The Groaning of Creation; God, Evolution. and the Problem of Evil.

Jones, Brian C.

The Groaning of Creation; God, Evolution and the Problem of Evil. By Christopher Southgate. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-6642-3090-6. xxii and 196 pages. Paper. $25.00

Christopher Southgate's book examines the question of theodicy for a post-Darwin era and asks how the creation can be "both good and groaning"? Modern science, especially evolutionary theory, has greatly aggravated the problem of theodicy by showing that the emergence of life depends upon mechanisms characterized by selfish behavior, violence, waste, suffering and death--the creation's "disvalues." Perhaps nothing challenges the doctrine of God's providence in nature more than the revelation that 98 percent of all species to inhabit earth are now extinct. As the title of the book suggests, Romans 8:19-22 plays a central role in Southgate's thinking. He connects Paul's notion that creation groans because God subjected it to "futility ... the bondage to decay with the disvalues of evolution. He rejects, however, the idea implicit in Paul's language that these disvalues result from a primordial sin. The doctrine of the fall cannot justify the defects of nature because science has shown us that evolution's disvalues--the creation's "bondage to decay"-- predate human existence by at least billion years and have been instrumental in and necessary to the emergence of beauty, complexity, the diversity of creatures and self-consciousness. South-gate contends that the "futility" of creation is the "only way" God could have produced its greatest values. His theodicy is unusual in emphasizing the theological importance of animal suffering, and he suggests that the animals will experience "eschatological fulfillment." He argues that humans' priestly and co-redeemer roles within creation call them to minimize the violence inherent in meat consumption and cooperate with God in the healing of the evolutionary process. In company with other theologians working on the problem, Southgate emphasizes God's "co-suffering with every sentient being." His book is an excellent treatment of this topic; it is profound, literate and concise. The endnotes are a treasure trove; several of them should have been included in the body text.

Brian C. Jones Wartburg College