Truths about Evil, Sin, and the Demonic: Toward an Integral Theodicy for the Twenty-First Century

by Byron Belitsos

The Problem of Evil and the Predicament of Theodicy

As Christians or theists we are moved to share the truth of God's love for humankind. But how can we speak of such providential care in a world rife with crime, war, racism, genocide, and even ecocide? In response to this predicament, a theodicy proposes a rational "defense" of God's goodness that offers consolation to victims and hope to all believers. Truths about Evil, Sin, and the Demonic provides a sweeping history of the discipline of theodicy that focuses on its strategic turning points and its possible future. Belitsos argues that, because of the atrocities of the last century and the threat of horrendous evils in the coming century, we need to marshal the most explanatory elements of all previous theodicies and then drive toward an "integrative" model based on a creative synthesis. The author also turns to a modern revelatory source that supports his argument for such a "meta-theodicy." He concludes by critically engaging with this source and the entire tradition in his call for an apophatically informed integral theodicy.

406 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2023

About the author

Byron Belitsos is a leading exponent of The Urantia Book with training in philosophy, psychology, history, religious studies, and theology. He is the publisher, editor, or coauthor of numerous acclaimed and award-winning books, many of which are related to the Urantia Revelation—including The Center Within (1998), The Secret Revelation (2002), One World Democracy (2005), The Adventure of Being Human (2012), and Healing a Broken World (2014). He also co-authored A Return To Healing (2009), a Nautilus Gold Prize winner. He was an inaugural member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute, and has been a student of the Urantia Revelation since 1975. His studies have been at the University of Chicago, Naropa Institute, University of California (Santa Cruz), the California Institute of Integral Studies, and Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley.