God: Savior, Butcher, Or Oblivious Artist? The Theodicy Of Alfred North Whitehead

This paper is a critical examination of Alfred North Whitehead's attempt to solve the traditional problem of evil. Whitehead's conception of evil is crucial to his process cosmology because it is integral to his process cosmology because it is integral to his notion of creation in which evil is understood in relationship to the larger dynamic of God’s creative activity. While Whitehead’s process theodicy is interesting, he fails to successfully escape between the horns of the traditional dilemma. Whitehead is often criticized for treating evil as merely apparent. While some process philosophers, notably Maurice Barineau, have defended Whitehead from this charge, it can be shown that this is an implication of Whitehead’s approach. Moreover, Whitehead’s theodicy fails to address radical moral evil in its concrete dimension in respect to real human suffering. As a result, Whitehead’s theodicy is not relevant to Christian theology. My paper is divided into two parts. I will first briefly discuss the traditional problem of evil and some of the traditional problem of evil and some of the traditional solutions proposed to resolve it. The reminder of the paper will demonstrate why Whitehead’s theodicy addresses the traditional problem of evil only at the expense of theological irrelevancy.

Morality Without God

Commentator: Laurence Rohrer (Lincoln University)

A Physicalist View Of The Passion Of Christ

My project in this paper is to provide a plausible idea of Christ’s suffering and death in terms of a theory of the human person. More specifically, I want to contrast two major theories of the person-body relation. One is dualism. Dualism is the view that a human person is composed of two substances, that is, a soul and a body, and he (strictly speaking) is identical with the soul. On the other hand, physicalism is the view that a human person is numerically identical with his biological body. I will argue that dualism is not successful in explaining Christ’s passion for some reasons. Rather, physicalism, as I shall argue, provides a better explanation of how Christ’s physical suffering and death are real just like everyone else’s, so it is philosophically and theologically more plausible than dualism.

Accommodation as Compromise: Turning Hard Cases into Easier Ones

Recent developments seem to present a stark choice: either we protect religious liberty or we allow discrimination. But do we have to choose? In this talk, Chad Flanders tries to present a way out of current conflicts between religious liberty and laws against discrimination.

Compromise or Quit Medical Practice: Is there Another Option for Catholic Health Care Professionals

More and more, medical practitioners are being told that they must either compromise their beliefs and provide whatever services patients demand or they should quit medical practice. This paper will explore other options that would offer a more just and respectful solution for our pluralistic society.