Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil

by John Swinton

Can we defend God's love, goodness, and power in a world scarred by violence and suffering? Do we need to? Traditional attempts to explain the problem of evil have mostly seen it as a philosophical and theological task. In this fascinating take on theodicy, John Swinton reminds readers that the experience of evil and suffering precedes pontification on its origin. In Raging with Compassion Swinton argues for a practical theodicy, one embodied in the life and practices of the Christian community. This practicality does not seek to provide an explanation for the existence of evil, but rather presents ways in which evil and suffering can be resisted and transformed. This, he insists, will enable Christians to live faithfully with unanswered questions as they await Gods redemption of the whole creation. Swinton explores essential practices of redemption -- lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and friendship -- drawing out their practical implications for the faithful resistance of evil. Enhanced by case studies from current events and by Swinton's own experience as a pastor and mental health nurse, this book seeks to inspire fresh questions about the Christian traditions, as well as new responses and modes of practice to our broken, fallen world.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian, Church, Counselling

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

John Swinton (born 1957) is a Scottish theologian. He is the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen. He is founder of the university's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and Master of Christ’s College, the university's theological college. Swinton is a major figure in the development of disability theology.

Reviews

[Parker Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I've ever read.

I'm very grateful to Dr. Swinton for this work, and for inviting me to consider what it means to respond to evil, and be a part of the type of community who can absorb evil rather than pontificate about its nature.

[Luke Hillier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt deep appreciation and resonance with a lot of Swinton's work here, as well as some significant pushback at times. I love what he's doing at the core of the book, which is essentially subverting the notion of theodicy away from an explanation of evil in light of God's promises to instead serve as practical means of enduring and resisting evil. Basically, he argues that the question shouldn't be "Why does evil exist" but "How can evil be resisted?" I agree with him that this is deeply needed across the church today, and the world would be a better place if there were less people trying to justify evil in theoretical abstractions than there were folks "on the ground" responding to those suffering in its wake with compassion and care. However, I didn't entirely buy into his didactic approach at the onset, which eventually came to feel like he was shaming people for asking questions of theodicy in the first place. While I agree that those in the immediate reverberations of trauma often need more practical care at first, I struggled with the implication that those questions won't rise up for them sooner or later. He seemed to construct a false dichotomy of theologians untouched by the realities of suffering on one hand and real people experiencing real hardship on the other. This assumes that the latter don't go on to become theologians in their own right, whether academic or lay, seeking out some semblance of an answer in the aftermath of what they've experienced –– and while that may often be the case, it certainly isn't always.

Now's the point where I "show my hand" a bit in saying that I had a severely traumatizing experience a few years ago and while, yes, absolutely, what I needed in the days that followed was a community of compassionate listening, support, and care (which I had the grace to receive!), that didn't cancel out the questions that it unleashed for me. Swinton intentionally circumnavigates anything remotely definitive around the question of "Why?" but, at least for me, I wasn't able to re-route the course my initial experience had set me on. He encourages us to learn to live with unanswerable questions, but this expectation in and of itself became a stumbling block in my capacity to trust and connect with God. It was in the embrace of a process theodicy rather than the rejection of it that I found tremendous healing in my relationship with God and a resurrection of my faith after growing so angry at an all-powerful God who continually chooses to stand idly by. He discusses Irenean and Augustinian theodicies in the book as well, which are other common explanations for evil diluted down to oft-used platitudes, and while I appreciated his rebukes of them at the pastoral level, I'm just not sure the answer could be to a large hole in one's otherwise cohesive theological framework, particularly regarding the one context people are most likely to hold questions about.

That said, I really did enjoy the book! In fact, and perhaps ironically, I think it serves as an amazing resource for process theology in particular, as it provides a robust roadmap for ways that people can join with God in our embodied resistance to evil. For the most part, I loved his suggested responses (listening to silence, lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, and hospitality), and the chapter which couples the first two was really moving. The notion of sufferers sharing in Jesus's silence on the cross and the ongoing invitation to listen to that in the silence of others today will likely stick with me throughout the rest of my pastoral ministry. The chapter on "thoughtfulness," however, felt strangely shoe-horned in and incohesive with the rest of the book. As a whole, I think this is an excellent resource for any Christian seeking to offer practical, embodied care towards those mired in experiencing of pain and suffering and heartily recommend it!

[Sam Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dealing with the evil and suffering inherent in the world is a spiritual practice. Classical theodicies frame the problem of evil as a theoretical conundrum predicated upon a specific theism. This framing of the problem has resulted in the nihilistic admissions of uncertainty and absurdity of the 19th and 20th century; responses which not only don’t solve the problem, but don’t comfort those on the receiving end of suffering and evil. Swinton contends that the Church and the Christian must reframe the problem, resulting in a practical theodicy of care for these people. A practical theodicy of care consists of several Christian practices, lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, and hospitality, all of which are rooted in the incarnational love of God.

[Tanya Marlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you cope and still trust God when you face suffering caused by evil? John Swinton offers an outstanding response to this question with crystal clear and engaging theology, thoroughly rooted in everyday experience.

In the first section he thoroughly annihilates the traditional arguments for theodicy (theological solutions for the puzzle of how a good God can allow good people to suffer). Traditional theodicy, he argues, ends up blaming victims for their suffering and is not only untrue but pastorally damaging, and causes people to abandon their faith.

Rather than asking the ‘why’ question of suffering, which he argues is ultimately unanswerable, Swinton favours the more practical question of ‘how’ – how to keep faith in the light of suffering caused by evil. His answers to that question are insightful and beautifully argued, looking in turn at the Christian values of silence, lament, thoughtfulness, forgiveness and hospitality. His chapter on silence is worth the entrance fee alone – it is outstanding.

John Swinton was formerly a mental health nurse and his empathy and shrewd psychological understanding of people is a real strength of this book. You won’t find easy answers here, yet he is definitely after answers rather than impenetrable mysticism, making it wonderfully practical. His logic is razor-sharp, his arguments dramatic and compelling, and it is peppered with relevant life stories to illustrate everything.

I had two quibbles: one was his definition of evil, which I found confusing, and I was disappointed that he was only covering suffering that was caused by human hands rather than natural disasters or illness too. The other was his chapter on forgiveness – he drew on Miraslav Volf’s classic Exclusion and Embrace quite a bit, but overemphasised our obligation to forgive at the expense of looking at the obligations of the offender to offer reparation, whereas Volf’s view was more balanced.

These quibbles are tiny, however, in comparison with the immense achievement of this work. It is a must-read for anyone in pastoral ministry, or anyone struggling with evil by others, and I will be referring to it in future pastoral theology lectures. This deserves to become a classic. Highly recommended.

[Arnoud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't buy this book if you are looking for rational approaches to understand the tension between suffering and belief in God.

The author is very negative about rational/philosophical attempts to theodicy. On page 42 he makes clear why: "If we are residents in God's creation, saved by grace through Christ, and if in Christ the whole of creation is being redeemed, then why would we feel the need to ask questions about God's love and power?.... The question is not whether God is loving and powerful enough to destroy evil and suffering.... Viewed in this way, theodicy could be viewed as a mark of faithlessness. It asks questions about God that are simply inappropriate and perhaps even idolatrous." In a footnote he adds ``Assuming these [God's love and power] are taken as true''.

In other words: this book is not for people who ask sincere questions about beliefs about God's power and love. For Swinton, such questions are apparently "inappropriate and perhaps even idolatrous". The rest of the book is about `practical' ways to deal with suffering: protest, forgiveness, communities, and so on.

While I truly appreciate the practical focus, I personally think that his negativity for rational approaches is a bit misplaced. Sometimes people want answers, words, statements, facts, things that are true and things that are false. Sometimes you want to know which beliefs are plausible, and which beliefs are not. One may find many existing `answers' to the problem of evil in the literature unsatisfactory, but that does not warrant, in my opinion, negativity in general about thinking about suffering and God. Sometimes redemption comes through philosophically thinking through the problem of suffering...

That said, the author writes valuable things on the practical aspect of dealing, in a community, with suffering.

[Guilherme Cordeiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Swinton proposes an interesting project. Rather than just proposing a blank accusation against theodical attempts (like the “anti-theodicy” literature), he argues for practices of resistance against evil as more effective than intellectual defenses and mere prophetical demurrals. However, the author seems to assume some sort of defense when concedes unknown, but certain, good reasons for God permitting evil and sketches a divine victory over evil through Christ’s work (showing how inevitable are intellectual defenses of some sort). The main contribution of the work consists in its detailed discussion of resistance practices like lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and friendship (even though listening to silence is added to the list rather inconsistently throughout the work). However, I found the discussion on thoughtfulness and friendship rather vague and apparently more focused on adoption and hospitality to refugees and asylum-seekers. The high point of this book, in my opinion, was the chapter on forgiveness with its poignant examples (even though highly dependent on Volf’s work). This is a good book to add one more requisite that classical theodicies must attend to, I.e., the sufferer’s perspective, but can’t be said to be its substitution.

[James Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am on board with Swinton’s critique of the classical question of theodicy as being the plaything of privileged academic types of a certain bearing. I am also on board with the idea that theodicy as a conversation in theology has been too separated from lives of actual sufferers (chapter 1). Traumatized people need more than an a so-called intellectually satisfying answer to the classical question of theodicy, they need a community of faith that worships and is deeply shaped in its epistemology and practices by the suffering servant.

Alas, we are often captured by the liberal mindset of individualism, don’t be a whiner and “stiff upper lip” life ethic. We fear to share our sufferings, and the judgements that we feel might come with this. Ie: weak people share their sufferings. Unfortunately, this also drains the lifeblood of a community who worships a crucified savior.

And so Swinton offers a practical theodicy.

Most helpful chapter for me: Defining Evil and Battling Monsters. The subsection Epistemology of the Broken Body was given clarity through the use of Grunewald painting (161-164). And the subsection What Does Evil do to Faith ((56-58), helps give language for victims of assault and abuse in a helpful way we rarely hear in churches.

[Kate Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the perspective this book offers that we don’t need to have a theodicy(an explanation for why God is all-good and all-powerful but evil still exists) and even argues that theodicies can be harmful. Personally, I think if someone’s theodicy is helpful for them, then good for them. But I have found an anti-theodicy aligns more with my personal beliefs and this book gave me a lot of freedom to see that this perspective is reasonable and biblically based. I also appreciated how this book pointed out how common theodicies in western, first world countries don’t hold a candle to issues like war, famine, and other atrocities faced in other countries.

That being said, all this is pretty much covered in the first four chapters and the last four I heavily skimmed because they just kinda continued repeating these themes. Swinton did explain more about how instead of a theodicy, God gave us a body of believers to help absorb the effects of evil in this world. But it still felt too long. But maybe I’m also just over reading with school 🤣

[D.J. Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a well-designed or well-edited book. It begins with an argument against theodicy, which is absurd. It isn't until several chapters later that Swinton clarifies that theodicy is not a useful response to those suffering from the effects of trauma. In fact, everyone at some point in their healing must address the question of why God lets bad things happen. But he doesn't say that up front.

Add to this some very-poorly-edited later chapters, in which he uses lengthy "examples" that evoke emotion yet fail to support his arguments, and I was left very frustrated and asking, "Where was his editor?" This book could have easily been fifty pages shorter, and much better for it.

That said, his chapters on forgiveness are priceless gems glittering in the mire of an otherwise poorly-written piece. If you're struggling with forgiveness, or know someone who is, it may be worth wading through it. Or better yet, just read the middle and skip both ends.

[Will Turner]

It took me about two years to work through Raging with Compassion, but it has to be hands down one of the best books I have read in countless years. It is simply excellent. This is how the church must do theodicy. It is how the church must engage with evil and suffering. For ultimately, it is the church which is the greatest, Christ inaugurated, theodicy.

The best books are not the ones you completely agree with, but the ones which challenge your assumptions, cause you to think, to pause, to consider, and to even push back. Those are the books that bring growth. Those are the best books to read. Swinton's Raging with Compassion is such a book.

After finishing it (finally) I immediately want to go back and start reading it again. Swinton deserves a far wider readership.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Class reading. Swinton covers a number of theodicies (theological answers to the question, how can a good God allow suffering) in the first half, then dissects them and recombines elements of each in favor of a practical, pastoral approach that holds some internal contradictions but pastors a person toward God.

[Eric Targe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for pastoral ministry. Theodicy is almost always approached in terms of apologetics but Swinton beautifully illustrates the necessity and possibility of a pastoral theodicy. I am certain that the conclusions of this book will change numerous aspects of my ministry for years to come.

[Pearl Loewen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book was much better than the last half. I am unsure why Swinton used a chapter on "thoughtfulness" to talk about his views on abortion, adoption, and disability, and a chapter on "friendship" to talk about his views on refugees and asylum-seekers. It wasn't even that I disagreed with everything he said; I just didn't understand the connections.

[Charlie Tinsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the whole, this book was well done. Swindon gets repetitive in his delivery at points, but it does not detract from his overall message.

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books on suffering I have read. Instead of focusing on why there is suffering, Swinton puts forth a way for us to respond to suffering.

[Sarah Hubbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for pastors and therapists trying to understand the question of evil.

[Charles Reimler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful For Theology Thinkers; My Own Tool Box Is Using My EARS Too Listen Too Others! Various People Have Different Skills In Ministry! Listening Is My Gift!

[Austin Bradford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aight. Tried to do theodicy without philosophy and with just practical things. Not my favorite but had some good thoughts

[Kristin Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Adam Tomlinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swinton's practical theodicy is really a good book, taken as a whole. However, I felt that the first half of the book was far better than the latter, which was far more practical. His critique of the professional theodicist was far more compelling of a read than the tail end of the book where I felt that he focused his practices too closely on specific practical issues (abortion and xeno-racism). Surely his ideas from those chapters are good and applicable, but I wish he had stayed at a higher level because the book got a bit preachy and hard to read (especially for someone who is on his side in both arguments).

[Alyssa Foll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another outstanding book by John Swinton. He is quickly becoming my favorite pastoral or practical theologian.

This book is about practices and responses that we as Christians can and should have to the problem of evil. Rather than giving an intellectual argument, or theodicy, about someone's suffering and the reasons for it, it is more helpful to practice lament or forgiveness.

This book was not quite as cohesive as Making Friends with Time, in part, I think, because Swinton was trying to cover so much material. Still an excellent read and resource.

[Narrative · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must for anyone who engages with pastoral work. To think through our theology is needful in this day and age, as it always has been. To see how warped versions of theology have become our practice is sobering. Swinton's pastoral response to the problem of evil if read and re-read, could awaken us to also think through our pastoral responses to other issues in our lived, acted out pastoral practice.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

About half way though. One of the most practical books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

[Julia Matallana · Rating 5 out of 5]

great references for difficult pastoral situations

[Alan Marr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful in some ways and a little pedestrian in others. I loved the idea of developing "Pastoral Practices" rather than rational arguments to suffering and evil.