Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-250) and indexes.

An overview of patristic theodicies / Paul L. Gavrilyuk -- Theodicy in apocalyptic thought: from ancient visions to (post)modern nightmares / John W. Martens -- The suffering of martyrdom: Greek perspectives in the fourth and fifth centuries / James C. Skedros -- Learning through experience: the pedagogy of suffering and death in Irenaeus / John Behr -- The enemies of God: demons and the persecuting emperors in Lactantius / Dennis P. Quinn -- Christus victor in the work of Ephrem, Narsai, and Jacob of Serug / Gary A. Anderson -- Greek patristic perspectives on the origins of social injustice / Nonna Verna Harrison -- Sympathetic philosophy: the Christian response to suffering according to John Chrysostom's Commentary on Job / Douglas Finn -- John Chrysostom on the man born blind (John 9) / Nonna Verna Harrison -- The deaths of Macrina and Monica in Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina and Augustine's Confessions: the female philosopher and the problem of Christian grief / Regina L. Walton -- Evil, suffering, and embodiment in Augustine / David G. Hunter -- Theodore of Mopsuestia and the pedagogy of destruction / Eric Phillips -- The Word and his flesh: human weakness and the identity of Jesus in Greek patristic christology / Brian E. Daley, SJ -- Suffering impassibly: Christ's passion in Cyril of Alexandria's soteriology / J. Warren Smith -- "The impassible suffers" / Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia.

What did the early church teach about the problem of suffering and evil in the world? In this volume, distinguished historians and theologians explore a range of ancient Christian responses to this perennial problem. The ecumenical team of contributors includes John Behr, Gary Anderson, Brian Daley, and Bishop Kallistos Ware, among others. This is the fourth volume in Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History, a partnership between Baker Academic and the Pappas Patristic Institute of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. The series is a deliberate outreach by the Orthodox community to Protestant and Catholic seminarians, pastors, and theologians. (Publisher).