AbstractHow do we justify faith in a good God in the face of suffering? Discover how Christianity equips us to make sense of suffering. #AfricanApologetics

AbstractFor decades, the problem of evil has occupied a centre stage in the Western philosophical discourse of the existence of God. The problem centres on the unlikelihood to reconcile the existence of an absolute and morally perfect God with the evidence of evil in the universe. This is the evidential problem of evil that has been a source of dispute among theists, atheists, agnostics, and sceptics. There seems to be no end to this dispute, making the problem of evil a perennial one in Western Philosophy of Religion. In this essay, I will contribute to this discourse from an African perspective. This essay, therefore, explores the evidential problem of evil within the African philosophy of religion. I argue that it is unlikely for the evidential problem of evil to be a problem in African philosophy of religion. I invoke an Ejima-based argument to support this claim. I conceptualize the Igbo word Ejima to metaphysically mean the inevitable coexistence of two opposite variables as complements to argue that God could be both good and evil within the African Traditional Religion, which explains why good and evil exist in the universe.

AbstractAbstract There has recently been an increased interest in debates on the nature of God, supernatural entities, and the problem of evil outside the Western tradition and there is a growing realisation that philosophical scholarship should go beyond Western perspectives in order to properly address issues in the philosophy of religion that arise in non‐Western cultures. Taking this on board, this article surveys the field of African philosophy of religion and highlights some of the concerns and issues driving debates in the field. In particular, we focus on three important debates. Firstly, we outline the two main schools of thought that divide African philosophers into theistic and non‐theistic camps. We label the theistic perspective the 'African theistic view' and the non‐theistic perpective the 'limited God view'. Secondly, we explore how commitment to the two views has led to distinct explanations of the problem of evil. Thirdly, we highlight the role of ancestors in African belief‐systems and their place in the scheme of things. Adopting the method of philosophical exposition and argument, we show how the two dominant views of God's nature define this emerging field of African philosophy and will determine the future trajectory of the field.

AbstractHigh on the list of objections to Christianity is the problem of evil and suffering. Here is a clear, Biblical explanation for why God allows pain to exist.