This paper examines the historical relationship between theodicy and science, with particular attention to Unitarianism in the United States. It focuses on how scientists and theologians appealed to a particular version of theodicy (natural law theodicy, an explanation of evil that appeals to the goodness of natural law, despite accidental suffering that might result from, say, two laws coming into conflict) both to defend science against its critics and to reconcile belief in natural law with their religious faith. The paper argues that the role of diverging theodicies is worth considering as one of many important sources of divergence and conflict between various versions of Christianity and the relationship between science and religion in the twentieth century.
