It's a really great privilege for me to be here for this first talk of the Thomistic Institute.

At the Timistic Institute, whose headquarters is at the Pontifical faculty at the Dominican House of Studies,

as Sam mentioned, are very excited when new chapters are formed.

I think this might be our 49th or 50th chapter,

universities and colleges, not just around the United States,

but even internationally.

So we expect great things, and we know that the students

can be organized talks like this and bring in other speakers

who without any sense of false humility,

I can say, will probably be much better than this first talk.

I was invited to come and speak to you about the nature of evil

and why God permits evil to happen or why does God allow suffering.

Now, as you no doubt know, that is an age-old question

that has had much ink, oceans of ink, have been poured on this question, not just in Christianity,

but in most religions. Of course, the Bible has its answers, or at least it can be a starting point for some of these answers,

but even the answers that we can find in sacred scripture are open to interpretation and different responses,

depending on what angle you take.

So God's answer to Joe about his suffering is simply it's none of your business. Who are you to

ask me? Are you, who are you? Did you counsel me in hanging the stars? Did you counsel me in providing

the pillars of the earth? Then there's God's answer in Jesus Christ, that God becomes man to

suffer evil in order to redeem us through his suffering.

It still leaves, of course, a lot of questions, which is why, since this is the Temistic Institute,

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