Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God
Marilyn McCord Adams confronts the thorniest challenge to Christian faith: how can a perfectly good God permit evils so devastating that they seem to destroy the meaning and worth of human lives? Writing as both philosopher and Anglican priest, Adams tackles what she terms "horrendous evils" — evils like torture, rape, severe mental illness, or the Holocaust that appear to render their victims' lives not worth living. Traditional theodicies, she argues, fail precisely because they attempt to explain all suffering within cosmic schemes of greater good, inadvertently trivializing the experiences of those who endure the worst.
Adams develops a radical alternative approach grounded in Christian incarnational theology. Rather than justifying God's permission of horrendous evils from a universal perspective, she argues that God's goodness to individuals requires that each person's life be made worth living through participation in divine life itself. The key insight emerges from Chalcedonian Christology: if God truly became human in Christ, then God has intimate, first-hand knowledge of human suffering, including its most extreme forms. This divine participation transforms the meaning of human suffering not by explaining it away, but by incorporating it into the very life of God. Adams sketches how this participation might work through mystical experience, sacramental life, and ultimately through beatific vision, where even the most damaged human lives find completion and meaning.
This work has reshaped contemporary discussions of the problem of evil by shifting focus from cosmic theodicy to individual human flourishing and by taking seriously both philosophical rigor and pastoral concern. Adams demonstrates how systematic theology can address philosophy's hardest questions while remaining anchored in Christian doctrine and practice. Her approach has influenced both philosophical theology and pastoral theology, offering resources for those who find traditional explanations of suffering inadequate.
Who should read this: Those wrestling intellectually or personally with extreme suffering, whether as philosophers, theologians, or practitioners in ministry, counseling, or social work. This is not introductory material — it requires comfort with both philosophical argument and theological concepts, and may be too demanding for those seeking simple comfort rather than rigorous engagement with difficult questions.