THE PROBLEM OF EVIL: The Irenaean Theodicy

Question 1

Who is Irenaeus?

Answer 1

Early church father and apologist
His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology e.g. Against Heresies
An apologist is someone who offers an argument in defence of something controversial

Question 2

Where is the Irenaean theodicy found?

Answer 2

Against Heresies

Question 3

How does Irenaeus think God created the world?

Answer 3

Imperfect so that humans and the world can develop into perfection. You can’t experience courage without fear for example

Question 4

How can humans develop into perfection?

Iranaeus

Answer 4

Willing cooperation with God and responsible choice making. Humans had to thus be granted free will
Therefore God had to permit evil

Question 5

What two states of being could humans develop from to be perfect?
Iranaeus

Answer 5

Image of God (capacity to be civilised and rational)
TO
Likeness of God (morally good and spiritually developed)

Question 6

Why is moral and natural evil necessary?

Iranaeus

Answer 6

Through struggles with evil we nature and develop spiritually
The world is a place of soul making

Question 7

Criticisms of the Irenaean theodicy?

Answer 7

Suffering doesn’t always result in positive human development- some people choose not to develop
Why are there such extremes of suffering? Do such really produce good? God could’ve made a world with other ways to grow morally
British philosopher D. Z. Philips: love can never be expressed by allowing suffering to happen
Animal suffering not accounted for
Unacceptable to do bad to achieve good- God creating an imperfect world for a higher good is bad

Question 8

What is strong and weak about universal salvation?

Answer 8

• if everyone goes to heaven, what’s the motivation to be moral?

+ no one goes to hell. So, the claim that hell defeats the concept of a loving God is defeated (doesn’t comply with the Christian view of hell though)

Question 9

Strengths of the Irenaean theodicy?

Answer 9

Biblically based- genesis; imago dei
Shows why God allows evil
Accepts evil as part of the world; it’s necessary
Provides a goal for humans to strive towards
Supports the idea of gradual human development (evolution)
The ends justify the means as everyone ends up happy in heaven

Question 10

Who is John Hick?

Answer 10

British philosopher
Theologian
Major work is ‘evil and the God of love’

Question 11

Where does Hick explain the modern Irenaean theodicy?

The vale of soul making

Answer 11

‘Philosophy and Religion’

Question 12

For Hick, why did god have to allow humans to develop for themselves?

Answer 12

If God made humans perfect, they would have the goodness of robots- not loving

Question 13

What is epistemic distance?

Hick

Answer 13

God keeps a distance from humans so as not to overwhelm them

Question 14

What is the counter factual hypothesis?

Hick

Answer 14

If God interferes then humanity can’t develop

Question 15

For Hick, why did God have to create humans at an epistemic distance?

Answer 15

So they would have a choice whether to believe and freely choose good or evil

Question 16

For Hick, why did the world have to be imperfect?

Answer 16

Humans need to be free to choose evil
In a perfect world only good would happen
Evil allows humans to develop positive qualities (Hicks soul making)

Question 17

For Hick, what is the perfect world?

Answer 17

Something humans have to create together and look forward to in the future
God didn’t make the world perfect

Question 18

For Hick, what is universal salvation?

Answer 18

Everyone will be worthy of a place in heaven at some point
Those who still aren’t worthy at death will continue life in some form (e.g by reincarnation) until they’ve earned their place

Question 19

Hicks development of the Iranaean theodicy doesn’t address animal suffering as animals can’t develop spiritually. Response?

Answer 19

Pain warns animals of danger
Animals don’t fear death
Animals have to suffer to an extent that is beyond our understanding so that we question God in order to choose whether to pursue a relationship with him

Question 20

Hicks development of the Iranaean theodicy talks about the concept of epistemic distance. This doesn’t resolve pointless evil. Response?

Answer 20

Gods plan must remain a mystery otherwise we wouldn’t freely choose a relationship with him

Question 21

Hicks development of the Iranaean theodicy doesn’t justify the worst evils. Response?

Answer 21

If the worst evils were removed then something else would become the worst evil. The more that evil is removed, the less free we would become