The Problem of Evil and the Value of Life

Reunion

A neighborhood fire moves Hans from unexamined belief through rejection of a benevolent God toward questions about human purpose in an immense universe.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Inherited Openness Inherited Openness from "Reunion". Inherited Openness Religion left unsettled Hans’s parents allow him to form his own ideas about God, while neither demands strict observance.

Inherited Openness from "Reunion". Inherited Openness Religion left unsettled Hans’s parents allow him to form his own ideas about God, while neither demands strict observance.

Inherited Openness Religion left unsettled Hans’s parents allow him to form his own ideas about God, while neither demands strict observance. A tentative belief He assumes a benevolent creator may exist without claiming deep certainty. The fire will make this assumption impossible to maintain.

The Fire’s Human Scale The Fire’s Human Scale from "Reunion". The Fire’s Human Scale Statistics become people Hans has heard of disasters and mass deaths, but the Bauer children are neighbors he has seen and known.

The Fire’s Human Scale from "Reunion". The Fire’s Human Scale Statistics become people Hans has heard of disasters and mass deaths, but the Bauer children are neighbors he has seen and known.

The Fire’s Human Scale Statistics become people Hans has heard of disasters and mass deaths, but the Bauer children are neighbors he has seen and known. Suffering made immediate Their deaths defeat the emotional distance of numbers and force him to ask what innocent victims could have done to deserve such an end.

A God Put on Trial A God Put on Trial from "Reunion". A God Put on Trial Two possibilities Hans concludes that God may not exist, or may be powerful yet monstrous and indifferent.

A God Put on Trial from "Reunion". A God Put on Trial Two possibilities Hans concludes that God may not exist, or may be powerful yet monstrous and indifferent.

A God Put on Trial Two possibilities Hans concludes that God may not exist, or may be powerful yet monstrous and indifferent. Belief abandoned He rejects the notion of a benevolent mastermind. His conclusion is driven by moral protest as much as abstract reasoning.

Konradin’s Religious Reply Konradin’s Religious Reply from "Reunion". Konradin’s Religious Reply An appeal to tradition Konradin reports that his pastor treats evil as necessary to recognize good and asks Hans to accept wiser…

Konradin’s Religious Reply from "Reunion". Konradin’s Religious Reply An appeal to tradition Konradin reports that his pastor treats evil as necessary to recognize good and asks Hans to accept wiser…

Konradin’s Religious Reply An appeal to tradition Konradin reports that his pastor treats evil as necessary to recognize good and asks Hans to accept wiser explanations. A gap remains Hans cannot reconcile those arguments with the children’s deaths. The religious answer preserves Konradin’s faith but does not answer Hans’s protest.

A Life Both Futile and Precious

A Life Both Futile and Precious Cosmic humility The immensity of the universe makes humanity appear like dust within an almost unthinkable scale. An ethical question Hans and Konradin ask how to use a life that seems valueless from afar yet uniquely precious to those who live it.

Before the Bauer family house fire

Spring 1932, when Hans learns that the children died

The day after the fire

Several days after the boys first argue about the tragedy

After Hans begins studying galaxies and distant stars