What about Evil?: A Defense of God's Sovereign Glory (Christensen)

Reconciling the existence of God and evil has been a long-standing conundrum in Christian theology, yet a philosophical approach—rather than a theological one—dominates the discussion. Turning to the Bible’s grand storyline, Scott Christensen examines how sin, evil, corruption, and death fit into the broad outlines of redemptive history. He argues that God’s ultimate end in creation is to magnify his glory to his image-bearers, most notably by defeating evil through the atoning work of Christ.

Read Chapter One

Table of Contents:

Foreword by D. A. Carson

1. Introduction: The Problem of Evil

2. Theodicy and the Crisis of Our Secular Age

3. Probing the Darkness

4. Justifying the Ways of God

5. Guarding the Sacred Treasure of Free Will

6. Working for the Greater Good

7. The Transcendent Author of History

8. Walking through the Bible’s Dark Forest

9. The Challenge of Moral Responsibility

10. Everybody Loves a Good Ending

11. The One True Story

12. The Fortunate Fall and God’s Greatest Glory

13. God’s Redemptive Glory in Scripture

14. The Peerless Redeemer

15. The Suffering Redeemer

16. The Cosmic Redeemer

17. The Grace-and-Glory Effect

Appendix: Sullied by Supralapsarianism?

Author

Scott Christensen (MDiv, The Master's Seminary) is the author of What about Free Will? He worked for nine years at the award-winning CCY Architects in Aspen, Colorado: several of his home designs were featured in Architectural Digest magazine. Called out of this work to the ministry, he graduated with honors from seminary and now serves as the associate pastor of Kerrville Bible Church in Kerrville, Texas.

Endorsements

“Scott Christensen has a real gift for answering difficult theological questions plainly, thoroughly, and above all biblically—with colorful, engaging writing that readers at practically any level can easily comprehend and learn from. If you’re troubled by the question of why a good and omnipotent God would create a universe that includes evil—or if you are a Christian struggling to explain the problem of evil to someone else—you will greatly benefit from this book.” — John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California; Chancellor Emeritus, The Master’s University and Seminary 

“Christians take the problem of evil more seriously than anyone else. This book avoids simplistic philosophical solutions. Instead, the author appreciates that the historical fact of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and return provides the only hope when we just don’t know all the answers.” — Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California 

“Christensen gets beyond the more traditional approaches to the problem [of evil] by reminding us that God’s wisdom pervades everything he ordains so that the very existence of evil serves his purpose of maximizing goodness and glorifying himself. Of course, Romans 8:28 and other verses say that this is true. But Christensen shows us how it is true. . . . I commend this book to readers who seek a serious and thoughtful treatment of this issue.” — John M. Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

“Why is there evil in the world? Scott Christensen shows that this difficult question is bound up with two larger questions: ‘Why did God make the world?’ and ‘Why did God the Son become a man and suffer evil?’ Scripture gives the ultimate answer: to manifest the glory of God. Christensen’s articulate, inspiring, and gospel-driven presentation of the ‘greater-glory’ theodicy explores a significant way that God’s Word addresses the problem of evil to strengthen our faith and evoke our worship.” — Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan