How To Be An Agnostic
of death, loss, aspiration and hope. One of the most beautiful
is that composed by Gabriel Fauré, and it fascinates me that he
was an agnostic. The setting was quite revolutionary at the time
because of its humanity, and I wonder if it is only an agnos-
tic, though one thoroughly engaged by their religious tradition,
who could have captured the feeling of love and loss with such
poignant balance.
What this has to do with the more general problem of evil is
to suggest that, having been exposed to some manifestation of
it and all that it implies, a fi nal response of silence represents
not its resolution but its fullest expression. Like a via negativa,
the problem of evil provokes multiple objections, such as the
sense of injustice, anger and horror. To these, part-solutions can
be suggested. But, always, the problem of evil remains, its reso-
lution unknown. I am not saying that suffering is redeemed if
something is learnt from it, as if the suffering itself might be
thought good. It is irreducible. Rather, it is that suffering may
be an occasion for unlearning certain things that are otherwise
taken for granted, notably the illusion of immortality; and more
importantly, an occasion for appreciating what matters most in
life, not least love of others. This may, in turn, be best expressed
in a religiously shaped silence that emerges as the questions
are wrestled with. In other words, theodicy – the confrontation
with the problem of evil – can become another path into depth.
Someone might object that this is all very well at a personal
level. It is, after all, my responsibility and right to respond to
my mother’s death as I choose. But what of the objective sense
of injustice within the problem of evil – Ivan Karamazov’s point
that the sufferings of a child for the sake of creation will call
out for all eternity? Again, this is a genuine sticking point that
ultimately admits of no dissolution. Given that, the question
becomes how to live with the impasse?
The tsunami disaster of Boxing Day 2004 is a salient event
here. Witnessing this, and asking the fundamental question,
‘Where was God?’, offers another refl ection on theodicy. Several
things strike me. In the West, the disaster provoked prominent