human suffering, can we believe that a good and powerful God controls the world? Or is the tragedy-ridden human story merely “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”? Does the Judeo-Christian hypothesis of divine providence allow room for human freedom and meaningful involvement in the affairs of history? To what extent does God accomplish his purposes through the will and efforts of human beings such as we? How does God operate in relation to the evil intentions and