THEO 525
2
Research Paper: Outline Assignment
Research Topic
The focus of this paper is the to discuss the problem of evil, which challenges the coherence of
God's goodness and sovereignty as discussed theologically in Erickson’s Christian Theology,
pages 384-393.
Research Question
How does an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent God permit the existence of significant and
seemingly gratuitous suffering, despite various theodicies attempting to reconcile these attributes
with the reality of evil.
Thesis Statement
God permits suffering as part of His divine plan, where He uses both good and evil to ultimately
bring about the greater good and fulfill a larger purpose that transcends human understanding.
Outline
I. Introduction (5 pages total)
i. What is Evil? (1 page)
ii. When Did Evil Begin? (1 page)
iii. Job’s Encounter with Evil? (1 page)
iv. Divine Sovereignty and the Purpose of Evil (2 pages)
II. Criticism of the Divine Sovereign Plan (1 page)
III. Robert M. Adam’s Theory of Divine Commands and Moral Obligation (3 pages)
IV. The Nature of God (2 pages total)
i. The Concept of Goodness and Divine Sovereignty (2 pages)
V. Sovereignty Exercised in Humanity: Biblical Example (2 pages)
VI. Redemption and the Promise of Restoration (1 page)
VII. Final Principle: The Overall Reason for Evil (3 pages)
VIII. Conclusion (½ a page)
THEO 525
3
Bibliography
Ailder, Alexandria. “Judaism, Ethics, and Time: On Levians’s Re-Interpretation of Rozenwieig’s Concept
of the Kingdom of God.” European Journal of Jewish Studies. 14. No.1 (2020): 73-96.
Areklett, Amund Tobias Måge, and Atle Ottesen Søvik. "Mediated Morality as a Middle Position
in Understanding the Relation between God and Morality." Religions 14, no. 8 (2023): 1074.
Christensen, Scott. What about Evil?: A Defense of God's Sovereign Glory. Phillipsburg, NJ:
P & R Publishing, 2020. Accessed January 28, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Dahl, Espen. The Problem of Job and the Problem of Evil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2019.
Ekstrom, Laura Waddell. Evil and Theodicy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Erickson, M. J. (2013). Christian Theology (3rd ed.). Baker Academic.
Franks, Paul. “Redeeming God, Redeeming Redemption.” The Jounral of Jewish Thought &
Philosophy. 29, no. 1 (2021): 168-75).
Harkins, Franklin T. “Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus on the Problem of Evil:
Insights from Their Commentaries on the Book of Job.” European Journal for the
Study of Thomas Aquinas 39, no. 1 (2021): 24–42.
Henderson, Luke. “Hugh J. McCann. Creation and the Sovereignty of God (Indiana Series in the
Philosophy of Religion). Indiana University Press, 2012.” European Journal for Philosophy of
Religion. 8, no. 1 (2016): 260–66.
Hunt, William. Evil and Many Worlds: A Free-Will Theodicy. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021.
Jakobsen, Martin. “A Christological Critique of Divine Command Theory,” Religions 14, no. 4 (2023).
Johnson, K. L. (2015). Theology as Discipleship (pp. 45-51). InterVarsity Press Academic.
Kemp, Dan. "Created Goodness and the Goodness of God: Divine Ideas and the Possibility of Creaturely
Value." Religious Studies 58, no. 3 (09, 2022): 534-46.
THEO 525
4
Kinghorn, Kevin. God’s Moral Perfection as His Beneficent Love: Is God’s Moral Perfection of
Reducible to His Love?” Religions 14, no. 9 (2023).
Koons, Jeremy Randel. “God’s Goodness, Divine Purpose, and the Meaning of Life: Meet the New
Euthyphro Dilemma.” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 14, no. 2 (2022): 229–46.
Lorberbaum, Menachem. “‘That Mortal God’: A Theological Critique of Sovereignty.” Political
Theology: The Journal of Christian Socialism. 21, no. 1–2 (2020): 9–22.
McCann, Hugh J. Creation and the Sovereignty of God. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2012.
Teeninga, Luke. "God and the Value of Free Will." Sophia. 61, no. 3 (09, 2022): 643-57.
Rice, Richard. Suffering and the Search for Meaning: Contemporary Responses to the Problem of Pain.
Westmont: InterVarsity Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Macdonald, Paul A. God, Evil, and Redeeming Good: A Thomistic Theodicy. S.l: Routledge, 2022.
Meister, Chad V., and James K. Dew, eds. God and the Problem of Evil: Five Views. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Mooney, Justin. "Divine Intentions and the Problem of Evil." Religious Studies 55, no. 2 (06, 2019): 215-
34.
Semwayo, Colin. The Concept of Divine Sovereignty in Micah: A Vision for the Fulfillment of
the Abrahamic Promises. Carlisle: Langham Creative Projects, 2019. Accessed January
28, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Søvik, Atle Ottesen. The Problem of Evil and the Power of God. Boston: BRILL, 2011. Accessed
January 28, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Rice, Richard. Suffering and the Search for Meaning: Contemporary Responses to the Problem
of Pain. Westmont: InterVarsity Press, 2014. Accessed January 28, 2025. ProQuest Ebook
Central.
THEO 525
5
Rutledge, Jonathan C. 2023. "Divine Morality or Divine Love? On Sterba’s New Logical
Problem of Evil" Religions 14, no. 2: 157.
Venter, Dirk J. "Romans 8:3–4 and God’s Resolution of the Threefold Problems of Sin, the Incapability
of the Law and the Weakness of the Flesh." In Die Skriflig: Tydskrif Van Die Gereformeerde
Teologiese Vereniging 48, no. 1 (2014): 01-07.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
