Overview

Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love grapples with the same fundamental question that has vexed philosophers and theologians since the advent of monotheistic religion, and continues as a barrier to belief for many today. Namely, if God is so good, how can natural disaster, genocide, trauma - and my present suffering - occur? Historically, there have been two apparently very different approaches to the problem: the pastoral, or practical, on the one hand and the systematic on the other. Richard Norton, however, suggests that these two lines of thought may not be as separate as they seem, and may indeed be dependent on one another for their cohesion. Drawing on Julian's medieval experience of personal and population-wide suffering, alongside that of more recent theologians such as Dorothy Solle and Jürgen Moltmann, Norton constructs a compassionate model of theodicy that can be of use to both pastoral and systematic theologians. Throughout, he remains sensitive to the raw atrocity of evil, while preserving a vision of God as the one who ensures that all shall be well.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Norton
Publisher:   James Clarke & Co Ltd
Imprint:   Lutterworth Press
ISBN:  

9780718896140

ISBN 10:   0718896149
Pages:   174
Publication Date:   26 October 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Preface ix Introduction 1 1. Why the Problem of Evil is a Problem 9 Possible Replies to the Epicurean Trilemma 10 Additional Difficulties for Theodicy 13 2. Pastoral versus Theoretical Theodicy 15 Critiques of Theoretical Approaches to the Problem of Evil 16 Contemporary Distinctions and Debates 32 Pastoral Responses to Suffering 53 Conclusions 68 3. Key Issues in Modern Theodicy 73 The Problem of Abandoning Traditional Theoretical Theodicy 74 Towards a Defence of Traditional Theoretical Theodicy 79 Does God Suffer? 82 God's Compassion 86 Destructive Suffering and Some Responses 90 Conclusions 95 4. Julian of Norwich and the Problem of Evil 97 Sin and Human Nature 98 Human Bodies, Suffering and Evil 104 The Motherhood of God in Christ 109 Compassion 113 Conclusions 117 5. God, Suffering and Eschatology in Julian of Norwich 119 Julian and Affliction 119 Julian's Eschatology 122 Towards a Julian Theodicy 128 Conclusion 135 Bibliography 141 Julian of Norwich: Editions of Revelations of Divine Love 141 Julian of Norwich and Theodicy 141 Julian of Norwich: Books, Articles and Other Writings 143 Contemporary Debates on the Problem of Evil 149 Index 155

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Author Information

Richard Norton is an independent theologian who has taught systematic theology and Church history in a variety of settings around the world. He is a member of the International Society for the Study of Mysticism, the American Academy of Religion, the Medieval Academy of America and the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Companion of Julian of Norwich and has written widely on her theology, ethics and Christology.

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