Paperback
English language
Published Dec. 21, 2011 by Eerdmans.
As news reports of the horrific December 2004 tsunami in Asia reached the rest of the world, commentators were quick to seize upon the disaster as proof of either God's power or God's nonexistence, asking over and over, How could a good and loving God -- if such exists -- allow such suffering? In The Doors of the Sea David Bentley Hart speaks at once to those skeptical of Christian faith and to those who use their Christian faith to rationalize senseless human suffering. He calls both to recognize in the worst catastrophes not the providential will of God but rather the ongoing struggle between the rebellious powers that enslave the world and the God who loves it wholly. - Publisher.
An amazing look at the problem of evil within the wider Christian context and the only one I’ve found somewhat satisfying. I liked its focus on Southeast Asia as well as its response to Catholic and Calvinist hyperbole.
Hart addresses theodicy from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, considering creation and soteriology and arguing against the logic of Calvinism and certain points of Thomas Aquinas and Augustine. I found it a very helpful corrective to notions I had with which I wasn't at all comfortable but which seemed intrinsic to the Christian faith as I'd been taught it, and it was a relief to get a new perspective from a biblical and patristic viewpoint. // Reread a couple of years later and appreciated the refresher of Hart's arguments.
