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    STUDIA THEOLOGIA ORTHODOXA - Issue no. 1 / 2008  
         
  Article:   DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY AND DIVINE LOVE - CONTRADICTION OR NECESSARY COMPLEMENT?.

Authors:  HANS SCHWARZ.
 
       
         
  Abstract:   One of the most difficult problems of theology is the existence of evil. If God is the creator and the sustainer of all beings, how it is possible for evil to exist? Is it coming from another source? The first books of the Old Testament do not discuss the matter of evil in itself, but only the evil at an historical and human scale, the role of the devil in tempting man being well pointed out. Against a background of a discourse which makes God the author of all things that happen in the world, without any other explanations, only the late Old Testament literature will speak about a fallen angel, who brought evil into existence. New Testament continues this idea, insisting on the superior power of Good and on his final victory against evil. The issue of predestination is profoundly connected to that of the good. For Jean Calvin, the consequence of sin was the condemnation to death of all humankind, but God, in his kindness, chose some for life. To the question: “Why is evil dominant in a world governed by the omnipotence of God”? Calvin never answered. The theologian Karl Barth, the most notable representative of Reformation in the XXth century, eliminated from his system any idea of predestination toward sin or death and developed a bright vision, without clearly delineating it from apocatastasis, never agreed with it.  
         
     
         
         
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