Editing Theodicy (section)

===Biblical theodicy===
{{Main|Theodicy and the Bible}}
The biblical account of the justification of evil and suffering in God's presence has similarities and contrasts in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. For the Hebrew Bible, the [[Book of Job]] is often quoted as the authoritative source of discussion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiner |first=George |chapter=Introduction |title=The Old Testament |edition=Modern Library }}</ref>{{full citation needed|reason=date, publisher?|date=May 2024}}<ref name="Grace Ko">{{cite book|title=Theodicy in Habakkuk|last1=Ko|first1=Grace|date=2014|publisher=Paternoster|location=United Kingdom}}</ref>{{rp|Chapter 3: Job}}

{{Blockquote|text=The author of Job seeks to expand the understanding of divine justice&nbsp;... beyond mere retribution, to include a system of divine sovereignty [showing] the King has the right to test His subject's loyalty&nbsp;... The book of Job corrects the rigid and overly simplistic doctrine of retribution in attributing suffering to sin and punishment. It closes with a focus on the bond between creator and creation, on placing one in that, and on hope rooted in belief that God is in ultimate control.|sign=|source=}}

It is generally accepted that God's responsive speeches in Job do not directly answer Job's complaints; God does not attempt to justify himself or reveal the reason for Job's suffering to him; instead, God's speeches focus on increasing Job's overall understanding of his relationship with God. This exemplifies Biblical theodicy.<ref name="Mark S. M. Scott"/>{{rp|21,28}} There is general agreement among Bible scholars that the Bible "does not admit of a singular perspective on evil&nbsp;... Instead we encounter a variety of perspectives&nbsp;... Consequently [the Bible focuses on] moral and spiritual remedies, not rational or logical [justifications]&nbsp;... It is simply that the Bible operates within a cosmic, moral and spiritual landscape rather than within a rationalist, abstract, ontological landscape."<ref name="Mark S. M. Scott">{{cite book|last1=Scott|first1=Mark S. M.|title=Pathways in Theodicy: An Introduction to the Problem of Evil|date=2015|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-6470-2}}</ref>{{rp|27}}

This is evidenced by God's first and second speeches in Job. God's first speech concerns human ignorance and God's authority. Job had seen himself at the center of events, lamenting that God had singled him out to oppress; God responded that Job was not the center; God was; his kingdom was complex, and he governed on a large scale. Since God is in dominion over all the earth, Job cannot conceivably condemn him unless Job proves that he can do all the things God can.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Chapter 3:Job}} God's second speech is against human self-righteousness. Job has vehemently accused God of thwarting justice as "the omnipotent tyrant, the cosmic thug". Some scholars interpret God's response as an admission of failure on his part, but he goes on to say he has the power and, in his own timing, will bring justice in the end.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Chapter 3:Job}}

"Isaiah is generally recognized as one of the most progressive books of the prophetic corpus."<ref name="Tod Linafelt">{{cite book|editor1-last=Linafelt|editor1-first=Tod|title=Strange Fire: Reading the Bible After the Holocaust|date=2000|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=0-8147-5165-2}}</ref>{{rp|208}} Christian theologians state that in the Bible "suffering is understood as having transcendent meaning&nbsp;... human agency can give particular instances of suffering a mystical significance that transforms it into something productive."<ref name="Sarah K. Pinnock">{{cite book|last1=Pinnock|first1=Sarah K.|title=Beyond Theodicy: Jewish and Christian Continental Thinkers Respond to the Holocaust|date=2002|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=New York|isbn=0-7914-5523-8}}</ref>

Theodicy in the [[Book of Ezekiel]] (and also in Jeremiah 31:29–30) confronts the concept of personal moral responsibility. The book exemplifies the power of sin in that "The main point is stated at the beginning and at the end—'the soul that sins shall die.{{'"}} To Christians, the 'power of sin' was abolished in the death and resurrection of [[Jesus]], which rendered all Christians forgiven and righteous. The main point "is explicated by a case history of a family traced through three generations". It is not about heredity but understanding divine justice in a world under divine governance.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Blenkinsopp|first1=Joseph|title=Ezekiel|date=1990|publisher=John Knox Press|location=Louisville|isbn=0-8042-3118-4}}</ref>{{rp|82}}

"Theodicy in the Minor Prophets differs little from that in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel."<ref name="Paul L. Redditt">{{cite book|last1=Redditt|first1=Paul L.|title=Thematic Threads in the Book of the Twelve|date=2003|publisher=Walter De Gruyter|location=New York|isbn=3-11-017594-0}}</ref> For example, the first chapter of [[Habakkuk]] raises questions about God's justice, laments God's inaction in punishing injustice, and looks for God's action in response—then objects to what God chooses.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Chapter 1}} Instead of engaging in debate, God gives Habakkuk a vision of the future which includes five oracles that form a theodicy:

# God has a plan and has appointed a time for judgment. It may be slow in coming as humans see things, but it will come;
# The woe oracles confront the prevalence of evil in the world and the justice those acts have earned;
# The vision of the manifestation of God is a recognition of God's power to address these issues;
# God, as a warrior, will fight for his people;
# The song of triumph says the faithful will prevail by holding to trust and hope.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Intro, Chapter 3}}

Joel and the other minor prophets demonstrate that theodicy and eschatology are connected in the Bible.<ref name="Paul L. Redditt" />{{rp|201}}

Psalm 73 presents the internal struggle created by personal suffering and the prosperity of the wicked. The writer gains perspective when he "enters the sanctuary of God (16–17)" seeing that God's justice will eventually prevail. He reaffirms his relationship with God, is ashamed of his resentment, and chooses trust.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Chapter 3:Psalm 73}} Psalm 77 contains real outspokenness to God as well as determination to hold onto faith and trust.<ref name="Grace Ko" />{{rp|Chapter 3:Psalm 77}}

For Christians, the scriptures assure them that the allowance of evil is for a good purpose based on relationship with God.<ref name="Frame & Torres 2015">{{cite book|first1=John M. |last1=Frame |first2=Joseph E. |last2=Torres |name-list-style=and |title=Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief |location=Phillipsburg, New Jersey |publisher=P&R |year=2015 }}</ref>{{rp|184}} "Some of the good&nbsp;... cannot be achieved without delay and suffering, and the evil of this world is indeed necessary for the achievement of those good purposes.&nbsp;... God has the right to allow such evils to occur, so long as the 'goods' are facilitated and the 'evils' are limited and compensated in the way that various other Christian doctrines (of human free will, life after death, the end of the world, etc.) affirm&nbsp;... the 'good states' which (according to Christian doctrine) God seeks are so good that they outweigh the accompanying evils."<ref name="Richard Swinburne" />{{rp|Intro., 51}}

This is somewhat illustrated in—according to Christian interpretation—the [[Book of Exodus]] when Pharaoh is described as being raised up that God's name be known in all the earth (Exodus 9:16). In Christian theology, this is mirrored in [[Book of Romans|Romans]] 9, wherein Paul appeals to God's sovereignty as sufficient explanation, with God's goodness experientially known to the Christian.<ref name="Frame & Torres 2015"/>{{rp|178–79}}