Mere Christian Theism and the Problem of Evil

336 Pages·2015·1.66 MB·English

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

MERE CHRISTIAN THEISM AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL:

TOWARD A TRINITARIAN PERICHORETIC

THEODICY

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO

THE FACULTY OF LIBERTY UIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

BY

RONNIE PAUL CAMPBELL JR.

LYNCHBURG, VA

JUNE 2015
Copyright © 2015 Ronnie P. Campbell Jr.

All Rights Reserved

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APPROVAL SHEET

MERE CHRISTIAN THEISM AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL:

TOWARD A TRINITARIAN PERICHORETIC

THEODICY

Ronnie Paul Campbell Jr.

Read and approved by:

Chairpersons: David J. Baggett

Reader: C. Anthony Thornhill

Reader: Leo R. Percer

Date: 6/29/2015

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To my dad, Paul Campbell

Thank you for first introducing me to Jesus so many years ago. I owe you much gratitude for
setting an example of Christ-like service.

To my wife, Debbie, and children, Abby, Caedmon, and Caleb

It was your kindness, encouragement, and love that gave me great joy and kept me going. You
deserve much more than my words could ever express.

To my father-in-law, Bob Bragg

Though you’ve had your bout with suffering, I will see you again one day, my friend, in the
renewed heavens and earth, where we shall experience no more sickness, pain, or sorrow.
We will dwell together in that country—Sweet Beulah Land!

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER 1: WHY GOD AND EVIL MATTER?................................................................... 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
Purpose and Method ................................................................................................................... 4
Key Terms and Concepts .......................................................................................................... 13
Evil, Kinds of Evil, and the Good ......................................................................................... 13
Pain and Suffering................................................................................................................. 25
Summary of Chapters ............................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 2: METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND EVIL PART 1 ...................................... 34
Evaluating Metaphysical Systems ............................................................................................ 35
The Classification of Evil ......................................................................................................... 42
Naturalism and Evil .................................................................................................................. 44
Naturalism and Life .............................................................................................................. 47
Naturalism and Consciousness ............................................................................................. 51
Naturalism, Good, Evil, and Responsibility ......................................................................... 55
CHAPTER 3: METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND EVIL PART 2 ...................................... 64
Pantheism and Life ................................................................................................................... 70
Pantheism and Consciousness................................................................................................... 84
Pantheism, Good, Evil, and Responsibility .............................................................................. 86
Concluding Matters ................................................................................................................... 96
CHAPTER 4: METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND EVIL PART 3 ...................................... 97
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 97
Defining Panentheism ............................................................................................................... 97
Alfred North Whitehead ......................................................................................................... 103
Primary Categories.............................................................................................................. 103
God and the World .............................................................................................................. 107
Charles Hartshorne.................................................................................................................. 109
Critique of Classical Theism ............................................................................................... 110
The Concept of God ............................................................................................................ 111
Process Panentheism and Evil ................................................................................................ 114
Process Panentheism and Life ............................................................................................ 114
Process Panentheism and Consciousness............................................................................ 119
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Process Panentheism, Good, Evil, and Responsibility ....................................................... 130
CHAPTER 5: METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND EVIL PART 4 .................................... 144
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 144
Theism and Evil ...................................................................................................................... 150
Theism and Life .................................................................................................................. 150
Theism and Consciousness ................................................................................................. 157
Theism, Good, Evil, and Responsibility ............................................................................. 169
CHAPTER 6: METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND EVIL PART 5 .................................... 189
Factual Adequacy.................................................................................................................... 189
Logical Consistency ................................................................................................................ 192
Explanatory Power and Scope ................................................................................................ 195
Ad Hoc-ness ............................................................................................................................ 199
Plausibility .............................................................................................................................. 201
Livability ................................................................................................................................. 204
Concluding Thoughts .............................................................................................................. 207
CHAPTER 7: THE TRINITY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ........................................ 210
Light, Love, and Fellowship ................................................................................................... 211
Trinity, Human Freedom, and Sin .......................................................................................... 220
The Kingdom, Creation, Gospel, and Church......................................................................... 226
Theosis and the Kingdom of God ........................................................................................... 238
Concluding Thoughts .............................................................................................................. 246
CHAPTER 8: TOWARD A FULLER THEODICY ............................................................. 247
Theodical Suggestions ............................................................................................................ 248
Freewill Theodicy ............................................................................................................... 248
Soul-Making Theodicy ....................................................................................................... 253
‘O Felix Culpa’ Theodicy ................................................................................................... 265
Concluding Thoughts .......................................................................................................... 270
Trinitarian Perichoretic Theodicy ........................................................................................... 270
TPT and The Existential Problem ........................................................................................... 276
Evil and Divine Suffering ................................................................................................... 276
Evil and Divine Action ....................................................................................................... 283
Evil and the Church ............................................................................................................ 286
CHAPTER 9: CONCLUDING MATTERS ........................................................................... 289
Objections Considered ............................................................................................................ 291
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The Problem of Monotheism .............................................................................................. 291
The Problem of Identity ...................................................................................................... 299
Where to Go From Here? ........................................................................................................ 307
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 309

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are too many people to thank for the accomplishment of this project, but space
will only permit a few. First, I would like to thank the faculty at Liberty University, and
especially those within the School of Divinity, who have shaped my thinking throughout the
years. I am grateful to Dr. Ed Martin who introduced me to many of the concepts in this work,
particularly those related to the problem of evil and metaphysics. I am also indebted to Dr. John
Morrison for his acute theological insight, as it relates to modern Christian thought. He is
theologian par excellence. Dr. Gary Habermas was instrumental in helping me see the centrality
of Jesus’s resurrection and how it touches every doctrine of the Christian faith, especially
soteriology and eschatology. It was in Dr. Kevin King’s classes where many of the key insights
for this project came together as we hashed out issues pertaining to theological method, human
anthropology, and ecclesiology.
I am also indebted to my dissertation committee. It is because of their encouragement,
willingness, and dedication that this project was able to move forward. Dr. Leo Percer was my
first contact in the Ph.D. program, and he has always been willing to answer my questions and
make himself available when needed. Dr. Chad Thornhill provided wisdom, particularly to those
areas related to the interpretation of key passages, as well as in helping me see the need for
greater clarity on certain parts. Dr. David Baggett has been a constant source of encouragement.
He has provided keen insight and direction throughout, which has made this dissertation all the
better. I am humbled by his dedication and commitment to his students. He is an exemplar of
what it means to be a mentor as he chaired this dissertation.
Lastly, I would like to thank my wife, Debbie, for her love, patience, and kindness. She
was a source of strength from the Lord. I could not have asked for a better friend and companion.
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ABSTRACT

There is perhaps no problem confronting Christian theism more than that of the problem
from evil. Evil in the world is not merely a problem for the Christian worldview, however, but
also for various other metaphysical systems. This project takes up a comparative analysis of four
major worldviews—naturalism, pantheism, process panentheism, and theism—and argues that of
the four, theism provides not only the best explanation for the phenomena of evil in the world but
it also gives an overall thicker worldview response to the challenges that evil presents. But
theism in-and-of-itself is not enough. A specific form of theism is needed—a form of theism that
is grounded in the perichoretic relationship of the divine Trinity—that accounts for both God’s
aseity and His being essentially loving. Having compared each of the four worldviews and
having argued for the need of a Trinitarian concept of God, this project then takes up the
challenge of providing a uniquely Christian theodicy, which I have dubbed the Trinitarian
Perichoretic Theodicy (TPT). TPT offers a way forward in answering not only the
theological/philosophical issues related to the problem from evil but it also provides a framework
for responding to those sufferers who have been affected by the presence of evil in the world.
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CHAPTER 1: WHY GOD AND EVIL MATTER?

Introduction
There is, perhaps, no problem confronting Christian theism more than the so-called
problem of evil. As William Lane Craig acknowledges, “The problem of evil is certainly the
greatest obstacle to belief in the existence of God.”1 For, after all, if God were all-powerful and
all-good, why would He allow evil to exist in the world? If He were good, surely He would want
to stop any evil that He could. If He were all-powerful there should be nothing keeping Him
from eliminating evil in the world. It would seem, then, that God is, if He exists, either unloving
or incapable of stopping the evil that we see and experience. This famous objection by David
Hume2 is by no means the only problem facing the question of God’s existence and evil in the
world. Why is there evil at all? Why is God not doing more about evil in the world?
Questions like these stir at our hearts and beg for answers—answers not only to our
intellectual inquiries, but also to the existential realities that come along with the existence of
evil in the world. In the midst of their existential plight, people find themselves asking, “Why did
God allow this to happen to me or to this group of people?” When looking back to such events as
September 11, 2001, when many Americans died because of the attacks of terrorists, or natural
disasters that devastate whole people groups, as in the events of the tsunami of 2004 off the coast
of the Indian Ocean, hurricane Katrina in 2005, the earthquake of Pakistan and Kashmir in 2005,
and, most recently, the typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2013, people are left asking “Where

1 Craig, “Problem of Evil.” http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-problem-of-evil [accessed November 2,
2013].

2 David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company,
1998), pt X, 63.
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