Fyodor Dostoyevsky expressed a strange and surprising sentiment through one of the characters of The Brothers Karamazov. A dying young man named Markel declares: “Every one of us has sinned against all men, and I more than others.” He later says: “…every one of us is answerable for everyone else and for everything.” Markel’s absurd claims have engendered many reflections on the nature of suffering and what it means to be responsible for someone else’s suffering. The world has no shortage of pain and evil; what exactly is the relationship between suffering and responsibility? Markel’s declarations press forward a question that drives this essay collection: how responsible should we consider ourselves for the suffering of the world?
This volume is a collection of essays that struggle in various ways to understand and respond to several philosophical, theological and practical problems. In each case the authors grapple with issues surrounding suffering, immorality, evil, exploitation and oppression. The contributors share a clear concern for the ways that philosophers and theologians should respond to the problems of suffering and evil. They also share a conviction that these remain intense and central problems for philosophy and theology. Evil is an obstacle for belief, for morality, for hospitality, and for hope. This book struggles to address the particular and strong sense of responsibility that falls on Christians when it comes to understanding and, more importantly, responding to the problems of suffering and evil in the world.
