"Toward a Theodicy for Molecular Medicine"

Questions of theodicy - whether evil in the world is compatible with the existence of God - have interested Western philosophers and theologians for centuries. In this presentation I address the question: "Can we make compatible the concept and reality of disease in molecular medicine with the existence of a providential God?" This question concerns the meaning of disease. To address this question, I begin with accounts from the 17th century - Leibniz's - and the 18th century - from a popular British textbook on midwifery - that show that disease is indeed consistent with existence of a providential God. I then turn to the account of disease in molecular medicine - namely, that diseases are a function of genes and environment - and show that it is not compatible with the existence of a providential God. I close by identifying some of the implications of this conclusion.