A Critical Review of the Approach of Open Theism in Solving the Problem of Evil

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

2 Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

10.22059/jpht.2024.381972.1006072

Abstract

Every new school and method in theology and philosophy of religion has to address the different issues that believers face in order to demonstrate its comprehensiveness and coherence. Open theism has attempted in this direction and offered its answers to these problems based on the theory of openness. It emerged in protest against the incompatibility of classical theism with the Bible and its overreliance on metaphysics and Greek philosophy. Using a reductionist view of God's power and a defensive system grounded on love, open theologians attempted to address the issue of evil while reframing God's relationship with the world. However, their strategy in this regard is heavily criticized, meaning that they have failed to attribute love to God in addition to denying His authority to compel. The other major critiques brought against their position are a return to classical theology and the existence of a paradox in the concept of gratuitous evil. Through the use of descriptive and analytical methods, the open theistic approach to resolving the evidential problem of evil is analyzed and critiqued in this study. Despite the small number of studies that have been conducted on this theological school, their perspective and method for addressing the issue of evil have not yet been reviewed; this significant finding is made in the current study.

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References

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Philosophy of Religion
Volume 21, Issue 4
January 2025
Pages 273-283

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