THEODICIES

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THEODICIES

• THE BIG TWO

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TWO THEODICIES CONTRASTED

• The two theodicies in the Christian tradition
  that have dominated the discussions are
• IRENAEAN
• AUGUSTINIAN
• Ref. Bernard Farrs article in Dialogue 8, Apr 97
  entitled Faith Freedom

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What is a theodicy?

• An attempted resolution of the problem of evil.
• Gk. (Theos God) (Dike Justice)
• Starts from assumption that there is a God.
• Must (a) be internally coherent, (b) be
  consistent with the data, religious and other.

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Some observations

• Evil, pain and suffering are not synonyms.
• At one level this is an intellectual problem.
• At another level it is an existential problem, an
  experienced mystery.
• evil is not a problem to be solved, but a
  mystery to be encountered and lived through -
  Marcel

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AUGUSTINIAN first

• Although Augustine (354-430 AD) is a later
  thinker than Irenaeus, his is often the first
  position to be considered.
• It has dominated traditional Christian thinking
  both Roman Catholic and Protestant.
• Big name advocates include Augustine, Aquinas,
  Calvin and Leibniz

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AUGUSTINIANRESPONSIBILITY FOR EVIL

• Created beings have misused their freedom
• Angels and/or human beings
• Moral evil is their fault
• Natural evil is an inevitable consequence
  (punishment) for that moral evil

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AUGUSTINIANMETAPHYSICAL VIEWS 1

• METAPHYSICS is concerned with large scale
  explanations or accounts of Reality.
• There are three features here
• 1 Evil is non-being. God only creates
  good. So evil is good gone wrong or to be found
  at the edge of existence.

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AUGUSTINIAN METAPHYSICAL VIEWS 2

• 2 Aesthetic analogy some parts are ugly
  but the whole picture is more beautiful because
  of them.
• 3 Principle of plenitude it is better to
  have a universe full of all kinds of beings,
  even if some of them suffer or create evil.

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AUGUSTINIANGOD AND THE UNIVERSE

• God relates to the universe impersonally.
• Humans are created to complete the list of types
  of being.

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AUGUSTINIANLOOKS TO THE PAST

• The FALL.
• This offers the explanation of the origin of
  evil.
• Note that the Fall of the angels Satan in
  particular, precedes the Fall of Adam and Eve.

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AUGUSTINIANMORE ON THE FALL

• Adam (man) created perfect in perfect world but
  deliberately sinned.
• Lost original righteousness and descendents
  inherit original sin original guilt and are
  subject to natural evil as punishment for Adams
  sin.
• This inheritance is natural because of our
  seminal identity with Adam. We are all in that
  one man - Augustine

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AUGUSTINIANCONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL

• Our freedom to come to God and our ability to
  reason about Him are either radically impaired or
  totally lost by the Fall.
• The universe is no longer as God intended it to
  be. No longer a suffering free Paradise. Now it
  needs to be saved by Gods grace through
  redemption.

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AUGUSTINIANDESTINY QUESTION

• Our behaviour and response to God in this world
  will determine our ultimate destiny
• HEAVEN
• or
• HELL

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IRENAEAN second

• Irenaeus (2ndcc AD) is best remembered for his
  arguments against Gnosticism. He has had his
  arguments revived in the 20th cc by John Hick in
  Evil The God of Love 1966.
• Other big names in this tradition are
  Schleiermacher Tennant.

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IRENAEANOVERVIEW

• God is seen as ultimately responsible for the
  evil in the universe.
• Moral evil is the fault of free human beings whom
  God has created and permits to sin.
• God has deliberately put natural evil in the
  world to create a vale of soul making.

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IRENAEANMETAPHYSICAL VIEWS

• No views that correspond to those in the
  Augustinian account.

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IRENAEANGODS RELATIONSHIP TO US

• Gods relationship to the universe is essentially
  personal.
• Human beings were created for fellowship with
  God.

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IRENAEANFUTURE RATIONALE

• Look to the heavenly future to justify the
  current situation. The end justifies the evil and
  suffering of the present.
• Evil suffering will be ended one day.
• God brings good out of evil

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IRENAEANWHAT ABOUT THE FALL 1?

• The Fall is less important or denied altogether.
• Either the Fall of Adam was like the sin of a
  child. Mankind lost the likeness of God
  (perfection) at the Fall, but retained Gods
  image (freedom, responsibility, reason etc).

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IRENAEANWHAT ABOUT THE FALL 2?

• Or mankind was created (evolved) fallen.
  Through creation/evolution, humans developed from
  the dust of the earth at an epistemic distance
  (distance of knowing) from God, from which they
  are free to grow towards Him, not being
  overwhelmed by any direct vision of the divine
  nature.

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IRENAEANWHAT ABOUT THE FALL 3

• A two stage conception of the creation of
  humankind emerges
• 1 IN THE IMAGE OF GOD Gradual emergence of
  homo sapiens in preparation for later
  relationship with God.
• 2 IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD Brought through our
  own decisions to a stage where we become
  Children of God.

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IRENAEANHOW THE WORLD IS

• More-or-less as God intended it to be.
• A vale of soul-making with real temptations,
  risks and ambiguities.
• The sort of world in which we can freely develop
  faith and virtue
• We learn obedience through suffering in
  co-operation with Gods grace-through-creation.

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IRENAEANESCHATOLOGY

• Irenaean theologians tend to reject the notion of
  hell.
• In the end all will be saved (universalism)
  perhaps through a continuing process of
  soul-making after death (cf. purgatory Hicks
  resurrection after-worlds).
• Some argue for annihilationism instead.

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An Irenean perspective from philosopher Robert
Ardrey quoted in The Encyclopaedia Britannica and
cited in A.J.Jacobs novel The Know-It-All. The
original quote is from Ardreys book African
Genesis (1961)
But we were born of risen apes, not fallen
angels, and the Apes were armed killers besides.
And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and
massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable
regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be
worth our symphonies however seldom they may be
played our peaceful acres, however frequently
they may be Converted into battlefields our
dreams however rarely they may be accomplished.
The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk
but how magnificently he has risen. We are known
among the stars by our poems, not our corpses.