Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (Paperback)

~ John G. (Author), Jr. Stackhouse (Author) "SCOTTISH PHILOSOPHER DAVID HUME, echoing the Greek philosopher Epicurus, thus states the so-called problem of evil in classic skeptical form..." (more)
Key Phrases: transworld depravity, gratuitous evil, Jesus of Nazareth, New Testament, Jesus Christ (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"John Stackhouse . . . [addresses] the problem of evil with theological sophistication, historical depth, and philosophical precision." --The Christian Century

"John Stackhouse . . . reduces the tangled issue to one fundamental question--Is God trustworthy?--and offers a careful, wise and well-argued answer." ----Philip Yancey, author of Where Is God When It Hurts?

"John Stackhouse . . . reduces the tangled issue to one fundamental question--Is God trustworthy?--and offers a careful, wise and well-argued answer." ----Philip Yancey, author of Where Is God When It Hurts?<br /><br />"No evangelical writer makes a more scrupulous attempt at clarity and fairness than John Stott. Notably fresh and illuminating." -- --World Vision

"John Stackhouse . . . reduces the tangled issue to one fundamental question--Is God trustworthy?--and offers a careful, wise and well-argued answer." --Philip Yancey, author of Where Is God When It Hurts?

"No evangelical writer makes a more scrupulous attempt at clarity and fairness than John Stott. Notably fresh and illuminating." ----World Vision

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."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Intervarsity Press; 2 edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830828869
• ISBN-13: 978-0830828869
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #391,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Summary, February 27, 2009

By	Jantoine "JAntoine" (Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The main point that Stackhouse argues in this book is that the Christian God who is all-good and all-powerful can be trusted in the midst of evil.

Part One raises problems related to God and evil. Stackhouse explains that a different understanding of God and evil changes the way the problem of evil is approached. He states that, "The central issue of God and evil . . . looks very different if one understands `God' differently. It also looks very different if one understands `evil' differently" (23). Stackhouse then expounds what "theists mean by evil" (29), distinguishing different types of evil. At the end of Part One, Stackhouse raises further problematic questions related to the problem of evil: Why do the guilty prosper? Why is there inconsistency regarding who get justice? Is there any meaning in life? Why is there any good at all?

Part Two tries to answer the questions raised in Part One. Stackhouse realizes that "we cannot know the answer to why God runs the world as God does, but we can know whether God can be trusted to do so in a way is good" (6). He starts explaining that evil can sometimes be used for a greater good. He goes on suggesting that this world is a good world after all, because it is suited to point towards redemption. This world "shows us our need, and provides opportunities to grow up into personal maturity" (154). Stackhouse gives "a partial theodicy that presented our world as the right sort of world for our actual condition" (145). However, Stackhouse does not give a complete theodicy. Stackhouse shifts the question to know if God can be trusted "in spite of evil, and in spite of our lack of a complete understanding of it" (99). Stackhouse's conclusion is that God can be trusted in the midst of evil, because Christianity feels good, works, really happened, and makes sense in itself and of the world. Finally Stackhouse gives an epistemological defense of faith. He provides intellectual warrants to support faith in God. Stackhouse did answer the question raised in his book, arguing that, "Christianity . . . provides warrants for belief in an all-good, all-powerful God in the face of evil" (100).

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.