What question did this study set out to answer?

Evaluate the arguments presented by Jean-Miguel Garrigues regarding the concept of evil in relation to God.

June 29, 2026Studies in Christian Ethics0 citationsOpen Access

Book Review: God without the Idea of Evil by Jean-Miguel Garrigues, O. P. Jean-Miguel Garrigues, O. P. , God without the Idea of Evil (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2023). 210 pp. US40. 00. ISBN 978-0-2682-0541-6 (hbk). Fintan Lyons, O. S. B. , The Persistence of Evil (London: T&T Clark, 2023). 384 pp. £75. 00. ISBN 978-0-5677-1012 3 (hbk).

PMPaul K. MoserLoyola University Chicago

Key Points

Evaluate the arguments presented by Jean-Miguel Garrigues regarding the concept of evil in relation to God.
Analysis of Garrigues' arguments regarding God's relationship with evil.
Examination of historical context related to the Holocaust.
Comparison with other theistic responses to the problem of evil.
Garrigues proposes that God does not anticipate evil, suggesting it does not exist in His perspective.
The review challenges Garrigues' stance by emphasizing the reality of the Holocaust as an undeniable evil.
The absence of consensus among theists on the nature of evil indicates ongoing philosophical debates.

Abstract

Nazi Germany proved one thing: Humans can bring about terrifying evil.If you have any doubt about this fact, visit a Holocaust museum, such as the one in Skokie, Illinois, USA.Ask yourself: Is this Nazi genocide evil?Ask also: What, if anything, has a perfectly good God to do with this unspeakable evil?Theists, among others, have offered seemingly countless answers, and no answer enjoys a consensus.The parade of suggested answers continues to this day, with no end in sight.A problem of evil thus persists, even with a vengeance, at least for many theists.Some theists go to remarkable extremes to exonerate God regarding evil.For instance, Jean-Miguel Garrigues, in God without the Idea of Evil, proposes: 'God does not envisage or anticipate evil because it simply is not.Evil is not, and God is the One Who Is.He can only see in us the being that he gives us out of love' (p.49, emphases in original).Let's return to the Holocaust museum, a present and an abiding witness to Nazi genocide in World War II.Bracketing any special pleading that 'evil is not', we cannot plead anything similar for Nazi genocide.It was real, and we have the clear and presentable evidence.Nazi genocide was actual, and its tragic effects linger until today.Many observers, including many Nazis, were able to anticipate the Nazi genocide, given various statements and plans deriving from Hitler.If this genocide was evil, Garrigues would have us believe that God did not anticipate it.I do not see how this genocide can avoid being evil, given what we typically mean by 'evil'.In addition, I fail to see how it would be a divine virtue if God did not anticipate the Holocaust.It would not

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Key Points

Abstract

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