A Theodicy by Brian A. Nichols

The Devil's
Maker

How God's Love Brought About
the Origin of Evil

A biblical case that reframes the "problem of evil" as the outworking of God's eternal purpose to glorify Christ — resolving what centuries of philosophy have left unanswered.

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The Devil's Maker — Front Cover
The Devil's Maker — Back Cover

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This book is for you if you…

Feel stuck between God's sovereignty and human responsibility — and sense that the usual answers dodge the real question.

Want a coherent answer to the origin of evil that doesn't weaken God's power, compromise His goodness, or resort to mystery as a conversation-stopper.

Want Scripture — not modern philosophy — to set the terms of the debate.

Want a framework that makes the Bible "click" as one unified decree, from Genesis to Revelation, centered on the glory of Christ.

Are tired of the Calvinism / Arminianism / Molinism gridlock and want a position that lets the biblical text speak without apology.

The Argument in Brief

IGod is simple, eternal, and unchanging.
IITherefore His word is not reactive — it creates and governs all things.
IIIRedemptive history is not "Plan B."
IVThe fall, the cross, and final judgment are not surprises — they are decreed.
VEvil exists so that Christ's full glory — mercy, justice, wrath, love — can be displayed.
VIGod remains holy and blameless, the author of all things yet the author of no sin.

Doctrine That Changes
How You Read Everything

01
Think Clearly About Providence
Move past hand-waving and half-answers. See how God's decree encompasses all historical events without making God the author of sin.
02
Read Scripture With a Unified Hermeneutic
Handle anthropomorphic texts, "difficult" Old Testament passages, and the problem of evil with a consistent, exegetically grounded framework.
03
Answer the Hardest Objections
Engage skeptics, Arminians, and open theists with clarity — on evil, freedom, and divine blame — without retreating to "it's a mystery."
04
See Redemptive History as One Narrative
From the eternal decree to the new creation, every event — including the fall — serves the supreme purpose of displaying Christ's glory.

Table of Contents

Part One
Establishing the Decree
  • God's Word as Creative Power
  • The Eternal Nature of Scripture
  • The Decree Encompasses All Things
  • Providence and the Scope of God's Will

Lays the biblical foundation: God's word is not merely informative — it is the sovereign power through which all reality, including evil, comes to be.

Part Two
Why the Decree Exists
  • The Father's Eternal Love for the Son
  • Evil as the Condition for Glory
  • Christ as the Purpose of All Things
  • The Fall: Decreed, Not Accidental

The heart of the argument: evil exists because certain attributes of Christ — mercy, grace, sacrificial love — require particular conditions to be displayed.

Part Three
Implications
  • God's Holiness and Human Responsibility
  • Freedom, Determinism, and the Will
  • The Problem of Evil — Resolved
  • Living Under the Decree

Works out the consequences: how this framework handles objections, reshapes the free will debate, and transforms everyday faith.

A Taste of the Argument

The question is not whether God could have prevented evil. He is omnipotent; of course He could have. The question is whether a universe without evil could have served the purpose for which the universe exists: the supreme display of Christ's glory. The answer, Scripture argues, is no.

Chapter 5 — Evil as the Condition for Glory

We do not arrive at the problem of evil because God failed to act. We arrive at the problem of evil because God did act — deliberately, purposefully, and from eternity past. The decree is not an embarrassment to be explained away. It is the ground on which all hope stands.

Chapter 3 — The Decree Encompasses All Things

Mercy without misery is an abstraction. Grace without guilt is a word without weight. If Christ is to be known — truly known, in the fullness of who He is — then the conditions that call forth His deepest attributes must exist. They do. And they exist on purpose.

Chapter 6 — Christ as the Purpose of All Things
BN

Brian A. Nichols

Brian Nichols is a Reformed theologian and writer whose work sits at the intersection of biblical exegesis, systematic theology, and apologetics. His scholarship is marked by meticulous attention to Scripture and a commitment to making complex doctrinal truths accessible to every reader.

The Devil's Maker is the product of years of study, writing, and wrestling with theology's hardest questions — not to produce another academic abstraction, but to offer believers a framework that holds together under pressure.

"I wrote this for the reader who has been told that the answer to the problem of evil is a mystery — and who suspects there is more to say. There is. And Scripture says it."

Questions This Book Answers

This is addressed head-on in the book. The distinction between God's decretive will and His revealed will — properly understood from Scripture — demonstrates how God can ordain all things, including evil, while remaining holy and blameless. The book shows that this is not a contradiction but a deeply biblical truth.

It is thoroughly Reformed, yes — but the argument is built exegetically from Scripture, not from any confession or systematic framework imposed on the text. If you're sympathetic to God's sovereignty, you'll find this deepens your understanding. If you're skeptical, you'll find the case made honestly and from the Bible itself.

No. The book is written for thoughtful readers — pastors, students, and laypeople alike. Technical concepts are explained clearly, and the argument builds step by step. If you've ever wondered why evil exists and whether God has something to say about it, this book is for you.

Most theodicies begin with philosophical assumptions — free will, the "best possible world" — and try to fit Scripture into them. This book reverses the method. It begins with Scripture's own claims about God's decree, God's word, and the Father's love for the Son, and lets those claims set the terms. The result is a framework that doesn't soften God's sovereignty or hand-wave at evil.

Included as a supplement, the catechism contains 97 questions and answers that distill the book's argument into a study-friendly format, following the Reformed tradition of catechetical instruction. It's designed for personal study, small groups, or anyone who wants the core claims in a concise, memorable form.

The Devil's Maker is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions. Click the "Buy on Amazon" button anywhere on this page to order your copy.

Reconsider Theology's
Hardest Question

See all of redemptive history in a whole new light. Available now in paperback and Kindle.