Abstract
Daniel Castelo,
Theological Theodicy
, Cascade Books: Eugene, Oregon, 2012; 112 pp.: 9781606086988, £11.00/US$16.00 (pbk)
Daniel Castelo's slim work forms part of a series of books designed to introduce non-specialist readers to theological issues. On reflection, it is academically suited to first-year undergraduate students.
Castelo divides his investigation into four distinct sections. First, he asks whether theodicy is possibly necessary or helpful. His response is affirmative but Castelo controls the debate by offering an apophatic account. This sets a tone in which any anthropomorphism of God is (rightly) precluded, on the one hand, while, on the other, modernist attempts to explain through human reason God's relation to evil are equally outlawed. Instead, Castelo hinges his argument on a first proposition that God is good and omnipotent before then proposing that the vast evil in the world is owing to an absurd corruption in which either anti-God or not-God events occur.
The second section considers the goodness of God as creator. Castelo dismisses dualism and deism, preferring to argue that God is inherently relational with his creation. From here Castelo makes a causal argument that the created is ultimately good because its source is good. This in turn enables him to undermine evil by claiming that even the vilest humans do not cease to be of God: the fact that the divine image is tarnished becomes a separate issue from this ultimate goodness.
Castelo's third chapter examines the absurd corruption. He sub-divides this into evil, sin, the devil and human suffering. Evil is considered to be alienation from the creator. Sin, be it internal or cultural, delivers an apparent good that is radically anti-God. The devil, Castelo suggests, should be taken neither too seriously nor too lightly because the former would reintroduce dualism while the latter might suggest that a rational solution could cure the world. Human suffering, particularly death, is lamentable but superseded by the renewal of eternal life.
This leads to Castelo's closing section on God's healing response. Ultimately the ‘why’ (does evil and suffering exist) question is answerable only by God, and Castelo convincingly argues that belief that there is an (albeit as yet unknown) answer comforts the Christian. This means that the role of the Church is essentially a pragmatic one in which empathy must preside over explanation.
Castelo writes with passion and delivers a stimulating contribution to a perennially debatable topic. However, there are two key flaws. The first is that the author is overly dogmatic. This account is not a broad overview of the subject in which rival outlooks are properly examined, but is instead the perspective of only Castelo himself. Irritatingly, he persistently generalizes all Christian belief as assenting to this viewpoint. The second key flaw is that the book fails to signpost the non-specialist reader. Not only is there no adequate critical engagement with rival key thinkers on this subject but also the absence of adequate referencing and further reading suggestions may leave many readers somewhat lost.