The Origins of Natural Evil

This book presents a historical overview of how Christians have described the causes of natural evils in the world.

While earlier Christians emphasize the role of personal sin, institutional sin, and spiritual powers as direct causes of natural evil, the thinking within the historical Christian community displays a marked shift over time. The increasing nuance around the question of the source of natural evils through late antiquity, the Scholastic turn toward rational explanation of doctrinal conviction, and finally, the turn inward at the Enlightenment leads Christians increasingly to attribute the source of natural evil toward God and further from the created realm than it had ever been before. This move occurs as pastors and theologians seek to make sense of God's sovereignty and providence relative to evil occurrences in the world, though the approach includes some potentially unintended consequences that alleviate human responsibility for evil and undermine God's fundamental goodness and transcendence, drawing him into the created realm as one more potential cause.