’s view very well which aided in buildings one’s own view; by making you think through each step logically. That is one think I do like about the book, its logical approach.
January 7, 2021
This was one of the first philosophy books I read. I am currently in my second and final year of studying philosophy at A Level and found this book to be extremely helpful when revising the Problem of Evil over the summer holiday. I fully recommend this book to anyone currently studying philosophy, or anyone who might be interested in getting into philosophy despite not studying it.
December 26, 2008
The Puzzle of Evil
Peter Vardy
Harper Collins
ISBN 0-00-627638-5
Why does the good God of Christian belief let evil exist?
That's the question this book sets out to answer. If God really is omnipotent, omniscient, and all loving, how is it possible that there is so much evil? Well that's the simple version of the question, Peter takes the first chapter to examine exactly what the question is really, and the understanding of God we need to make it a valid question. We then take a look at the beliefs of Augustine and Aquinas. In the first few hundred year of the church the understanding of who God is developed quickly, and the core ideas settled. These two church fathers played an important part in establishing our tradition, and their ideas rightly receive careful examination. Then there are a few chapters discussing the free will defence – God had to give us free will, so that we could love Him. Love cannot be 'programmed in' – a robot cannot love. It really isn't that simple though.. Then natural evil – disease and disasters are examined – what effect do they have on the view of why there is evil in the world – they can't be caused by humans – or can they? Finally, in the first half of the book the questions “Is it all worth it?” is examined.
The second half of the book concentrates on the type of world we live in, the type of creatures we are, the type of God we have, Job, the devil, and how the moral framework and the beliefs we have hold all these things together.
This is not an easy subject, the greatest minds in history have puzzled over it, and have not come to a straight forward conclusion, let alone one that satisfies many of us in today's world, with the holocaust, the killing fields, and the tsunami all still fresh in our corporate consciousness. There are others too – the abduction and molestation of small children, and suicide bombings to name just two.
If you have the time, and the space for a relatively short book (205 pages), to set the scene and outline the arguments, then this will prove a good investment. For me it required some serious thought, and the arguments are still challenging. No doubt they will be for you as well. Peter Vardy has made a good attempt to help us into this difficult subject.
Peter Vardy
Harper Collins
ISBN 0-00-627638-5
Why does the good God of Christian belief let evil exist?
That's the question this book sets out to answer. If God really is omnipotent, omniscient, and all loving, how is it possible that there is so much evil? Well that's the simple version of the question, Peter takes the first chapter to examine exactly what the question is really, and the understanding of God we need to make it a valid question. We then take a look at the beliefs of Augustine and Aquinas. In the first few hundred year of the church the understanding of who God is developed quickly, and the core ideas settled. These two church fathers played an important part in establishing our tradition, and their ideas rightly receive careful examination. Then there are a few chapters discussing the free will defence – God had to give us free will, so that we could love Him. Love cannot be 'programmed in' – a robot cannot love. It really isn't that simple though.. Then natural evil – disease and disasters are examined – what effect do they have on the view of why there is evil in the world – they can't be caused by humans – or can they? Finally, in the first half of the book the questions “Is it all worth it?” is examined.
The second half of the book concentrates on the type of world we live in, the type of creatures we are, the type of God we have, Job, the devil, and how the moral framework and the beliefs we have hold all these things together.
This is not an easy subject, the greatest minds in history have puzzled over it, and have not come to a straight forward conclusion, let alone one that satisfies many of us in today's world, with the holocaust, the killing fields, and the tsunami all still fresh in our corporate consciousness. There are others too – the abduction and molestation of small children, and suicide bombings to name just two.
If you have the time, and the space for a relatively short book (205 pages), to set the scene and outline the arguments, then this will prove a good investment. For me it required some serious thought, and the arguments are still challenging. No doubt they will be for you as well. Peter Vardy has made a good attempt to help us into this difficult subject.
August 16, 2013
Not an easy read, but thought-provoking. I know it would be worth reading again someday, but I also know that I'm the sort of person who reads for relaxation, so I'm unlikely to do so by choice. Since I desperately need a clear out, and it so happens I've had a call for religious books, it's a good time to send this one travelling so I've registered it on Bookcrossing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews