Prof. Stephen Meredith examines why a good and all-powerful God would allow horrible diseases, weaving together scientific explanations, philosophical arguments from figures like Boethius and Aquinas, and personal anecdotes to address the problem of evil.

This lecture was given on March 12th, 2025, at University of Georgia.

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About the Speaker:

Stephen Meredith is a professor at the University of Chicago’s Departments of Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Neurology. He is also an associate faculty member in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has published more than 100 journal articles, focusing on the biophysics of protein structure. Much of his work has been the application of solution and solid-state NMR to the study of amyloid proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. He has also published articles on literature and philosophy in diverse aspects of medical humanities and bioethics. His teaching includes courses to graduate students in biochemistry and biophysics, medical students, and undergraduates and graduate students in the humanities, including courses on James Joyce’s Ulysses, St. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Dostoevsky (focusing on Brothers Karamazov), Thomas Mann and David Foster Wallace. He is currently working on a book examining disease and the theological problem of evil. Other current writing projects include a study of James Joyce and the problem of evil.

Keywords: Balanced Polymorphism, Boethius, Disease and Evil, Evolutionary Biology, The Consolation Of Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Problem of Evil, Sickle Cell Anemia, Theodicy

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