What do you think?
Rate this book
Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil
In a world riddled with disappointment, malice, and tragedy, what rationale do we have for believing in a benevolent God? If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much evil in the world? John Stackhouse takes a historically informed approach to this dilemma, examining what philosophers and theologians have said on the subject and offering reassuring answers for thoughtful readers.
Stackhouse explores how great thinkers have grappled with the problem of evil--from the Buddha, Confucius, Augustine, and David Hume to Martin Luther, C. S. Lewis, and Alvin Plantinga. Without brushing aside the serious contradictions posed by a God who allows incurable diseases, natural disasters, and senseless crimes to bring misery into our lives, Stackhouse asks if a world completely without evil is what we truly want. Would a life without suffering be a meaningful life? Could free will exist if we were able to choose only good? Stackhouse examines what the best minds have had to say on these questions and boldly affirms that the benefits of evil, in fact, outweigh the costs. Finally, he points to Christian revelation--which promises the transformation of suffering into joy--as the best guide to God's dealings with the world.
Stackhouse explores how great thinkers have grappled with the problem of evil--from the Buddha, Confucius, Augustine, and David Hume to Martin Luther, C. S. Lewis, and Alvin Plantinga. Without brushing aside the serious contradictions posed by a God who allows incurable diseases, natural disasters, and senseless crimes to bring misery into our lives, Stackhouse asks if a world completely without evil is what we truly want. Would a life without suffering be a meaningful life? Could free will exist if we were able to choose only good? Stackhouse examines what the best minds have had to say on these questions and boldly affirms that the benefits of evil, in fact, outweigh the costs. Finally, he points to Christian revelation--which promises the transformation of suffering into joy--as the best guide to God's dealings with the world.
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2000
11 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
John G. Stackhouse Jr.
24 books89 followersA graduate of Queen's University (BA, first class), Wheaton College Graduate School (MA, summa cum laude), and The University of Chicago (PhD), he taught European history and then modern Christianity at postsecondary institutions in both the USA and Canada.
He is the author of eleven books, editor of four more, and co-author or co-editor of another half dozen. He has published over 700 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and his work has been featured on most major North American TV networks, in most major radio markets, and in periodicals as diverse as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Christianity Today, The Christian Century, The Times Literary Supplement, Time, and The Globe and Mail.
Dr. Stackhouse has lectured at Harvard's Kennedy School, Yale's Divinity School, Stanford's Law School, Hong Kong University, Edinburgh University, Fudan University, Otago University, and many other universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
He lives in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
He is the author of eleven books, editor of four more, and co-author or co-editor of another half dozen. He has published over 700 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and his work has been featured on most major North American TV networks, in most major radio markets, and in periodicals as diverse as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Christianity Today, The Christian Century, The Times Literary Supplement, Time, and The Globe and Mail.
Dr. Stackhouse has lectured at Harvard's Kennedy School, Yale's Divinity School, Stanford's Law School, Hong Kong University, Edinburgh University, Fudan University, Otago University, and many other universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
He lives in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 25, 2013
In his Introduction, the author opens with his intended audience in mind:
"I offer this book... to those who want to consider seriously the question of faith in God before crushing evil befalls them or someone they care about. I offer it to people who want to prepare themselves to face the reality of life, which includes the reality of evil, with as many intellectual tools in the cupboard as they can get. I offer it to those who are so offended by God’s apparent mismanagement of the world that they cannot take faith in God seriously. And I offer it to people who have experienced bitter trouble and who long for a helpful, hopeful word on the subject of faith in God" (pp12, 13).
Well, I believe that about covers everyone.
Seriously, while, there are some good thoughts regarding God's faithfulness in the midst of our struggles, there are multiple times that the author places Christian, Jewish and Muslim religion and teaching on equal footing. I guess so not to offend anyone's god or religion. This I could not understand nor do I agree with.
"I offer this book... to those who want to consider seriously the question of faith in God before crushing evil befalls them or someone they care about. I offer it to people who want to prepare themselves to face the reality of life, which includes the reality of evil, with as many intellectual tools in the cupboard as they can get. I offer it to those who are so offended by God’s apparent mismanagement of the world that they cannot take faith in God seriously. And I offer it to people who have experienced bitter trouble and who long for a helpful, hopeful word on the subject of faith in God" (pp12, 13).
Well, I believe that about covers everyone.
Seriously, while, there are some good thoughts regarding God's faithfulness in the midst of our struggles, there are multiple times that the author places Christian, Jewish and Muslim religion and teaching on equal footing. I guess so not to offend anyone's god or religion. This I could not understand nor do I agree with.
May 29, 2013
John Stackhouse starts this book by building up the problem of evil from almost every angle then proceeds to discuss how to deal with this as a Christian. He takes a look at how other people throughout history and how they dealt with this problem, people like Augustine, David Hume, and Luther. Great book overall
June 3, 2012
Upon rereading, I realize again how helpful this book is for those of us who need to, and like to, think things through.
June 3, 2024
AN ATTEMPT TO CONSIDER THESE ISSUES, AND SOME PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
John Gordon Stackhouse Jr. (born 1960) is a Canadian journalist and theologian who currently teaches at Crandall University, but previously taught at Wheaton College, Northwestern College, the University of Manitoba, and Regent College (from 1998–2015).
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1998 book, “I offer this book… to those who want to consider seriously the question of faith in God BEFORE crushing evil befalls them or someone they care about… to people who want to prepare themselves to face the reality of life, which includes the reality of evil, with as many intellectual tools in the cupboard as they can get. I offer it to those who are so offended by God’s apparent mismanagement of the world that they cannot take faith in God seriously. And I offer it also to people who have experienced bitter trouble and who long for a helpful, hopeful word on the subject of faith in God.” (Pg. 2)
He continues, “This book offers ideas that, I hope, will clear away some unnecessary confusions that arise from our encounter with evil... It then goes beyond such brush clearing to establish some foundations for faith, to provide some reasonable bases upon which an informed person can trust God in spite of evil.” (Pg. 3) “The various religions … ask what many reasonable people ask anyway: whether we have adequate reasons to put our trust in God. This book poses just this question in terms of one of the most powerful challenges to faith, the reality of evil. Can we believe in God in spite of evil?” (Pg. 5)
He goes on, “This book then steers toward considering the ultimate meaning of life, especially as it pertains to the question of God and evil. Perhaps if the point of human existence is not primarily to avoid unhappiness, but to gain some other, greater good, then the presence of suffering and evil is our world can be seen in a new and hopeful way. The philosophical Free Will Defense is a particular Christian view of the matter, and this defense is then extended here to a possible explanation of why the world is as it is: a world that actually meets our needs and does us good after all… What I offer … [is] a description of what we’re up against in our struggle against evil, and good reasons to believe in God even in the throes of that struggle. In short, I want to offer hope that, despite appearances and agonies, we really can trust God in spite of evil.” (Pg. 6-7)
He states, “every explanation of the world that attempts to account for evil must also take full account of good. It will not do, for instance, to adopt a cynical attitude of dismissing the world as only and everywhere awful, because it isn’t. One will have to decide for oneself whether it makes the most sense, as some religions suggest, to see the good in the world as just so much illusion or distraction.” (Pg. 52)
He suggests, “Let’s grant, then, the reality of human agency in a variety of instances of so-called natural evil. Don’t we then want God to unmake the negative consequences of these actions? Why doesn’t God step in to save us, we might ask, from ourselves? … If God does so step in, such continual intervention has implications for human dignity, for the order of the world, and perhaps for the ultimate good of human life. Maybe, in fact, it is BEST that God DOES NOT intervene, and lets us both make choices and live with the consequences.” (Pg. 66-67)
He points out, “to argue that God is doing a bad job of running the world in terms of the ratio of evil to good is more problematic than some people assume. How can such people be so sure that alleviating or preventing a particular evil can be accomplished without the loss of some accompanying good? How do they KNOW that this minor problem, or that major evil, is just a mistake of just a tragedy or just an absurdity whose positive consequences do not outweigh its negative ones?... I am simply putting the burden of proof back on the critics to show that such things definitely do not happen.” (Pg. 75)
He argues, “we must be careful not to underestimate … the extremity of our situation and thus the extremity of the means necessary for our restoration. Perhaps forty years of disease is precisely what an individual needs to make his or her way toward the goal of eternal wholeness. To say this, I grant, seems callous, even monstrous. What a terrible thing to imply about a person’s spiritual condition! And I do want to suggest another way to look at this. But for now, let’s realize that whether to tell the truth about our actual condition is the same issue that confronts an oncologist looking at grim test results… The doctor has a DUTY to tell the truth and to prescribe just what is needed, no matter how unpleasant, to deal with the medical reality.” (Pg. 84)
He notes, “Job gets no insight from God as to why he suffered as he did… What he does hear from God, however, is good enough for him. In the first place, he actually does hear from God. God does not forever remain aloof from a suffering servant. True, God does not answer on demand, but God does not leave Job alone forever in his distress. Second, God does address Job’s questions, confusions, and fears. Whatever we might think of the adequacy of God’s response, Job himself is satisfied with God’s presence and the assertion of God’s transcendent wisdom. Third, God vindicates Job in the eyes of his companions, and goes on to tell the first three that they have slandered not Job, ultimately, but God.” (Pg. 96)
He acknowledges, “It is an utter mystery even to the best Christian minds how all of the sin of all of humanity could be funneled into that single episode of Jesus’ suffering and death. Perhaps, though, we can see at least that God has endured the very worst we could deal out. God has faced the most degrading humiliation, the most heartrending rejection, the most complete dishonor possible, and received it with unquenched love for us all. This is the true sacrifice of forgiveness.” (Pg. 118)
He summarizes, “Christianity therefore provides hope. Particularly in the face of confusion, resistance, and even the apparent defeat of our best efforts and highest aspirations, Jesus promises that good will triumph over evil; that our struggles are NOT in vain; that despite appearances we truly ARE progressing toward a certain outcome, the triumph of the kingdom of God on earth. It is worth getting up in the morning… Moreover, our sense of meaning and hope is based on our feeling that we are forgiven by God for our many sins and on our sense of being welcomed into God’s only family. We can look forward with joy to the future because God, at great cost, has freed us from our past. Furthermore, Christianity offers spiritual, or mystical, experiences of God.” (Pg. 127)
He concludes, “Only a perfectly good, perfectly powerful God can offer us the transformation we each and all so desperately need. Do we have the proffered solution to it? Living is more than thinking. We must think but then we must decide… At some point we must get up from the desk, turn out the lamp, and walk through the next door. For in the privacy and intimacy of the parlor, we will encounter our Guest and start the only conversation that finally matters.” (Pg. 174)
This book will be of great interest to those seriously studying Christian Apologetics.
John Gordon Stackhouse Jr. (born 1960) is a Canadian journalist and theologian who currently teaches at Crandall University, but previously taught at Wheaton College, Northwestern College, the University of Manitoba, and Regent College (from 1998–2015).
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1998 book, “I offer this book… to those who want to consider seriously the question of faith in God BEFORE crushing evil befalls them or someone they care about… to people who want to prepare themselves to face the reality of life, which includes the reality of evil, with as many intellectual tools in the cupboard as they can get. I offer it to those who are so offended by God’s apparent mismanagement of the world that they cannot take faith in God seriously. And I offer it also to people who have experienced bitter trouble and who long for a helpful, hopeful word on the subject of faith in God.” (Pg. 2)
He continues, “This book offers ideas that, I hope, will clear away some unnecessary confusions that arise from our encounter with evil... It then goes beyond such brush clearing to establish some foundations for faith, to provide some reasonable bases upon which an informed person can trust God in spite of evil.” (Pg. 3) “The various religions … ask what many reasonable people ask anyway: whether we have adequate reasons to put our trust in God. This book poses just this question in terms of one of the most powerful challenges to faith, the reality of evil. Can we believe in God in spite of evil?” (Pg. 5)
He goes on, “This book then steers toward considering the ultimate meaning of life, especially as it pertains to the question of God and evil. Perhaps if the point of human existence is not primarily to avoid unhappiness, but to gain some other, greater good, then the presence of suffering and evil is our world can be seen in a new and hopeful way. The philosophical Free Will Defense is a particular Christian view of the matter, and this defense is then extended here to a possible explanation of why the world is as it is: a world that actually meets our needs and does us good after all… What I offer … [is] a description of what we’re up against in our struggle against evil, and good reasons to believe in God even in the throes of that struggle. In short, I want to offer hope that, despite appearances and agonies, we really can trust God in spite of evil.” (Pg. 6-7)
He states, “every explanation of the world that attempts to account for evil must also take full account of good. It will not do, for instance, to adopt a cynical attitude of dismissing the world as only and everywhere awful, because it isn’t. One will have to decide for oneself whether it makes the most sense, as some religions suggest, to see the good in the world as just so much illusion or distraction.” (Pg. 52)
He suggests, “Let’s grant, then, the reality of human agency in a variety of instances of so-called natural evil. Don’t we then want God to unmake the negative consequences of these actions? Why doesn’t God step in to save us, we might ask, from ourselves? … If God does so step in, such continual intervention has implications for human dignity, for the order of the world, and perhaps for the ultimate good of human life. Maybe, in fact, it is BEST that God DOES NOT intervene, and lets us both make choices and live with the consequences.” (Pg. 66-67)
He points out, “to argue that God is doing a bad job of running the world in terms of the ratio of evil to good is more problematic than some people assume. How can such people be so sure that alleviating or preventing a particular evil can be accomplished without the loss of some accompanying good? How do they KNOW that this minor problem, or that major evil, is just a mistake of just a tragedy or just an absurdity whose positive consequences do not outweigh its negative ones?... I am simply putting the burden of proof back on the critics to show that such things definitely do not happen.” (Pg. 75)
He argues, “we must be careful not to underestimate … the extremity of our situation and thus the extremity of the means necessary for our restoration. Perhaps forty years of disease is precisely what an individual needs to make his or her way toward the goal of eternal wholeness. To say this, I grant, seems callous, even monstrous. What a terrible thing to imply about a person’s spiritual condition! And I do want to suggest another way to look at this. But for now, let’s realize that whether to tell the truth about our actual condition is the same issue that confronts an oncologist looking at grim test results… The doctor has a DUTY to tell the truth and to prescribe just what is needed, no matter how unpleasant, to deal with the medical reality.” (Pg. 84)
He notes, “Job gets no insight from God as to why he suffered as he did… What he does hear from God, however, is good enough for him. In the first place, he actually does hear from God. God does not forever remain aloof from a suffering servant. True, God does not answer on demand, but God does not leave Job alone forever in his distress. Second, God does address Job’s questions, confusions, and fears. Whatever we might think of the adequacy of God’s response, Job himself is satisfied with God’s presence and the assertion of God’s transcendent wisdom. Third, God vindicates Job in the eyes of his companions, and goes on to tell the first three that they have slandered not Job, ultimately, but God.” (Pg. 96)
He acknowledges, “It is an utter mystery even to the best Christian minds how all of the sin of all of humanity could be funneled into that single episode of Jesus’ suffering and death. Perhaps, though, we can see at least that God has endured the very worst we could deal out. God has faced the most degrading humiliation, the most heartrending rejection, the most complete dishonor possible, and received it with unquenched love for us all. This is the true sacrifice of forgiveness.” (Pg. 118)
He summarizes, “Christianity therefore provides hope. Particularly in the face of confusion, resistance, and even the apparent defeat of our best efforts and highest aspirations, Jesus promises that good will triumph over evil; that our struggles are NOT in vain; that despite appearances we truly ARE progressing toward a certain outcome, the triumph of the kingdom of God on earth. It is worth getting up in the morning… Moreover, our sense of meaning and hope is based on our feeling that we are forgiven by God for our many sins and on our sense of being welcomed into God’s only family. We can look forward with joy to the future because God, at great cost, has freed us from our past. Furthermore, Christianity offers spiritual, or mystical, experiences of God.” (Pg. 127)
He concludes, “Only a perfectly good, perfectly powerful God can offer us the transformation we each and all so desperately need. Do we have the proffered solution to it? Living is more than thinking. We must think but then we must decide… At some point we must get up from the desk, turn out the lamp, and walk through the next door. For in the privacy and intimacy of the parlor, we will encounter our Guest and start the only conversation that finally matters.” (Pg. 174)
This book will be of great interest to those seriously studying Christian Apologetics.
March 11, 2017
This is an overview of the problem of theodicy. (If God is all-good and all-powerful, why does evil and suffering exist?) It is examined through a Christian lens, citing thinkers like Plantinga, Kreeft, C.S. Lewis. As the book nears its conclusion, it turns toward Christian apologetics for the importance of faith. The overall argument seems to be that some questions and disappointments don't have obvious intellectual answers and that committing to Christianity is the best way to live in the face of such challenges. That is a valid approach to dealing with the existential problem posed by evil and suffering, but it skirts the intellectual conundrum (which is anyway unanswerable).
Some of the apologetics runs like this: “…Christianity seems to ‘fit’ the world as we experience it, and, in the view of converts from other faiths, it does so better than other religions and philosophies.” (p. 146) Of course converts to Christianity prefer Christianity. That's why they converted. Plenty of people convert out of Christianity, too, and it would be fair to consider their opinions about whether the religion fits the world as they experience it. It would be a far more provocative, relevant statement to say — if indeed it were true, and I don't know that it is — that Christianity is superior from the viewpoint of people who are deeply knowledgeable about multiple faiths, and not just from the viewpoint of those who already prefer Christianity for whatever reason.
Those who are Christians may gain something from this defense of faith, and those who are unfamiliar with the traditional expression of the "problem of evil" may benefit from its presentation here. However, there is not much in here for non-Christians who are already aware that the concepts of God's benevolence and omnipotence are at odds with the reality of suffering.
Some of the apologetics runs like this: “…Christianity seems to ‘fit’ the world as we experience it, and, in the view of converts from other faiths, it does so better than other religions and philosophies.” (p. 146) Of course converts to Christianity prefer Christianity. That's why they converted. Plenty of people convert out of Christianity, too, and it would be fair to consider their opinions about whether the religion fits the world as they experience it. It would be a far more provocative, relevant statement to say — if indeed it were true, and I don't know that it is — that Christianity is superior from the viewpoint of people who are deeply knowledgeable about multiple faiths, and not just from the viewpoint of those who already prefer Christianity for whatever reason.
Those who are Christians may gain something from this defense of faith, and those who are unfamiliar with the traditional expression of the "problem of evil" may benefit from its presentation here. However, there is not much in here for non-Christians who are already aware that the concepts of God's benevolence and omnipotence are at odds with the reality of suffering.
October 9, 2016
A well-argued, thoughtful, and even respectful book. The author discusses the intellectual reasoning to trust in the God of Christianity despite a world filled with evil. I would definitely suggest reading it at some point. I have a copy if you want to borrow it!
July 18, 2012
Pretty long for what it's saying but his arguments are well constructed and his writing is casual but insightful.
June 22, 2025
To me this seemed like two books combined into one.
The first is an exploration of the whole concept of a theodicy, and it is excellent. The author breaks down all the pieces (what exactly is “evil”? What does it mean for God to be “good”? What does it mean for God to be “omnipotent”? Etc…) and makes the reader realize all the frameworks and assumptions that go into the seemingly straightforward problem of evil.
Crucially, he does not do this to make the problem go away or to lessen the terrible weight of it. We are left with the same problem squarely before us, but now with a richer understanding of what precisely it is.
All of this is extremely well done.
What follows is a major tonal shift as the author now addresses the problem from a specifically Christian standpoint. This part of the books is more clunky. Notably, the first half of the book is divided into bite sized chapters of about 10 pages each, which invites regular pauses for reflection. The second half consists mostly of one enormous chapter running more than 60 pages.
The author feels the need to summarize, clarify, and defend the entire Christian faith in his effort to address the problem. I’m not sure this is necessary. More importantly, by the end of it, we are so far from the earlier analysis of the problem that that the final answer feels unconnected to it.
And, as a purely personal matter, I don’t find the authors final message satisfying or comforting. But on that your mileage may vary quite a bit depending on where you are at in faith. He clearly finds comfort in it.
In conclusion, if interested in theodicy, definitely read this for its first half.
The first is an exploration of the whole concept of a theodicy, and it is excellent. The author breaks down all the pieces (what exactly is “evil”? What does it mean for God to be “good”? What does it mean for God to be “omnipotent”? Etc…) and makes the reader realize all the frameworks and assumptions that go into the seemingly straightforward problem of evil.
Crucially, he does not do this to make the problem go away or to lessen the terrible weight of it. We are left with the same problem squarely before us, but now with a richer understanding of what precisely it is.
All of this is extremely well done.
What follows is a major tonal shift as the author now addresses the problem from a specifically Christian standpoint. This part of the books is more clunky. Notably, the first half of the book is divided into bite sized chapters of about 10 pages each, which invites regular pauses for reflection. The second half consists mostly of one enormous chapter running more than 60 pages.
The author feels the need to summarize, clarify, and defend the entire Christian faith in his effort to address the problem. I’m not sure this is necessary. More importantly, by the end of it, we are so far from the earlier analysis of the problem that that the final answer feels unconnected to it.
And, as a purely personal matter, I don’t find the authors final message satisfying or comforting. But on that your mileage may vary quite a bit depending on where you are at in faith. He clearly finds comfort in it.
In conclusion, if interested in theodicy, definitely read this for its first half.
July 8, 2024
So, I’m not sure that I’m the best person to write this review. I think someone with a better background in theology and religion benefits more from this book than a layperson like myself. I also walked into this book with a preconceived notion of what the book would address based on my interpretation of the title. Due to that, I was disappointed. It didn’t answer the questions I had that I thought would be answered based on the title. I also found the flow of the writing hard to follow. It wasn’t direct enough and I felt like the author was going in circles with his narrative. As a result, I found myself having to reread paragraphs to understand the author’s point. Overall, not a writing style I enjoy.
March 23, 2019
Having heard Dr Stackhouse in Canada a few weeks ago it was great to hear his voice again in this book. He raises more questions than answers but strikes at the heart of the significance of evil in the world and the importance of looking for validations of why the Christian faith is best placed to answer it. A very good book for Christians who secretly ask why God seems to tolerate evil in the world.
June 29, 2021
Very tough read. Philosophical in approach and argument and I felt that the majority of the book did not speak directly to the question it posed in the title.
If you like a challenge, go for it. Otherwise, there are better, more readable books out there addressing these issues.
If you like a challenge, go for it. Otherwise, there are better, more readable books out there addressing these issues.
August 2, 2017
Provides interesting insight
September 7, 2021
Great for those who are suffering and struggling with the question of if God is really who He says He is.
February 27, 2024
John Stackhouse is an idiot. Alas, I read this book before his sex scandal broke. Loser. He thinks he is a leading theologian and historian…more like he is a cuck who has been cuckold by marrying a divorced woman and raising another man’s children. Loser.
Read
April 19, 2017Good book...helps a person think about life in our relationship with our Creator.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews