Irenaean type theodicies Flashcards
How is Irenaeus’ theodicy different from Augustine?
He presents God to be responsible for the possibility of the existence of evil
How is God being responsible for evil deliberate?
He wanted human beings to develop qualities that make us spiritually perfect
What part of the Bible is crucial for Irenaean type theodicies?
The first part of genesis
What quote from Genesis is crucial for Irenaean type theodicies?
‘Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”’
What did Irenaeus believe humans were created with?
Partial maturity but the potential to develop and grow into the image and likeness of God
What is an example of this partial maturity?
Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden, not because they were perfect and then sinned, but because they were immature
What did theologian John Hick make an analogical distinction between?
Image, possessing the potential qualities of God’s spiritual perfection, and likeness, actualising these qualities
For Hick what is an inevitable part of maturity?
The fall as it becomes ‘the most valuable potentialities of human personality
What are examples of second-order goods?
Courage and compassion
What happens if we develop second-order goods?
Human beings could mature from ‘image’ into ‘likeness’; this created order provides an opportunity for development
What does this development become?
‘A vale of soul-making’
Through what is the process of soul making justified?
Through salvation
How is soul making justified through salvation?
By resurrection to the afterlife human beings become fully realised in terms of both image and likeness
What is essential for maturity?
Free will and the ability to choose to do good
What does true freedom for human beings require?
An epistemic distance from God
