The Solution to the Problem of Evil/Suffering

The following series of quotes from “Revelations of Divine Justice” gives the basic description of how God can be omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly opposed to all evil/suffering (such that no greater opposition can be conceived), and yet the evil in the world exists as it does. On this model, all evil is gratuitous (i.e. not necessary for any greater good) when considered in itself, but... Read More

A Dialogue on the Origin of Natural Evil

This conversation (posted with permission) covers a number of difficult aspects of theodicy – especially concerning predation, evolution, the origin of natural evil, and how the overall bloodbath reconciles with God’s goodness. There’s also a succinct proof for the entire Christian worldview (redemptive suffering, theosis, etc.) at the end. Really. ————————–————— Sri... Read More

Matt McCormick’s Paraduxx (sic) of Divine Agency

Matt McCormick’s original article “The Paradox of Divine Agency”, In Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier (eds.), The Impossibility of God. Prometheus (2003) can be found here: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/m/mccormickm/DivineAgency.htm I don’t blame McCormick. In the order of blameworthy, it goes like this: the devil, the apologists (including myself), and then me again (for not writing faster).... Read More

Conclusively Solving the Problem of Evil – A Discussion / Debate

Atheist philosopher Dan Linford has agreed to publicly discuss the problem of evil with New Apologetics. The aim of this dialogue / debate is to test the solution offered by New Apologetics to determine whether it is, in fact, the definitive solution to the philosophical / theological problem of evil. Our intention is to continue to respond to Dan’s questions and objections until there are no... Read More

The Redemption Series, Part I: Finding Our Way Out

In “The Theodicy of Divine Chastity, Part I,” we explored some aspects of the problem of evil in light of God’s perfect opposition to evil. Because of our experience of injustice, it can seem that God is either complicit in evil (i.e. “the end justifies the means”), or powerless, or nonexistent. Our first article in that series explained how it is possible for us to coherently... Read More

Divine Hiddenness, Part 2: You Are Here with Me Always

A lot of people want to have a relationship with God, but can’t find him, and many who “have” a relationship with God may be inclined to wonder from time to time (or all the time, in hindsight) if there is any external participant in that relationship. Knowledge that the “other” exists is universally agreed to be the starting point in any normal relationship. When it comes to our... Read More

Angelus Dixit

[Note to our readers: This is a very unusual piece of writing. If you find it hard to understand, don’t worry because we do too. We are posting it just in case you can get something from it. We are going to post a commentary eventually which will explain it piece by piece to the best of our understanding.] I. When you hear God and say something back to God, then you have something to say to... Read More

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag (A Dialogue on Pseudo-Catholicism)

  Conversation started November 24, 2013   11/24, 12:06am James Christopher Are you discerning a vocation to the priesthood?   11/24, 12:07am Matthew Von Zarovich Yes.   11/24, 12:08am James Christopher You can ask whatever is on your mind here. There is a sort of behind the scenes ministry through FB chat.   11/24, 12:09am Matthew Von Zarovich What kind of ministry?   11/24,... Read More

The New Evangelization Series, Part I: The Atheists are Right

  You’ve probably heard the question, “Is the glass half-empty or half-full?” It’s a question that supposedly introduces a person to the perennial struggle between optimists and pessimists – one which is supposedly never to resolve. We’re taught that these are two divergent ways of seeing the world, and are led to believe them to be incompatible. However, if we approach... Read More

Divine Hiddenness, Part I: We Don’t Know What We Know

We apologists don’t always make mistakes, but when we do we poison the hope of billions of people. Here’s a prime example: “The possibility of the world being filled with evil of all kinds while God is perfectly and omnipotently opposing every evil with all the power of his holiness seems like a definitive logical vacuum. …if God were perfectly opposing evil with the fullness of his... Read More

The Theodicy of Divine Chastity, Part II

Feast of the Prodigal Son — Vasily Polenov In The Theodicy of Divine Chastity, Part I, we began to describe how God, who is infinite love, gives of himself in a simple, innocent, and unconditionally faithful way regardless of whether or not we abuse or ignore his love. This perfection of self-offering is what we named the “chastity” of God. We chose this term in recognition that chastity, understood... Read More

A Discussion / Debate between New Apologetics and Catholic Philosopher Michael Liccione on The Possibility of Theodicy

Catholic philosopher Michael Liccione (https://www.facebook.com/mliccione) has invited New Apologetics to respond to his 1999 article “The Problems of Evil” (http://problemsofevil.blogspot.com/). Our position at New Apologetics is diametrically opposed to the one expressed in the article to be critiqued. Dr. Liccione argues that theodicy is impossible. We at New Apologetics argue that... Read More

Ten Questions and Answers on the “Why” of Human Suffering

Question 1: Is it arrogant to seek an answer to the “why” of suffering if God is “mystery”? Answer: God is infinitely mysterious, but for love of humanity, God has freely revealed himself, and has communicated what we otherwise could not have known by our own power. The Church teaches that, in revealing himself to us in this way, God has provided ultimate answers to those questions we human... Read More

The Theodicy of Divine Chastity, Part I

 The occurrence of tragedy is especially problematic for the worldview of the Christian who believes in a good God. The “why” of suffering is certainly asked universally, but it is the believer who must somehow reconcile the reality of suffering with the belief in a loving God who both knows everything and has infinite power. Historically, most (if not all) explanations of the presence of suffering... Read More

A Debate/Discussion between “New Apologetics” and “Dogma Debate” on “The Top 11 Reasons for Atheism”

The following discussion originally took place on the New Apologetics Facebook page between April 13, 2013 and June 10, 2013 in front of an audience of approximately 20,000 online viewers. [Photo: An icon of Saint Abraham of Rostov destroying a statue of the pagan god Veles.] This post will be the venue for a discussion concerning the defensibility of 11 proposed reasons for atheism. The representative(s)... Read More