Grains of Wheat: Suffering and Biblical Narratives

by Eleonore Stump

448 pages, Hardcover

Published June 27, 2025

About the author

Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, where she has taught since 1992. She has published extensively in philosophy of religion, contemporary metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. Her books include her major study Aquinas (Routledge, 2003) and her extensive treatment of the problem of evil, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford, 2010). She has given the Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), the Wilde lectures (Oxford, 2006), and the Stewart lectures (Princeton, 2009). She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book, the author applies the philosophical eye to key biblical narratives such as Job, the story of Samson, and the temptation of Christ to explore the narratives of suffering. Though there are various points where one may quibble with the author's interpretation, given that this is the third book (at least) in which the theme of suffering is explored by the author (in fact, a number of chapters in this book are found in her earlier writings), her penetrating analysis of suffering is worth reading for anyone interesting in the subject from a Christian perspective.