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The discovery by Charles Darwin of natural selection as the
principal mechanism of biological evolution sharpened the classical
theological issue of suffering in the natural world. Darwin's
discovery revealed predation and starvation to be the engine of
biological development. Theological responses to evolution within
the Christian tradition have typically failed to come to terms with
these features of biological evolution, focusing instead on
romantic notions of nature or assumptions about the benefits of
progress. As a result, many doctrines of creation have operated
with a limited understanding of the created world that is their
subject. As Joel C. Daniels shows, however, this shortcoming can be
remedied by utilizing the ancient resources of dramatic tragedy in
a theological vein. By drawing together a theological
interpretation of tragedy and a scientifically accurate
understanding of nature, a realist doctrine of creation can achieve
a high degree of realism with regards to suffering, respecting the
unique characteristics of individual experiences while situating
them in a theologically meaningful frame of reference. The
theological category of tragedy does not solve the problem of
natural evil. However, it has the double virtue of attending
closely to the specifics of the natural world and maintaining a
principled tension between experiences of suffering and Christian
claims about the possibility of redemption. This book thus makes a
unique contribution to Christian theology by drawing on multiple
disciplines to address this issue of existential importance.
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