Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology: Searching for a Viable Theodicy

It is hubris to claim answers to unanswerable questions. Such questions however--as part of their burden and worth--must still be asked investigated and contemplated. How there can be a loving all-powerful God and a world stymied by suffering and evil is one of the unanswerable questions we must all struggle to answer even as our responses are closer to gasps silences and further questions. More importantly how and whether one articulates a response will have deep lasting repercussions for any belief in God and in our judgments upon one another. Throughout this wide-ranging interdisciplinary work Peter Admirand draws upon his extensive research and background in theology and testimonial literature trauma and genocide studies cultural studies philosophy of religion interreligious studies and systematic theology. As David Burrell writes in the Foreword: . . .[T]he works intricate structure organization and development will lead us to appreciate that the best one can settle for is a fractured faith built on a fractured theodicy expressed in a language explicitly fragmented pluralist and broken. Peter Admirand has made a significant contribution to one of the most difficult topics for theologians and philosophers--the problem of evil. Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring theodicy. What makes his book particularly important is his exploration of the testimony of survivors (as well as perpetrators). Admirand explains convincingly why it is essential to take seriously witness testimony and commends Christians in particular to immerse themselves in the writings of post-Shoah Jewish thinkers such as Elie Wiesel and Emil Fackenheim. Highly recommended. -Edward Kessler Director of the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths Cambridge University Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is a rich and compelling foundational work towards renewing post-Holocaust Christian theology for the future. Its interdisciplinary focus demands attention and care by scholars and students in a range of academic disciplines and fields and within the wider church communities. The work can also provide deep pastoral meaning for people in situations of concrete suffering. Admirands argument of a fractured faith built upon a fractured theodicy identifies a key component for the possibility of a viable faith in our post-Shoah world which is inundated by questions gaps and doubt and so must be open to interfaith learning and profound theological humility. -Didier Pollefeyt Vice Dean of the Faculty of Theology Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Peter Admirand does not even begin to discuss the attempts of theology to address apparently meaningless suffering until he has given vivid testimonies of endurance not only by believers but by other- and non-believers. Only then does he set about facing the problems these raise for theology not neglecting objections to theodicy itself from both theologians and secular thinkers. The book is profoundly moving and challenging and is itself a testimony to a passionate faith and hope. It will reopen intractable questions long thought to be dormant. -John DArcy May FTCD emer. and Senior Research Fellow Irish School of Ecumenics Trinity College Dublin Peter Admirand is a Lecturer in the School of Theology Mater Dei Institute Dublin City University and a Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer in Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies at the Irish School of Ecumenics Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of a wide range of articles in interreligious studies; testimonial literature; postcolonial and postmodern theology; and moral theology.