“How long, o lord?” – The question of time in theodicy

Abstract

In this paper, the question of theodicy is viewed from the perspective of time. It is argued that even a very shallow analysis reveals that the concept of “long time” is deeply anthropocentric. We do not know what time is to God, but it seems that the only reason why we call billions of years a long period is because we use ourselves as measuring rods. What if the time questions we ask in this context say more about our temporal smallness than about reality itself? Three possible objections are answered: 1) It is acknowledged that this is of course not meant to be a definite answer to the problem of evil. It is merely offered as a reframing that seems strangely absent from the discussion. 2) The question of pastoral relevance is briefly discussed. 3) The troubling problem of why God created sequentially over time and not “instantaneously” is explored. It is concluded that perhaps our appraisal of time might not be ontologically valid at all. This does not make suffering easy to bear, but perhaps thoughts like these can provide a little hope and endurance—at least for those of us who are philosophically and theologically inclined.

Keywords:

• anthropocentrism
• duration
• problem of evil
• theodicy
• time

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to report.

Notes on contributors

Emmanuel Bäckryd

Emmanuel Bäckryd is associate professor of pain medicine at Linköping university, Sweden, and senior consultant in pain management at the Pain and Rehabilitation Centre in Linköping. He holds double specialties (Anesthesiology and Intensive Care as well as Pain Management). His pain research focuses on the pathophysiology of chronic pain conditions and on the use of medical opioids. Emmanuel has also written 19 book chapters in, and is the co-editor of, a two-volumes textbook of pain medicine totaling 1300 + pages. He has a documented interest in medical humanities and has authored a book discussing what it means to become and remain a good doctor (Att bli och förbli en bra läkare, Stockholm: Liber 2021). In addition to his medical and scientific education, Emmanuel has a BA in theology from Umeå university.