HICKS SOUL MAKING WEAKNESSES Flashcards
The theory does not justify pointless suffering in the world.
Whilst some suffering may actually help us to grow, there is some suffering that appears completely pointless. For example, animal suffering is pointless.
DZ Phillips: The theory does not justify the quantity of evil in the world - does the end really justify the means?
DZ Phillips argues that you cannot see evil and suffering as instrumental for a greater good. We should not use other people’s suffering as a means to an end
- ‘we cannot speak of moral growth in this way’. We cannot justify the existence of horrendous evils, such as the Holocaust, by sating that we need to grow deeply in responding to them. ‘Here you go, a bit of cancer should toughen you up’.
The idea of universalism is rejected by some Christians. This arguably undermines Hick’s theodicy.
According to Hick’s theodicy, everybody will ultimately be saved. This raises questions for some Christians:
- What is the point of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection if everybody can become worthy of salvation on their own (is Jesus simply a role model and could this undermine his divinity?)
-What does this mean for traditional doctrines of election and judgement; will people who caused evil/suffering be saved?
-What does this mean for the ‘Sola Christs’ principle?
If we’re all saved anyway, why go through so much suffering?
If humans were made
‘imago dei’, surely they were made fully perfected?
Genesis teaches humans were made ‘imago dei’. It is ‘The Fall’ which means humans lose their perfection. Surely this means God created humans fully perfect, rather than simply with this potential?
