Theodicy and Protest

The question of theodicy is one of the central topics of monotheistic religions. Whereas polytheistic systems of religion can interpret plausibly negative experiences, such as suffering, disease and violence, as being caused by different gods, monotheistic systems are facing the challenge of explaining these contradictory experiences of reality with the acting of the "one" God. The contributions to the present volume by Jewish and Christian scholars from Israel and Germany show how Judaism and Christianity over the centuries - starting with the Hebrew Bible up to the 20th century - have dealt with this problem. In this context, it becomes clear that in both religions human protest plays a special role. With articles by Yairah Amit, Beate Ego, Ute Gause, Katharina Greschat, Judith Hahn, Yair Hoffman, Traugott Jahnichen, Isolde Karle, Ron Margolin, Barbara Meyer, Noam Mizrahi, Frank Polak, Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Gunter Thomas, Christian Weidemann, Gunda Werner und Peter Wick.