Book Description

David Birnbaum’s God and Evil is a major philosophical study which systematically confronts the philosophical problem of evil, and the Holocaust in particular. It presents an extensively researched and comprehensive review of the subject. In a clearly presented and readable exposition, Birnbaum then proposes an original and powerful formulation. Combining modern and classic, rationalist and mystic themes, Birnbaum’s proposed solution to the ancient problem of evil is perhaps the most elegant to appear in modern times. Anchored biblically and philosophically, Birnbaum’s formulation proposes that two paths lie before humankind: the path of dependence on God, which while leading to ultimate bliss, is humanly unsatisfying and unfulfilling. And the second path, that of maximum potential, in which the individual achieves fuller freedom and responsibility; a path fraught with peril, although ultimately more potentializing. According to Birnbaum’s paradigm, Quest for Potential∞ drives Man and god and the Cosmos. Potential is the nexus. God and Potential is juxtaposed against Man of Autonomy, Freedom and Potential. Through proceeding from a Jewish context, Birnbaum’s compelling presentation and original synthesis will be of considerable value to adherents of all Western religious. God and Evil has been acclaimed by philosophers and theologians of all faiths. This philosophically exciting work has generated very considerable attention. It has been widely reviewed, has been selected as a Main Feature Selection of The Jewish Book Club, has already been assigned as a course text at major universities around the world, and has been critically acclaimed as “the best book in print on the subject.” God and Evil: Religious Man (1988) is the first of three books in Birnbaum’s landmark three-volume Summa Metaphysica series crafted over a twenty-six year period. In Book #1 of the series, Birnbaum introduces the concepts of Quest for Potential∞ (Q4P∞) , as well as God of Potential. In Book #2 God and Good: Spiritual Man (2005) Birnbaum scuplts the concepts of Cosmic Womb of Potential as well as the concept of Infinite Divine Extraordinariation (E+). The concept Potential∞ Point is also in-the-mix. In Book #3 The Transcendent Dynamic: Secular Man (2014) Birnbaum introduce the concept of Complexification (C+). The Summa series reshapes the contours of metaphysics, philosophy, and theology.