The best book I have read on theodicy is Dr Gerald Schroeder's 'God according to God'. It didn't make my top 20 though on relfection I think it should - see http://luke443.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/my-top-20-books-plus-some.html
In this great book renowned scientist Gerald L. Schroeder combines decades of scientific research and biblical study to present a groundbreaking new paradigm of how to understand God.
Heres a link to the Dr Schroeder's book - http://www.amazon.com/God-According-Scientist-Discovers-Wrong/dp/product-description/0061710164/
The question is made more challenging though by verses such as Isaiah 45:7 where we read:
"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things." (ASV)
Here is a little from taken from a couple of articles by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan that I consider to be a great summary of this issue (paraphrased):
"God has made man so that he experiences the greatest possible pleasure in doing something that he knew to be good and beneficial. As God is the highest source of good, there is no greater pleasure in doing good than in knowingly obeying the expressed will of God.
But in order to enjoy the pleasure of such accomplishment, it is imperative that man know that his effort is a matter of his own free choice, and not the result of his nature, that is, not the result of compulsion.
So that all choices of action are up to the individual, God gave man absolute free will.
Free will is required by God's justice. Otherwise, man would not be given or denied good for actions over which he had no control.
God appears to have made us so that the more difficult an accomplishment, the more satisfaction there is in doing it. God then created the world so that it should present man with the greatest possible challenge.
The world was therefore created as a place where it would be possible, but very difficult, to obey God. God allows evil and temptation to exist, even though they may cause people to abandon Him and ignore His teachings.
Although some may stray through their own choice, this is the price that must be paid so that the reward for those who choose good will be maximized.
Or to put it another way ‘for the sake of the righteous the world was created.’
Therefore, even the evil and temptations of the world serve the divine purpose of enhancing the satisfaction of accomplishment of those who overcome them.
They thus serve an important function in man's ultimate reward, and hence, in God's purpose.
The greater the barriers that must be overcome, the greater the satisfaction and reward in overcoming them. Reward is according to suffering.
God may have created the possibility of evil, but He created it in order that man should overcome it. It is thus written, "Behold, the fear of God, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, that is understanding" (Job 28:28).
Ultimately, there is one source of everything that exists, even evil. It is not that God actually created evil, but it is through His will that the possibility of evil exists.
Everything comes from God and must return to Him. In the meanwhile, however, evil exists in order to be conquered.
If nothing but good were possible, it would produce no benefit. To use the Talmudic metaphor, it would be like carrying a lamp in broad daylight.
The Zohar gives us a very excellent example explaining this. A king once wanted to give his son greater responsibility. Before doing this, however, he wanted to test his loyalty. What did the king do? He hired a temptress to try to persuade the son to rebel against his father. She was to use all her wiles to tempt the boy to go against his father.
Whether or not this temptress succeeds, she is still a servant of the king, doing his will. Even if she succeeds in persuading the son to go against his father, she is still doing what the king bid her. The same is true of evil. Ultimately it exists to fulfill God's purpose."
Generally, I think most believers would agree that the man/woman who loves God is to flee all evil.
Also though, to recognize that God has made evil possible and part of this creation does not make God in anyway less Good or loving. In fact, it makes Him more so.
The 'evil' and problems of this world really allow us to practice 'tikkun ha olam' (repairing the world), which is a core principle of the Bible.
I discuss this approach in my Amazing Grace article -http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Amazing%20Grace.pdf
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