Theodicy Bibliography [2nd expanded edition, December 1998]

"THEODICY: An ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY on the PROBLEM OF EVIL, 1960-1991"
A Revised and Expanded Edition of the Standard Reference Resource for the Problem of Evil (first edition, 1993)
By Dr. Barry L. Whitney, Professor of Christian Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Published by The Philosophy Documentation Center (Bowling Green State University)
The book contains over 4,200 items, 490 pages; fully indexed; revised introductions to each section
Order "on line" while copies are available! at $40 US

This book is the product of several years of research and writing, after 20 years of study as a professional philosopher of religion, with special expertise in the problem of evil. This is the first and only complete annotated THEODICY Bibliography. The first edition (Garland, 1993) sold out after copies were purchased by hundreds of university and college libraries. With the second edition (Philosophy Documentation Center, December 1998), the chapter introductions were expanded and several dozens of new entries were added. Most importantly perhaps, the price was lowered from $98US (Garland edition, 1993) to $40US (the 2nd, 1998 edition, hardcover) to insure this resource is available at an affordable price to individual scholars and educated lay people.

"THEODICY" Book Contents (sample pages will be listed here soon)
o Free Will Theodicy (entries #1-349)
o Best Possible World Theodicy (entries #350-542)
o Natural Evil Theodicy (entries #542-748)
o Irenaean Theodicy (entries #749-815)
o Process Theodicy (entries #816-1051)
o Assorted Philosophical Theodicies (entries #1052-1459)
o Biblical Theodicy (entries #1460-1827)
o Historical Theodicy (entries #1828-2188)
o Suffering of God Theodicy(entries #2189-2446)
o Pain and Theodicy (entries #2447-2485)
o Providence and Evil (entries #2486-2510)
o Theodicy in Literature (entries #2511-2615)
o Original Sin and Theodicy (entries #2616-2671)
o Jewish and Holocaust Theodicy (entries #2672-2933)
o Satan and Theodicy (entries #2934-3006)
o Theodicy in World Religions (entries #3007-3090)
o Women and Theodicy (entries #3091-3140)
o Popular and Miscellaneous Publications (entries #3141-3732)
o PhD Dissertations on Theodicy (entries #3733-4237)

Some Assessments of Dr Whitney's Work in "Theodicy" and other publications

•"Whitney is fast becoming the world's authority in the problem of evil" (David Griffin)

•"Whitney has developed a unique philosophical tool, with an expert in the area amassing and commenting on all of the important literature in the field" (George Schlesinger)

•[Whitney's work on theodicy is} "extraordinarily useful." His work on theodicy is "excellent" and besides his own original and constructive views,he "gives a clear and accurate picture of the current state of discussion of this vital topic" (John Hick)

•Whitney's monumental collection of sources, and his detailed annotations on the most important material, represents a major contribution to the debate on God and evil at the end of this century. To amass this quantity of material is the field is a staggering achievement: the book represents an important research tool in its own right simply by the comprehensiveness of the references it contains" (anonymous assessment)

•"The selection of the seven major topic areas and the five major appendices is intelligent and accurate to the field as a whole. The annotations are also consistently fair and informative--a difficult task in a tendentious topic such as this one....This is indeed 'an essential research tool for scholars and students working in the field,' and should remain so for 'many years to come.'" (anonymous assessment)

•"[Dr. Whitney] is to be commended for his tremendous service to philosophers working in the field. The work has richly repaid the time I have spent studying it..." (anonymous assessment)

•"The work is original in the sense that [Dr. Whitney] is not just part of a school. He has his own plausible position from which to critique others... (anonymous assessment)

•"[Dr. Whitney] stands in a rather unique position .... No other person today is any more abreast of the current literature [on theodicy, God and evil] and I believe his understanding of the various theodicies now available to us is as good as anyone's." (anonymous assessment)

•Dr. Whitney's work on theodicy "is of value not only for academicians but for humanity as a whole ... as the 'problem of evil' is by far the most important and practical issue in the philosophy of religion.... More importantly, though, theoretical theistic perspectives on evil continue to dictate the manner in which many (if not the majority of the) people in our world actually respond to the pain and suffering we encounter... " (anonymous assessment)

•"[Dr. Whitney's] annotations and series of introductions reflect years of work by a leading figure in the field. They also offer a mix of academic impartiality and personal commitment: variant viewpoints are described fairly and allowed to stand alongside one another ("I seek only reasoned arguments") ... Academics [and others] will be well served by this book ... (Michel Desjardins)

•"Dr. Whitney has proved himself to be an author of substance whose publications ... have made a significant contribution ... to theodicy" (anonymous assessment)

*Note: Many of these comments were "anonymous assessments" written confidentially by academic experts in the fields of philosophy and theology in support of research grant applications by Dr Whitney between 1994 and 1997, and in response to the publication of the 1993 (first) edition of THEODICY by Dr. Whitney.