Evil and world-view description: the Christian case

The article develops a method of world-view description for studying the problem of evil. World-views are defined as (sign-system Σ, interpretative practices I, moral framework M). They include a belief-system about the nature of the world and the human condition. Belief-system descriptions chart the core beliefs and concepts of a world-view to classify world-views by their approaches to evil. Aesthetic descriptions describe Gestalts and empirical practices of a world-view, and what is it like to see the world within it. They also chart different ways evil might shatter visions of the world, and resources for interpreting evils aesthetically. Linguistic descriptions locate concepts in language-games and overview narratives for making sense of evil. Moral descriptions investigate the moral frameworks, axiological mismatches and melioristic resources of a world-view. The article uses Christianity as an example to highlight recent Christian anti-theodicies and to point out alternatives to theodicy within theist traditions.