Suffering Belief (Toronto Studies in Religion) [Paperback]

Andrea M. Weisberger (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820439754
• ISBN-13: 978-0820439754
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,590,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously disturbing and wonderfully thought-provoking, December 18, 1999

By 

Brian Ursrey (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suffering Belief (Toronto Studies in Religion) (Paperback)

As a former student of Dr. Weisberger's, I am significantly influenced by her teachings on Atheism and the Problem of Evil. This book does wonders in further examining the issues surrounding belief in the Western concept of God: omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient. Her clear analysis of WHY the burden of proof must lie with the theist is one that is cogent and not easily refuted, though the theist would most like to. By showing where this burden of proof lies and why, Dr. Weisberger then proceeds to show the fallacies of theistic responses to the problem of evil. Written in an overall manner appropriate to philosophy or religion students, this book is also extremely readable by those not familiar with these fields of study. Excepting one analysis, the book flows very easily, without a lot of philosohical jargon, and holds the readers interest. This is clearly the best book I've read in terms of clarity and breadth for the problem of evil. This book ought to be on every reading list for students in philosophy of religion, theology, or seminary. Anyone who has questions about the blind faith in God would be well served by reading Dr. Weisberger's book. This kind of critcal work is an absolute must in this time of rejuvinated Christian belief.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful, lucid examination of the problem of evil., August 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Suffering Belief (Toronto Studies in Religion) (Paperback)

A clear and masteful examination of the problem of Evil takes two tracks: the logical, derived from a priori reasoning, and evidential. The Theist is required to show how her belief in an all-knowing, all-powerful and all-good God is possible, given the unquestionable facticity of Evil in the world. While the processes of nature are not, per se, evil, their effects are sometimes regarded as evil. Intentional Evil is therefore the most problematic, and receives deep and careful treatment. Her argument does not, however, operate against the existence of God; just the absolute attributes of God. For those whom these attributes are necessary for their faith, this book will be quite uncomfortable. Dr. Weisberger profoundly disturbs our unexamined assumptions. The argument from epistemic distance is shown to be inadequate. Since the burden of proof is upon the Theist, and that proof must derive from lived experience, no way is found to maintain these attributes of God. But the data of sense is not the data of consciousness, and spirituality is of the data of consciousness. Socrates maintained that no one intends to do evil, but simply fails to use good judgment in carrying out her intentions. This position seems untenable as we contemplate the Shoah of mid-century Europe. A certain moral inversion arises whenever power and money become ends, rather than means, and people become means rather than ends. Free will, operating through institutions, confuses what is procedurally correct with what is morally right. We do not need God's negligence to explain evil, nor question her attributes to explain evil. Free will would be compromized by God's intervention in the stream of history, but that is found to be a small price to pay for reduction of at least the world's worst evils. With the burden of proof on the Theist, someone must work out a really advanced reply to Dr. Weisberger, if the absolute perfection of God is to be maintained. This book is a must for Seminary students; No other issue is so critical to the theological purpose and Parishoner's lives, and no other modern work deals so well with the problem.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unexamined LIfe, December 30, 1999

By 

Roy E. Overmann (St. Louis, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suffering Belief (Toronto Studies in Religion) (Paperback)

Dr. Weisberger's book will become the standard critique of the existence of an "all-powerful? god. She covers the complete ground on this issue and anyone who reads the book would be hard-pressed to make a logical argument for an all-powerful god. My only criticism of Dr. Weisberger is her apparent reluctance to come to the undeniable conclusion: What is a non-all-powerful god good for? Consequently this book become a brilliant argument (unacknowledged by the author) for the irrationality of belief in a good god.