Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil [Hardcover]

John G. Stackhouse Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 1998

In a world riddled with disappointment, malice, and tragedy, what rationale do we have for believing in a benevolent God? If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much evil in the world? John Stackhouse takes a historically informed approach to this dilemma, examining what philosophers and theologians have said on the subject and offering reassuring answers for thoughtful readers.
Stackhouse explores how great thinkers have grappled with the problem of evil--from the Buddha, Confucius, Augustine, and David Hume to Martin Luther, C. S. Lewis, and Alvin Plantinga. Without brushing aside the serious contradictions posed by a God who allows incurable diseases, natural disasters, and senseless crimes to bring misery into our lives, Stackhouse asks if a world completely without evil is what we truly want. Would a life without suffering be a meaningful life? Could free will exist if we were able to choose only good? Stackhouse examines what the best minds have had to say on these questions and boldly affirms that the benefits of evil, in fact, outweigh the costs. Finally, he points to Christian revelation--which promises the transformation of suffering into joy--as the best guide to God's

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stackhouse succumbs neither to skepticism nor to pious cliche. Here is an author who has heard our cry from the depths and who joins us in wondering if God has heard it too. This wise and illuminating book belongs not on the shelf, but on the desk, of anyone who cares about humanity's oldest question."--Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Dean of the Chapel, Calvin College, Professor of Systematic Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary

"John Stackhouse does not attempt to `solve' the problem of pain and evil in this book. Rather, he reduces the tangled issue to one fundamental question--Is God trustworthy?--and offers a careful, wise, and well-argued answer."--Phillip Yancey, author of Disappointment with God and The Jesus I Never Knew

"John Stackhouse has written a candid, accessible, humane and impressively informed discussion about reasons to trust the Christian God in a world of sorrows and pain. He sets the Christian understanding of these things within the context of other world religions, treating them respectfully and noting Christian particularities. There is much learning worn lightly here, and much humility and human authenticity as well."--L. W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh

"Can God Be Trusted? is intended to be practical, not esoteric, informative, not preachy, and in that it succeeds.... His approach is measured, reasonable and, considering how much philosophical and historic ground he has to cover, surprisingly comprehensive."--Ottawa Citizen

"Stackhouse has succeeded admirably in producing a broadly accessible work that is religiously sensitive and offers for the reader a reasonable argument that it is rational to trust God even in the glaring face of evil."--First Things

Review

"Read this book, first because it has been written by one of the Christian giants of recent times. Second, read it because it gives key principles on which to base our understanding of Christian mission so that we can achieve the biblical balance that we need so badly to achieve."

"John Stackhouse . . . [addresses] the problem of evil with theological sophistication, historical depth, and philosophical precision." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1ST edition (April 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195117271
• ISBN-13: 978-0195117271
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,155,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John G. Stackhouse, Jr., was born in Canada and raised in southwestern England and northern Ontario. A graduate of Queen's University in Ontario (B.A., History, with First Class Honours), Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois (M.A., Theological Studies, with Highest Honor), and The University of Chicago (Ph.D., History and Theology of Christianity), he taught European history at Northwestern College, Iowa, and Modern Christianity at the University of Manitoba before taking up his current post. Dr. Stackhouse is the Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College, an international graduate school of Christian studies affiliated with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He is the author of seven books; co-author, editor or co-editor of seven more; and author of more than 500 articles and reviews in scholarly and popular periodicals and books. He has been interviewed by most of the major North American television networks (ABC, NBC, PBS, CBC, CTV, and Global) and his work has been featured by print media as diverse as the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic Monthly, Time, Reader's Digest, and even Maxim. He has lectured at major universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Edinburgh, and Fudan, and has addressed audiences throughout North America as well as in the United Kingdom, China, Malaysia, Korea, Israel, India, and various locales in Europe. He is currently an Advisory Editor to Christianity Today magazine, a Contributing Editor to Books & Culture magazine, a columnist for Faith Today and a blogger with The National Post. He lives in North Vancouver with his family and enjoys hiking and skiing the area mountains. Dr. Stackhouse is also a jazz musician, and occasionally gives performances on piano, guitar, electric bass, or trumpet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking and profound, a book to be read slowly, September 22, 1999

By 

Charles Boyd (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (Hardcover)

Few people have explored more profoundly than John Stackhouse an answer to one of life's most puzzling and uneasy questions. Through biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, the author articulates his positions in fresh, compelling language. Stackhouse wears his scholarship lightly. His lucid style and examples make the book accessible to general readers and professional theologians alike. One of the unexpected highlights of the book for me was his re-telling of the Story Line of the Bible (p. 104ff). Only as we understand what God has been doing from the beginning can we begin to make sense of the sorrow and pain in our world today.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well informed book by a Professor of History and Religion, February 19, 2007

By 

Tanner Griffins (Québec) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (Paperback)

This is a scholarly but very manageable book about evil in human lives, both natural and social evil. It offers intellectual answers to the problem of evil, a theodicy, setting us on a path to gradually experience the truth in a more direct way, as the author suggests in the conclusion. John Stackhouse proceeds slowly from defining the problem in the first few chapters to offering different answers until, in the middle of the book, he moves to the answer Christianity gives to the human experience of evil.

Personally, I felt slightly shortchanged as I thought the author would continue explore different perspectives on evil according to different philosophies and religions. But, as he explains, his belief is that of a christian and his training as a professor and historian is also on Christianity. So, his approach is highly informed by the religion.

It is a good introduction to the problem of evil but you might feel the need to get another perspective too as the book is rather short which can or cannot be a disadvantage, depending on the level of reflection you are doing on evil and your ability to concentrate. I believe he did an excellent job reviewing the history of the Bible but moved quickly over why Christianity is the best answer to the problem of evil. It was not very convincing to me, to start trying to show us that Jesus had been a historical figure and then, quickly sweeping aside Roman chroniclers of Jesus' time on page 137. Slightly went beyond the scope of this short book, to my humble opinion.

In spite of this, Professor Stackhouse is helping us to look at our own responsibility in what we consider evil and to strenghten our faith that God is doing the best he can instead of perceiving him as "malevolent and/or impotent" in the face of evil. A good start on the subject, worth it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A decidedly even-handed treatment of the topic, May 25, 2007

By 

J. Huebner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (Paperback)

A concise and highly readable review of the problem of evil and its bearing on theological and philosophical arguments for the existence of a benevolent, omnipotent God. Written from a Christian perspective, but a fine and well-argued treatise for any monotheistic religious tradition. Highly recommended.