*Last updated Harvest Month, 2247 Runic Era
(August 1997 Common Era)
Barry-Thor L.
Whitney, B.A., Ph.D.
My University of Windsor Courses
And Information about my Theodicy
books
THEODICY ("the problem of
evil") Page
Featuring Information
about my Theodicy
Annotated Bibliographies
(Garland, 1993 and Philosophy Documentation Center, 1998), the area in
which I am cited as "the world's
authority." My library of theodicy publications is the
world's largest collection, containing several thousand items.
Canadian Home for Studies in
"Theodicy"
The
Problem of Evil
My books
address this issue:
1985:
Barry Whitney,Evil and the Process God
(New York, London, and Toronto:
Mellen Press,
1985), 234 pages: available from the publisher.
1989:
Barry Whitney, What Are They Saying About God
and Evil? (New York: Paulist
Press, 1989), 135 pages: Available only from the author
1993: Barry Whitney, Theodicy: An
Annotated Bibliography on the Problem of Evil, 1960-1990
(New York and London: Garland
Publishing Inc,
1993),
658 pages. This is the definitive resource for what has been written on
the problem of evil in the past thirty years. Available only from
major university research libraries.
1998: Barry Whitney, Theodicy: An
Annotated Bibliography on the Problem of Evil,
1960-1990 is being published in an affordable hard cover
in early 1998 by The
Philosophy Documentation Center. Updated
information will be posted here when it is
available.
SOME ASSESSMENTS: "Whitney is ... the world's authority
in
the theodicy issue"; "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"; "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 quanitity 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....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 topis
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.'.....The author is to be commended for his tremendous
service to philosophers working in the field..."
My THEODICY Bibliographies (1993 and 1998)
discuss the
topic under the
following
headings: - Free Will Theodicy (Items 1-349)
- Best Possible World Theodicy (Items 350-542)
- Natural Evil Theodicy (Items 542-748)
- Irenaean Theodicy (Items 749-815)
- Process Theodicy (Items 816-1051)
- Assorted Philosophical Theodicies (Items 1052-1459)
- Biblical Theodicy (Items 1460-1827)
- Historical Theodicy (Items 1828-2188)
- Suffering of God Theodicy (Items 2189-2446)
- Pain and Theodicy (Items 2447-2485)
- Providence and Evil (Items 2486-2510)
- Theodicy in Literature (Items 2511-2615)
- Original Sin and Theodicy (Items 2616-2671)
- Jewish and Holocaust Theodicy (Items 2672-2933)
- Satan and Theodicy (Items 2934-3006)
- Theodicy in World Religions (Items 3007-3090)
- Women and Theodicy (Items 3091-3140)
- Popular and Miscellaneous Publications (Items 3141-3732)
- PhD Dissertations on Theodicy (Items 3733-4237)
While there are thousands of books on the theodicy
issue, I will list
here those I consider the most useful and valuable.
- Barry Whitney, Theodicy: An Annotated Bibliography on
the Problem
of Evil. 1993 and 1998
- David Griffin, God, Power, and
Evil.
University Press of
America, 1990
- David Griffin, Evil Revisited. State University of NY
Press, 1991
- John Hick, Evil and the God of Love....
- Stephen Davis, editor, Encountering Evil. John Knox
Press, 1981
- Much more to
come......
....Information about theodicy on the web:
So far the web has a very
poor
representation of the theodicy issue. Most of the listings are very
conservative or very naively antagonistic to religion and theism. Few have
much academic merit. The sites which have merit will
be listed here [under construction]
University of
Windsor Courses
Sabbatical
Leave: January--August,
1998
The University of Windsor
is in the midst of
major "restructuring" of programs, departments, and faculties. The
department of religious studies has
been closed, as of June 1996. The eight faculites have been merged into
four schools, and the 36 former departments have been merged into
18 departments. 
My courses are offered by the Department of
"Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures and Civilizations" (CMLLC),
in
the "College of Arts and Human Sciences." Some of my
courses are
as follows, although they are continually updated and
modified, according to student and departmental needs:
Science and the
Humanities-- Sept/97--Dec/97
The
Philosophy of Religion--Sept/97--Dec/97
Theodicy, The Problem of Evil (God and Human
Anguish) --Sept/97--Dec/97
The Function of Religion in Civilization
Critical Issues in Religion and Civilization
The Existence of God
The Rationale of Religious Belief
The Understanding of God in World Civilizations
The Monotheistic Understanding of God
The Norse Religion
Contemporary Theological and Philosophical
Thinkers and Ideas
Process Philosophy, Theism, and Theology
The Philosophy of Culture
Mysticism and Philosophy of Language
Myths of Good and Evil in Religions and Cultures of the World
Creation Myths in Religions and Cultures of the World
Immorality and the AfterLife in Religions and Cultures of the World
Norse-Viking Religion, Culture, Language and Literature
(Icelandic
Sagas)
"Philosophy of
Religion and Culture"