God and Evil : In the Theology of St Thomas Aquinas

As God is the highest good and is the benevolent creator of all, how can he be the cause of evil? How can we say Evil is caused by a defective agent and not by God? An added theological complication is the penalty for God's benevolent creation; namely that there is corruption in all things. This title tackles the problem of Evil.

Herbert McCabe was one of the most original and creative theologians of recent years. Continuum has published a number of volumes of unpublished typescripts left behind by him following his untimely death in 2001. This book is the sixth to appear. McCabe was deeply immersed in the philosophical theology of St Thomas Aquinas and was responsible in part for the notable revival of interest in the thought of Aquinas in our time. In this new book he tackles the problem of evil by focusing and commenting on what Aquinas said about it. What should we mean by words such as 'good', 'bad', 'being', 'cause', 'creation', and 'God'? These are McCabe's main questions. In seeking to answer them he demonstrates why it cannot be shown that evil disproves God's existence. He also explains how we can rightly think of evil in a world made by God. McCabe's approach to God and evil is refreshingly unconventional given much that has been said about it of late. Yet it is also very traditional. It will interest and inform anyone seriously interested in the topic.