Irenaeus’ Theodicy Flashcards
irenaeus
130-202ce
-lived earlier then augustine
-lived at time when christianity was still very new
-many christian communities experienced persecution
view on the fall
-not negative but instead a necessary stage in development of humans towards perfection
-adam + eve r like kids who go estray bc they lack suffecient wisdom to do whats right
-punishment helps kids mature
genesis quote
- ‘God made humans in his image and likeness’
- he made distinction between made made in image of god VS likeness of god
- an image=on surface
- likeness=when u acc like something
2 steps of creation
- made in gods image where we have only a potential for good due to spirtual immaturity
- we achieve gods likeness by choosing good over evil which enables us to grow spirtually + morally
-idea is that encountering and overcoming evil makes us become better more virtuous people.
jonah + the whale
-Jonah disobeyed God + so natural evil of a storm + a big fish who ate him + spat him out days later helped Jonah learn his lesson and he then obeyed God.
-Evil thus serves the good purpose of motivating us to be good.
-god allows evil
-evil is necessary to know what is good
-suffering leads to growth
-not puppets
-gods image-gods likeness
-part of being good is an effort of will
-suffering is part of gods plan
nietzche quote
‘that which doesnt kill me makes me stronger’
suffering leads to growth
CS lewis
-‘shadowlands’ anthony hopkins portrayal of the film neglects this idea when he says
‘that blows from the chisel that hurt us so much as what makes us perfect’
pain can lead to spirtual growthb
-‘There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind’.
epistemic distance
-a distance in knowledge + understanding
-policeman analogy:50 speed limit just sign = freechoice + morality
but add camera/police= no free choice/freedom
-I said for humans to have free willl god mustve put a ED so that we r free to chose belief in god
