Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering

This is a wonderful book.Prof. Stump deals with the problem of evil with great care, compassion, and philosophical precision.She reframes that as the problem of suffering, and provides a cogent justification of why God would allow suffering (though she is careful to frame it as theodicy in another world). With great nuance, Prof. Stump shows how suffering might be an integral part of flourishing, from a Christian, and more specifically Thomistic, perspective.The first part of the book is so unique and so precious.Prof. Stump uses narrative, that is biblical stories, to build a common understanding, a shared attention, with the reader. I think that is a brilliant move, and greatly helps in understanding the second, more philosophical, part of the book.More specifically, she uses 4 biblical stories: the story of Job, the story of Samson, the story of Abraham, and the story of Mary of Bethany.I love her treatment of these stories.She shows how to read them, with great nuance, thinking, and attention to detail.Even though I was familiar with the stories, I never dug this deeper, I was totally oblivious to the richness they offer to the more attentive reader. It is as if I had never read them at all!So that chapter alone is worth the price of the book.A key nuance of Stump's treatment of the problem of suffering is the inclusion of someone's heart desires as an integral component of flourishing. That makes her task more challenging, but because of that the work is so much more meaningful. How can you understand Abraham's flourishing without his heart's desire for a progeny? How can you understand your own flourishing without taking into account your own's desires?Last but not least, I love Prof. Stump's writing style. Despite the challenging content, the book is a pleasure to read.She leads you patiently, step by step, sometimes in a recursive manner.She has a knack for explaining difficult concepts by using examples drawn from recent history, so that you can feel the weight of the suffering, the guilt, or the lightness of joy, whatever the case might be.Highly recommended for anyone interested in the problem of evil, the problem of suffering, and, I would say, just wants to learn how to extract meaning from Bible stories!

Having just finished Eleanor stumps volume Wandering in Darkness, concerning the problem of evil, I find myself torn between admiration for her great knowledge and literary ability, and doubt as to whether her defense of Thomas Aquinas's theodicy really accomplishes what she believes it accomplishes.This volume is a tremendous work of creativity and research, both on the problem of evil and on the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. She states that she is combining two philosophical methods, analytical philosophy and narrative, which seems to take her partially into the realm of the post-Enlightenment. She is quite successful using both methods. Her Biblica stories, using Job, Abraham, Samson, and Martha as case studies for applying the Thomistic theodicy she defends are enormously interesting and stimulating. Stump is an excellent writer, clear lucid and an extremely insightful in her ideas.This is a book that anyone interested in Christian philosophy, and especially theodicy has to read. It is not difficult to understand, but deeply difficult to evaluate. As a Christian I can certainly agree that the worst evil that can befall a human being is to be separated from God for eternity. Only God, with his promise of eternal life in a close relationship with Him, can provide any kind of a purpose for human suffering. If I read Stump correctly, she maintains that the sufferings we undergo are efforts on the part of God to draw us to him, in other words convert us to believe in God and his son Jesus. If we are already believers suffering is meant to draw us into a closer relationship with God, which should be the goal of every Christian. The purpose of human beings, their ultimate goal, should be union with God. This is our ultimate good. All of our lives, and all of our goals, should be intertwined with this ultimate purpose.Obviously, a book of this size and importance cannot be summarized in a brief review. There is so much rich material here that more than pays the reader for a the time spent with this book.Her discussion of love throughout the book is fascinating and insightful. Almost every page provides interesting interpretations and discussions. I really think I understand love better after having read these sections. The idea that love is the desire for the good of the loved object, and a desire to be united with that object is a simple idea but one that she applies with deep understanding in her stories and antidotes.One of my problems with any theodicy is that it must finally present some kind of an explanation for the Holocaust. This may ultimately be an impossible task. But I simply do not see that Thomas Aquinas, or Eleanor Stump, have provided a theodicy, or even a defense that can do justice to the horror of the Holocaust. It may be that I'm not totally understanding the argument. But the readers will have to decide for themselves.I cannot possibly recommend this book more highly. It was a pleasure to read, and I'm sure I'll reread it in the future.

I found Eleonore Stump's work initially in a philosophical study of the problem of evil and was delighted to find that she not only writes like I write, but that she also thinks like I think. I think very practically; and I also believe in a virtue epistemology that seeks to know in order to become and do. I am very much turned off by the probability calculus approach that is used so narrowly by others that addresses the problem of suffering and evil while putting a robotic effect on the whole affair. It isn't that these types of philosophers have nothing to add to the argument of suffering. In fact, they add a very necessary element to its understanding. Eleonore Stump, however, addresses the topic of suffering in a scholarly and "human" way. Her study is very deep, very thorough, and, if you can believe it, accessible by anybody who can read. On this count, her work is without equal. Having embarked on my own self-taught master's degree in Christian Philosophy and Apologetics, I have found this work indispensable. I will go so far to say that her book is foundational. It makes no sense for me to go into a book review here; but, let me say that this work is incredibly valuable for the bibliography alone. If you are looking for a top-notch discussion on the topic of suffering which is absolutely "shareable" for those experiencing suffering, then you err in not acquiring this work. Finally, somebody who knows how to use the English language to bring a complex subject into the average household living room! I would also add for the sake of many other philosophers out there: you may be brilliant but, if you haven't a clue on how to make your thoughts accessible like Eleonore Stump can, think twice before publishing.

A substantial engagement with the issue of evil. Stump is characteristically clear and cogent, but also a delight to read. Stump uses narrative powerfully to go beyond mere intellectual engagement. As Stump rightfully notes, it is difficult to completely deal with the problem of evil unless one is willing to engage with the stories of evil. Stump considers, in particular, Biblical narratives. Definitely worth it, and it is a must read if substantial work is being done on the problem of evil.

This brings a whole new approach or rather two new approaches to the problem - viewing it in the light of the Thomist position but also with reference to four scriptural narratives about sufferers. It is very convincing within its own framework - in so far as one can keep all the extenisve steps of the arument in one's mind at once - but at times one almost feels as if one is playing a game with its own set of rules but with little relation to the outside world. Nevertheless it is a very stimulating read with many of the details providing their own strating points for lines of thought.