THE END OF CHRISTIANITY
Finding a good God in an evil world
By William A. Dembski. Paternoster. 238 pages. £16.99
ISBN 978-184227682-2
The stated aim of the book is to explain the origin of evil and why God allows bad things to happen (sometimes called theodicy).
It is an important subject because the existence of evil is a common objection to the existence of God. The book gives a defence of the biblical view that evil is not something God created but the result of the sin of Adam. Dembski gives several helpful reasons why God allows suffering to continue, including enabling us to see the seriousness of sin, enabling us to have freedom of choice and enabling God to bring good out of evil. Dembski explains that the sinful nature of man is so serious that only the Cross can redeem individual sinners.
About a third of the way through the book it becomes clear that there is another key purpose of the book: to explain how old-earth creationism can be compatible with the principle that suffering came as a result of the sin of Adam. Even though Dembski is a champion of intelligent design and opposes the theory of evolution, he takes the view that the earth is old. Dembski accepts the ‘principle’ that human suffering came into the world as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve (Romans 5.12 and Genesis 3). However, Dembski argues that God cursed creation before Adam and Eve were created because he foreknew that Adam and Eve would sin in the future. He argues that the Garden of Eden was a special place of paradise separated from the rest of the world. When Adam and Eve sinned they were expelled to a world that had previously been cursed.
It is good that Dembski addresses one of the main objections to old-earth creationism (it involves death before the Fall). However, young-earth creationists will disagree with Dembski’s idea that God cursed creation in advance of the Fall, especially since God called the creation ‘very good’ after Adam was made. The book has many helpful references although more reference could have been made to authors like Dr. Terry Mortenson who advocate ‘no death before the Fall’. Readers who are interested in the arguments for an old-earth or theodicy will appreciate this book, although it may be heavy-going for those not familiar with creationist literature.
