American Theodicy

Catalog description

This course introduces students to major themes in American religious history that address the foundational question of pain and suffering. By drawing on major figures and features of American religious history from the Puritans to the present, it takes up various answers and the communities created around them. Is the problem of suffering simply one shrouded in mystery? Can it be conquered with special supplications and rituals? What is God never intended people to suffer at all, and it can be remedied? We consider its effect on congregations as it spread across racial and economic divides. We will also examine how expectations of preachers and pastoral care changed as a result