Beyond Theodicy

Sarah K. Pinnock is Assistant Professor of Religion at Trinity University.

"Readers will appreciate the careful exposition … the crisp distinctions … and Pinnock's own astute theological judgments." — Religious Studies Review"Pinnock's study of post-Holocaust (anti-) theodicy is a useful discussion for students and scholars alike. As a comparative study, this book is an important contribution to Christian-Jewish relations, explicating the convergence and difference of Jewish and Christian (anti-) theodicies." — Journal of Religion and Society"I like the fact that the book extends the sorts of questions being asked by some Anglo-American philosophers of religion/theologians to European authors. The questions surrounding the legitimacy of theoretical theodicy as done by theologians do have some European analogues, but this book makes this much more explicit. The book is careful and competent in its exposition and in its nuanced judgments about the preferability of 'political' over 'existential' approaches to confronting and coping with evils. Its chapter on cold and warm stream Marxism is especially clear and unexpectedly useful." — Terrence W. Tilley, author of The Evils of Theodicy"This book works very well as an introduction to the various figures studied—Marcel, Buber, Bloch, and Metz—and as an introductory survey of the practical approach to questions of suffering and injustice." — Kathryn Tanner, author of Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology

• Abbreviations Preface 1. TYPES OF APPROACHES TO HOLOCAUST SUFFERINGPractical Responses as Alternatives to Theodicy Theoretical TheodicyContinental Alternatives to TheodicyKant's Practical TurnFrom Theoretical Theodicy to Practical FaithHegel's Hubris: Theodicy RevivedHegel as Prototypical Target of Critique 2. EXISTENTIAL ENCOUNTER WITH EVIL Gabriel Marcels Response to Suffering as a Trial Problem and Mystery in PhilosophyMarcel's Objections to the Theodicy ProblemFaith and Hope: The Discovery of Meaning in Suffering Relation to the Thou: Availability and FidelitySuffering as a TrialHope, Transcendence, and ImmortalityAcceptance of Suffering The Limitations of Marcel's Approach after Auschwitz 3. DIALOGICAL FAITH Martin Buber's I-Thou Response to Suffering and Its Meaning The Dichotomy between I-It and I-Thou AttitudesGod-Language within the Limits of I-Thou RelationA Narrative Faith Response to Suffering Hasidic Narratives of Suffering and RedemptionThe Book of JobThe Eclipse of God and the Holocaust Post-Holocaust Faith in God 4. MARXIST THEORY AND PRACTICE Scientific and Humanist Marxism Marx's Materialist Method Materialist Analysis of HistorySocial Class and SufferingIdeology Critique The Cold Stream: Scientific MarxismThe Warm Stream: Humanist Marxism Modified MaterialismHope: The Rejection of Determinist Teleology 5. FAITH AS HOPE IN HISTORYErnst Bloch and Political Post-Holocaust TheologySuffering in History: Against Teleological TheodicyHope as Political Vision and Real Possibility: Resistance to SufferingReligious Faith as the Praxis of Hope Apolitical Christianity and Political FaithMoses and Job: Heroes of the Hebrew BibleJesus and the Immanence of God's Kingdom Hope and Suffering in Jürgen Moltmann's Post-Holocaust Theology Theology of HopeDivine Suffering after AuschwitzMarxian Hope as Eschatology 6. SOLIDARITY AND RESISTANCE Johann Baptist Metz's Theodicy-Sensitive Response to Suffering Metz's Critiques of Bourgeois Subjectivity and Existentialist TheologyTheodicy and the Effacement of Suffering in History Theodicy and Bourgeois ApathyAuschwitz and Anti-TheodicyObjections to Divine Suffering Metz's Political Faith: Dangerous Memory and Solidarity Biblical Narrative as MemoryThe Functions of Religious Memory A Theodicy-Sensitive Response to Suffering after Auschwitz 7. PRAGMATICS, EXISTENTIAL AND POLITICAL Comparison, Contrast, and Complementarity Contrasting Personal and Political Approaches Situating Suffering in "Existence" and "History"The Religious Posture of HopeThe Religious Posture toward Other Persons: I-ThouRelation or Solidarity Complementarity between Political and Existentialist Approaches: The Practical Insights of Contextual Liberation and Post-Holocaust Responses to Suffering MemorySolidarityHopeMystical Faith 8. BEYOND THEODICY Evaluating Theodicy From a Practical Perspective The Possibility and Appropriateness of Theodicy Practical Faith in GodThe Epistemic Impossibility of TheodicyThe Moral Scandal of Theodicy Guidelines for Faith Responses to Evil and Suffering after Auschwitz Epistemic HumilityMoral SensitivityReligious PracticeNarrative Memory Notes Selected Bibliography Index