These questions, taken together, have been called the “theodicy problem.” As theological terms go, theodicy is a relative newcomer, having been invented by the philosopher Leibniz only three hundred years ago. Etymologically, the word theodicy is formed by gluing together two Greek words, theos (God) and dikē (justice), and in its original sense it meant “the justification of God.” In a world where terrible catastrophes happen and where people suffer out of all proportion to any sense of deserving,