Irenaean type theodicies

Question 1

What is different between Augustine and Irenaean type theodicies?

Answer 1

• Augustine claimed that evil was in the world due to free will agents turning away from God but Irenaeus said that evil was a deliberate action from an omnibenevolent God to ensure his creation developed qualities that would make them spiritually perfect.
• Irenaeus allows for God’s mercy to continue on into the next life.

Question 2

What does Genesis say about human likeness?

Answer 2

‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’.

Question 3

According to Irenaeus, what is image?

Answer 3

Possessing the potential qualities of God’s spiritual perfection.

Question 4

According to Irenaeus, what is likeness?

Answer 4

Actualising the qualities of God’s spiritual perfection.

Question 5

How do we develop spiritually?

Answer 5

Through every good choice that is freely made.

Question 6

What are second order goods?

Answer 6

Courage, forgiveness and compassion, patience and perserverence.

Question 7

Why is evil important in terms on our decisions?

Answer 7

It gives them meaning.

Question 8

What analogy does Irenaeus use?

Answer 8

God as a craftsman with humans as his material and suggests that humans should allow God to mould them into spiritual perfection by acting in faith and allowing life experiences to make us a perfectly crafted item.

Question 9

What does Irenaeus say about people who resist God?

Answer 9

They will be punished in the next life.

Question 10

What did John Hick argue about eschatological justification?

Answer 10

Allowed God to remain just and good in the face of temporary suffering experienced by creation.

Question 11

What is an epistemic distance?

Answer 11

A distance measured in terms of knowledge rather than space and time.

Question 12

What does Hick describe the theodicy as and what does it mean?

Answer 12

‘Soul making’ which means a process of gaining wisdom and making decisions that bring us closer to spiritual perfection with God.

Question 13

Humans were put in a situation where God’s existence or non existence is equally likely, what did this allow?

Answer 13

True human freedom to exist in terms of how they responded to God.

Question 14

Why would it restrict human choices if humans were aware of God?

Answer 14

They would be aware of being watched and therefore would make all decisions in light of this.

Question 15

What did Hick think that God’s mercy allowed?

Answer 15

God’s mercy would allow for all human beings to accept the process of developing spiritual perfection.

Question 16

What are the three main challenges to the theodicy?

Answer 16

• Universal salvation is unjust
• Evil and suffering should not be used as a tool by an omnibenevolent God.
• Immensity of suffering and unequal distribution of evil and suffering.

Question 17

Explain the challenge of universal salvation.

Answer 17

Idea that it undermines human efforts at developing their spiritual maturity. If God will eventually release everyone into that state, then does it suggest that free will is limited?