Exploring Theodicies: Augustine, Irenaeus, and Free Will
Scholars like Plantinga, Kierkegaard, and Swinburne offer insights into the Augustinian Theodicy and Free Will Defense. They discuss issues of human free will, the role of evil, and God's plan for humanity. In contrast, the Irenaean Theodicy emphasizes soul-making, human development, and the eventual attainment of God's likeness. Both theodicies address the existence of evil and suffering in the world, providing perspectives on human choice and divine intervention.
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Augustinian Theodicy and Free Will Defence Name the scholar write a sentence summary Which scholars are missing?
Scholars Plantinga FW is essential for humans Kierkegaard King and peasant girl analogy Augustine God made the world perfectly and it was corrupted by the Fall Swinburne God can t intervene to save some and not others e.g. Holocaust Flew God could have made good natured humans Mackie Suffering is not an expression of God s love
The Irenaean Theodicy Soul Making Theodicy To know the key features of the Irenaeus Theodicy To explain the factors that influenced him
Big Picture Irenaeus was a second century Christian
The Irenaean theodicy 130-202 A.D. Irenaeus, like Augustine traces evil back to human free will. He differs in that he admits that God did not make a perfect world and that evil has a valuable role to play in God s plan for humans.
Soul making theodicy God s aim when He created the world was to eventually make humans flawless, in His likeness. Irenaeas distinguished between the image and the likeness of God. Adam had the image of God, but not the content of God, likeness. Genesis 1: 26 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, Genuine human perfection cannot be ready-made, but must develop through free choice. Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden because they were too immature and needed to develop; grow into the likeness of God. Since God had to give us free choice, He had to give us the potential to obey or disobey Him. Tasks Read paragraph 1 and 2 of page 49 Write out Genesis 1:26 and explain it Image Likeness
There would be no such potential if there were never any possibility of evil. If humans were made ready-perfected, and if God policed His world continually, there would be no free will. Therefore, the natural order had to be designed with the possibility of causing harm, humans had to be imperfect, and God had to stand at a distance from them.
Humans used their freedom to disobey God, causing suffering. God cannot compromise our freedom by removing evil. Eventually, however, evil and suffering will be overcome and everyone will develop into God s likeness, living glory in Heaven. This justifies temporary evil. Irenaeas never developed a full theodicy, it has been put forward by Scheiermacher (1768-1834) and Hick
Summary Humans were created in the image and not likeness of God. We are in an immature moral state, though we have the potential for moral perfection. Throughout our lives/afterlife we change from being human animals to children of God . This is a choice made after struggle and experience, as we choose God rather than our baser instinct. There are no angels or external forces at work here. God brings in suffering for the benefit of humanity. From it we learn positive values, and about the world around us.
Suffering and evil are: Useful as a means of knowledge. Hunger leads to pain, and causes a desire to feed. Knowledge of pain prompts humans to seek to help others in pain. Character building. Evil offers the opportunity to grow morally. If we were programmed to do the right thing there would be no moral value to our actions. We would never learn the art of goodness in a world designed as a complete paradise Swinburne. A predictable environment. The world runs to a series of natural laws. These laws are independent of our needs, and operate regardless of anything. Natural evil is when these laws come into conflict with our own perceived needs. Task Create a spider diagram Why are evil and suffering necessary
Baby food analogy For as it certainly is in the power of a mother to give strong food to her infant (but she does not do so), as the child is not yet able to receive more substantial nourishment... - therefore the mother slowly introduces the child to adult food (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.38.1) What do you think Irenaeus meant by using this analogy?
Answer The child is not developed enough, right at the start, to be given an adult diet, so the mother gives the child milk and the child develops over time In the same way God did not make human s in his likeness right from the beginning, but man could not receive this (perfection), being as yet an infant
Craftsman analogy How does Irenaeus believe that God is like a craftsman? Read the past paragraph on page 49
Biblical support for the Irenaean Theodicy Jonah and the whale Summary Irenaeus clearly saw evil and suffering as a necessary part of Gods plan for humanity. Explain how evil and suffering is necessary by referring to this biblical story Development Read the account of Jonah and the whale (Jonah 1-4)
Answer Jonah needed to endure this in order to be brought closer to God and to do the work that God had planned for him, in preaching as a prophet in the Ninevites. Similarly, Irenaeus thought, suffering that other people endure should be seen in the same way. Even if we cannot see the reason for it, we should understand that suffering is necessary to bring us closer to God and to enable God to complete his purpose.
Modern additions to Irenaeus Theodicy His train of thought has been taken up by other philosophers and developed. One major point the other philosophers have explained is why God needed to allow humans to develop themselves rather than doing it for them.
1. Hicks basic ideas John Hick believed that God was the creator, however, one of the major problems for Hick s faith is the problem of evil. How can there be a God when there is so much evil in the world? Hick s theodicy of the vale of soul making is a way of addressing this problem posed by the inconsistent triad of how an omniscient, omnipotent and all loving God could allow suffering to occur in the world we live in. Evil and Suffering ? All loving God All powerful God
2. Hicks theodicy: According to Hick, human existence is divided into 2 key phases: PHASE 1 Image potential Humans are the culmination of the evolutionary process a creature who has evolved with the possibility of existing in a conscious relationship with God. PHASE 2 Likeness - actual The nature of human existence as a necessary pilgrimage from moral and spiritual immaturity into the likeness of God via responding freely to the challenges of this world.
God could have developed us as perfect beings, so we automatically loved him. However, Hick believes this kind of love would have been valueless Remember - Kierkegaard Parable of the king and the peasant girl from the Free Will Defence What do you think Hick means by this? Can you explain?
3. Because Goodness and love developed through free choice is much better. It s more likely to be genuine.
4. Epistemic distance God created humans imperfect and at a distance from him so they could decide for themselves whether to follow him or not. This is the epistemic distance : a distance in the dimension of knowledge.
If Gods presence were too close, we would be overwhelmed We would automatically believe and obey as God would be looking at humans every move To have distance God allows humans to choose freely
5. Counter factual hypothesis The world also had to be imperfect If it were perfect humans would not be free: everything they did would be good
Without evil and suffering humans would not be able to develop qualities like courage, honour and love There would be no opportunities to develop into God s likeness as these qualities are essential to such development
Soul making Hick suggests the world is a place of soul making A world where humans have to strive to meet challenges to gain perfection To do so evil and suffering must occur
7. Heaven for all everyone will be saved Hick s theodicy depends on life after death. If someone died young after a long and painful illness or if a baby was killed in an accident or through abuse it cannot be seen to be all for the good unless the end works out for the best. So there has to be a long term in the end that goes beyond death in this world Hick does not attempt to prove life after death but admits the theodicy does not work unless you are prepared to believe in an afterlife.
Summary task Irenaeus Memory Game 1. Soul making 2. Image 3. Likeness 4. Develop 5. Craftsman analogy 6. Genesis 7. Epistemic distance 8. Counterfactual hypothesis 9. Freedom 10. Jonah 11. Baby food 12. Hick 13. Heaven for all 1. 2. Study the words How many can you remember? Choose at least three of the key terms and put them together into a sentence about the problem of evil 3.
Plenary Tasks Summarise the theodicy in five points Image of God likeness No coercion therefore genuine free will - freedom Evil encourages characteristics for perfection Heaven for all No evil no development placidity, stagnation, no temptation
