This book provides a bold and comprehensive solution to the problem of evil. As the book's subtitle indicates, the author's argument is constructed around two main pillars:
(1) An analysis of timeless existence versus time-bound existence.
(2) The identification of five prerequisites for the experience of relational love, together with an in-depth examination of how these prerequisites necessitate that God allow for the possibility of evil if mankind is to have the opportunity to experience timeless love with God and one another.
Because this book adheres to Christian orthodoxy, the 'fall of man' described in Genesis 1-3 is a key part of the answer that it provides to the problem of evil. The author maintains that the fall of man should be understood as an actual event, but he asserts that Genesis 1-3 can only be properly understood if one recognizes that Adam and Eve were created as timeless beings at the outset of their existence, like God himself. (Genesis asserts that man was made in God's "likeness". The Advent of Time takes this assertion at face value.)
Because there is no endpoint to timelessness, and because Adam and Eve were timeless beings at the outset of their existence, they could not die as long as they remained in such a state. However, as God warned in Genesis 2:16-17, if they chose to commit sin, they would die. So, as a practical matter, how did death enter into Creation?
The book's answer to this question is that the act of original sin caused the timeless pre-fallen Creation to transform into a time-based, or spacetime Creation. This transformation of Creation from timelessness to time-bound encompassed all matter, including all matter-based lifeforms, everywhere and all at once. In other words, time itself is a consequence of the fall of man. Hence the book's title, "The Advent of Time".
With this foundation, the book explains why God made man, as well as the conditions/prerequisites that are necessary for this creative objective to be fulfilled.
So why did God make man? Unlike other books on the problem of evil, many of which claim that God made man for the sake of giving us free will, The Advent of Time maintains that God made man for the sake of allowing us to enter into a perfect, timeless loving union with God and one another.
But if God made man for this purpose, why do evil and pain exist? This is where the preconditions of love come into play. The author identifies five different "prerequisites" of love, then bases his answer to the problem of evil around the need for these prerequisites to exist in order for God's ultimate purpose to be achieved. "Free will" is one of the prerequisites of love. "Faith" is another. "Selflessness" is a third.
Proceeding in an easy-to-follow but meticulous manner, the author explains exactly how and why these prerequisites necessitate that God allow for the possibility of evil if man is to have the ability to enter into a perfectly loving timeless relationship with God and one another. It's a brilliant argument that provides a clear answer to every facet of the problem evil, including the problem of hell and the suffering of those who have committed no wrong (i.e., "the suffering of innocents").
I will give a few caveats to those debating whether to read this book:
First, this book is based on Christian tenets. If you hate the very idea of monotheistic belief and somehow already "know" that it is false, don't waste your time with this book; it isn't for the close-minded.
Second, this isn't a self-help book. We all suffer, sometimes terribly. In the midst of difficult experiences of pain and suffering, a theological explanation of the reasons for suffering isn't likely to help. This is a book about WHY we suffer; it's not a book about how to endure suffering.
Third, this is a work of theology and philosophy. I personally think it is very well-written and surprisingly easy to follow given the weightiness of the subject matter. Nonetheless, it isn't a light read. If you're conditioned to reading novels, history books, or 'how-to' nonfiction works, this book is going to require you to shift to a higher gear. There are good reasons why the problem of evil is widely considered to be one of the most difficult problems in theology. Some of the greatest thinkers in history have wrestled with it. This book tackles this problem head-on, so you'll need to be in the right mindset before delving in.
With those caveats in mind, if you're looking for a serious answer to the problem of evil, I could not recommend this book enough.