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 PrintableVersion Evil and the justice of GodMore questions than answersEVIL AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD This is an interesting and stimulating little book — but in the end frustratingly incomplete. What is the biblical answer to the problem of evil? In the first half of this book, Tom Wright argues that, while there is very little in the Bible about the origin of evil, it is nevertheless the story of God solving the ‘problem’ of evil — as he acts to defeat it and bring in a new heaven and a new earth. What’s more, victory in that conflict has already been secured on the cross. You can find a similar argument towards the end of Henri Blocher’s Evil and the Cross (Apollos, 1994), but Wright’s treatment is more accessible. Wright’s handling of the Scriptures is always impressive but his method takes a little getting used to. His (commendable) concern is to show us the big picture, the overarching story of God’s purposes enacted in history. That is most evident here in the second chapter, which gives a breath-taking account of God’s plan to bring blessing to all the world, as promised to Abram. But it’s one thing to weave an integrated story around the data of Scripture. That is relatively easy. Rather harder to demonstrate at every point is that this is the precise story intended or assumed by the biblical authors. It’s in this second area that Wright is somewhat weaker. I alternated between thinking, ‘This is brilliant!’ and thinking, ‘This is baffling!’ — times where I felt like writing across the page in red ink, like a frustrated teacher, ‘Please show your working!’ ‘Show your working’The sense that there is too much being left unsaid or unclear is stronger still in the second half of the book, which deals with application. How should we go about dealing with evil now, as God’s people? Wright asks us to imagine a world without evil (as it will be when God’s plan is complete) and think about how we might implement aspects of that now. This is fine so far as it goes, but doesn’t really face up to the complexities of the task. His treatment of the issue of debt in the developing world is pretty thin, for example, to say the least. More seriously, attempts to implement such changes are likely to provoke conflict with those who remain opposed to God’s plans. The real experience of facing evil as God’s people is likely to bring us up against persecution and short-term constraints (at least) on how much change is feasible. None of these issues get discussed. The final main chapter is even more curious. There are some good and helpful points made here on the nature and challenge of personal forgiveness as a means of dealing with evil in ourselves and those around us. But Wright is claiming to be showing how a future with all traces of evil removed can be possible. As such, it’s surprising to find no reference to the idea that part of the answer might lie in the future universal and public judgement of all people (Revelation 20.11-15). Indeed, in a book with the title Evil and the Justice of God it’s odd that there’s precious little on God expressing his justice in the face of evil through judgement and punishment. Earlier on, Wright talks about the ‘juridical element’ of Jesus’s death as God’s ‘final No to evil’ — but that’s about it. Even if (like Wright) you read much of the talk of judgement in the NT as fulfilled in the end of the old order in AD70, surely it isn’t exhausted there? Wright has written elsewhere about the reality of a future judgement. He really ought to say here why he doesn’t think it’s relevant. I might recommend this book to stimulate someone keen to think about and discuss the issue of evil. But I would hesitate before recommending it to someone struggling with the issue. It’s likely to raise as many questions as it answers. Ben Cooper,
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