Defending God: Biblical Responses to the Problem of Evil

Christian Century, May 6, 2008 by Kathleen M. O'Connor

Defending God: Biblical Responses to the Problem of Evil. By James L. Crenshaw. (Oxford University Press, 288 pp., $41.25.) This book is several years old but is worth mentioning. It focuses on the problem of God, who is portrayed in the Old Testament as loving and benevolent on the one hand, and violent and absent on the other. Rather than arguing for one position, Crenshaw evenhandedly lays out ten interpretive stances available to modern readers, from atheism to acceptance of mystery. Because he writes clearly and leaves the question open, Crenshaw provides the ingredients for stirring discussions about this perennial problem.

Selected by Kathleen M. O'Connor, who teaches Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.