ABSTRACT

The term "horrendous evil" was introduced into the philosophy of religion by Marilyn Adams. She defines this term as follows: "evil the participation in which constitutes prima facie reason to doubt whether the participant's life could be a great good to him/her on the whole". This chapter considers Christ's own teachings on evil and discusses Jesus as a victim of evil and analyses the question whether Jesus himself perpetrated evil. It discusses evils, and doubtless horrendous evils, that have been done in the name of Christ and presents Adams' Christological approach to the problem of horrendous evils. The chapter argues that horrendous evils ought to convince people that God exists. Adams is clear in her desire to distance herself from all "free will" theodicies, based, as they almost always are, on libertarian notions of human freedom.