The Meaning of Evil

by Charles Cardinal Journet

The modern age is marked by a singular preoccupation with the problem of evil and its attendant implications for the Gospel message. In The Meaning of Evil, Charles Journet conducts a robust theological study of the Christian tradition and its response to this perennial question. Carefully and competently restating and elaborating upon the tradition, Journet lays out clearly the problem of evil in its nature and its forms; considers the relation of evil to an omnipotent and loving God; distinguishes natural evils from moral evils; establishes freedom as the condition for both good and evil; and, in closing, reflects upon evil in human history, suffering as “trial,” and the authentically human attitude toward suffering.

Standing among the best scholarly treatments of its topic, The Meaning of Evil is notable also for its merciful concern for concrete human sufferings, a concern which manifests the full import of Léon Bloy's famous formula: “Man has places in his poor heart which do not yet exist, and into them enters suffering, that they may have existence.”

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Charles Journet studied at the seminary in Fribourg before being ordained to the priesthood on 15 July 1917. He did pastoral work in the Diocese of Fribourg until 1924 and taught at the seminary from 1924 to 1965.

Journet was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 13 August 1946 by Pope Pius XII. On February 15, 1965, he was appointed as the Titular Archbishop of Furnos Minor by Pope Paul VI, and he received his episcopal consecration on February 20, 1965. Two days later, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Paul VI, becoming the Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Campitelli.

Journet was a close friend of the renowned philosopher Jacques Maritain, with whom he founded the theological journal "Nova et Vetera" in 1926.