Play and Foundation. Theodicy in Contemporary Theology

Learn how to suffer, and you will suffer no longer, according to a wise, centuries-old saying. But can this lesson ever really be learned? Where does suffering come from? What is the origin of the, often faceless, rampage of evil in the world, a world which the believer (despite all suffering) accepts as created by God, and which the unbeliever must eventually also accept as good, if he or she wants to go on living? Or would it be more useful to focus on the significance of evil, rather than its source? This book offers profound theological, philosophical and literary insights for those who are seeking and asking questions.

"It is of special importance that it is an Eastern-European, Transylvanian theologian who is raising this universal philosophical and theological problem which concerns the whole community; it seems to me that this is very rare these days in the Carpathian basin. The majority of thinkers of post-socialist countries are still busy explaining the particular restless (political) histories of this region, as if to think more universally were a luxury for them. Well, S. Béla Visky's book is a spiritual luxury, in the best sense, because it seeks light not only for our narrow world, but for the entirety of earthly life overshadowed by apocalyptic events, in order to reinforce the hope of mankind." (Éva Cs. Gyímesi)