The Genealogy of Modern Criticisms of Traditional Theodicies: Rereading C. S. Lewis’s Classic Book “A Grief Observed”

In recent years, thinkers such as Wetzel, Trakakis, Fales, Geddes, Jantzen, Blumenthal, and Roth – as well as an earlier figure such as Kenneth Surin – have made definitive criticisms of traditional theodicies in the form of the three-layered discoursal, ethical, and existential criticisms. Kenneth Surin’s work titled “Theology and the Problem of Evil” was published in the 1980s. As a classic work, this book moved other critical philosophers in recent years to write critical articles about theodicy. However, the origin of these triple criticisms goes beyond Surin’s book, as it can be traced back to the book “A Grief Observed,” a short and interesting book by C. S. Lewis in the 1950s. Facing the challenging death of his beloved wife, he presents all the triple modern criticisms discussed by the ensuing philosophers through narrating his own personal life experiences in the foregoing book, thus definitively becoming a pioneer critic of classic theodicies. This article is written to address the history and genealogy of modern criticisms against classic theodicies. It traces these contemporary analytical criticisms to Lewis’ narrative work in 1950s.