Irenaus And Augustine Flashcards
What does Augustine say about Adam and Eve?
He argues that Adam and Eve and also fallen Angels all disobeyed God and they are the reason for natural evil. We are in their bloodline so we deserve to be punished as Adam and Eve sinned and directed the world from gods intention which led to evil entering the world – seminal presence
What does Augustine say gods attributes are?
Omnipotence
Omnibenevolent
Omniscient
Why does Augustine say that is a good that evil exists?
Augustine says that evil exist is a good thing as it highlights the goodness of creation because of the contrast between good and evil. This makes it easier to see what is regarded as a good and evil action so that we can do the greatest action
Augustine makes a religious response to the problem of evil where he states that the Bible shows that God is Wholly good and he created a perfectly good world which was free from defect, evil and suffering.
Give a quotation to support this
“God saw all that he made, and it was good”
Evil itself is not a physical thing and therefore God didn’t create it. What is evil?
Evil is a privation. An absence of good
Augustine said that evenly came not from God but from what or who?
Fallen angels and humans such as Adam and Eve, with free will, who all turned their backs on god and allowed the state of perfection to be ruined by human sin
Irenaesus argued that to accomplish being in the perfect stage, what needs to be a necessity?
To accomplish being in the perfect stage, irenaeus argued that evil and suffering was a necessity. Evil and suffering, therefore, has a divine purpose and was put there deliberately, in the world
Why does evil and suffering have a role in the world according to irenaeus?
Irenaeus argued that there were key factors which help humans to develop morally. E.g famine may be seen as a natural evil in the world. However, it is famine that helps humans to develop feelings of care and compassion towards others.
Why are some criticisms of irenaeus’ theodicy?
- It doesn’t explain why some humans suffer more than others I.e people suffering from drought/famine in Africa in comparison to a homeless person living in America
- Suffering can sometimes cause people to go morally and spiritually astray, e.g they might lose their faith altogether
- Why should everyone go to heaven? Clearing, some criminals that commit evil with no apparent reason should have the privilege
- Is an example of suffering like in the Holocaust really necessary to achieve moral perfection and being in likeliness with god?
Criticisms of Augustine
Is it reasonable to say that suffering is not a real thing? Is Augustine playing word games by calling evil a “privation”? This idea wouldn’t help us comfort a grieving person
“God created this perfect world”. Either the world wasn’t perfect, or god enabled it to go wrong
