Mystery of Evil and the Hiddenness of God: Some Thoughts on Simone Weil

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Year of Publication

1998

Author

Nava, Alexander

Editor

Häring, Hermann Tracy, David

Book

The Fascination of Evil

Volume

1

Pages

74-84

Publisher

SCM

Place Published

London

Language

English

Series Title

Concilium

Keywords

affliction (malheur)
colonialism
evil
God
suffering

Annotation

Nava takes on the problem of evil in this chapter, arguing theologians must confront the ‘hiddenness’ or absence of God in the face of suffering. He argues such confrontation occurs in liberation theology and in the work of Simone Weil. He says according to Weil, one must move beyond rational approaches to the problem of evil to concrete contact with the afflicted. He briefly reflects on the Hebrew Prophet’s response to God’s hiddenness before turning to consider its role in Luther’s theology of the cross, comparing and contrasting Luther’s view to those of Weil and liberation theologians. He notes Weil’s use of the Greeks in her own view of tragedy. Finally in the last part of the chapter he looks at Weil’s critique of colonialism and war. He goes on to examine Weil’s understanding of the suffering of the cross as a response to evil, arguing for Weil, one does not theorize about evil, one responds to it.