within society at large. Primitive animistic religions are so beset with the problem of evil that witch-doctors act as their priests; and second-century Gnosticism, with its Platonic worldview, identified matter created by a demigod as being the source of all evil. If these questions occupy such an important place in world religions and philosophies and give rise to such a multitude of “spiritualities,” then what answer does the Bible give to such problems as the nature of humankind, the goodness