{"podcast":{"title":"The Thomistic Institute","slug":"the-thomistic-institute-521456","podcast_index_feed_id":521456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.cohostpodcasting.com/8dluqp75","website_url":"https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org","image_url":"https://files.cohostpodcasting.com/quill-file-prod/1ec23f95-40fe-429d-a0f3-244bca6fbb8f/shows/fedb9eb7-b992-446b-be01-01cd62afd823/cover-art/original_d16b8d4e377588e2605b7455efd8717f.png","author":"The Thomistic Institute","episode_count":1969,"summary":"The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events, and much more. Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T22:19:20.045779+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456"},"episode":{"title":"Why Is There Evil In The World? - Prof. Ross McCullough","slug":"why-is-there-evil-in-the-world-prof-ross-mccullough","published_at":"2026-07-15T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456/why-is-there-evil-in-the-world-prof-ross-mccullough","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456","url":"https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org","audio_url":"https://audio-delivery.cohostpodcasting.com/audio/1ec23f95-40fe-429d-a0f3-244bca6fbb8f/episodes/eba90c96-3253-44f3-9462-02d423eff28e/episode.mp3","summary":"Prof. Ross McCullough explores why evil and suffering exist, surveys the main Christian answers—especially free will and greater goods—and shows how suffering can be united to Christ rather than treated as meaningless. This lecture was given on November 17th, 2025, at University of Oregon. Apply for the Thomistic Institute Study Abroad program by August 1, 2026. To learn more, visit https://thomisticinstitute.org/study-abroad. About the Speaker: Ross McCullough is an assistant professor of theology at George Fox University and faculty fellow in the George Fox University Honors Program. He has academic publications on the doctrine of hell, the Eucharist, the hermeneutics of Scripture, and liberation theology. Dr. McCullough's first book, Freedom and Sin: Evil in a World Created by God reconciles traditional Christian commitments to, on the one hand, God causing all that is and, on the other, God in no way being responsible for sin. Dr. McCullough lives with his wife and four children in Newberg, Oregon. Keywords: Christian Hope, Cross, Evil, Free Will, Greater Goods, Problem Of Evil, Suffering, Theodicy, Union With Christ","meta_description":"Prof. Ross McCullough explores why evil and suffering exist, surveys the main Christian answers—especially free will and greater goods—and shows how suffe…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2617,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-thomistic-institute-521456/episodes/why-is-there-evil-in-the-world-prof-ross-mccullough/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456/why-is-there-evil-in-the-world-prof-ross-mccullough.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}