Jewish Responses to the Problem of Evil: Traditional Texts in Contemporary Categories

This essay outlines answers to the problem of evil (the problem of making sense of how a good God can permit evil) from Jewish perspectives. The essay uses traditional Jewish sources to illustrate theodicies (explanations of why God allows evil) familiar in other religious traditions, and introduces a few less familiar Jewish theodicies besides. Other responses to the problem of evil (skeptical theism and antitheodicy) are also considered. Jewish responses are not usually framed in contemporary philosophical categories, and mine is an attempt at categorization. The traditional Jewish sources might show some promise of contributing to contemporary philosophical debate.