Solving the seeming contradiction between a loving God and the reality of evil is usually referred to as a theodicy. A theodicy attempts to solve the apparent tensions in what is often termed the problem of evil. But the problem of evil is really a series of problems. Like many large problems‚ sometimes it is helpful to break them down into their components. Evil‚ you see‚ actually extends not only to the moral world but also to the natural world. When human beings do bad things to one another‚ this
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question a good theodicy is something that must have strong evidence and does a balance between good and evil. Something that defends God being good and not evil. C.S. Lewis in “The Problem of Evil” talks about theodicy‚ defends God’s goodness against evil in the world by talking about how works have multiple meanings (Lewis 16). Lewis talked about how theodicy would be good if only the suffering was divided evenly between everyone (Lewis 96). Then Lewis explains that his theodicy is about the
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In 1996 John Hick‚ a British Philosopher‚ was able to trace the history of Theodicy also known as the question of why a benevolent god allows evil to exist. In his text Evil and the God of Love‚ Hick states that there are three major beliefs that exist; The Plotinian Theodicy‚ the Augustinian Theodicy‚ and the Irenaean Theodicy. John Hick however decides to focus a large part of his attention on the Augustinian and Irenaean Theodicy’s. While both have similar explanations to why God can exist with
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In 1710 German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz coined the phrase theodicy in his work titled Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God‚ the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil. The meaning of theodicy in its most common form‚ attempts to answer the question why a good God permits the manifestation of evil. Based on the issues that we face today in the world‚ it is fair to say that Gottfried Leibniz was far ahead of his time in his philosophy. More than I have ever experienced in my lifetime people
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Augustinian Theodicy (25) A Philosophical theodicy demonstrates that God‚ being omnipotent‚ omniscient and omnibenevolent‚ has good reasons for occasionally allowing the continued existence of evil and suffering. It also demonstrates that the existence of evil and suffering provides greater benefits than the benefits of removing evil . St Augustine‚ 354 – 430 AD‚ based his arguments on the Bible; especially the accounts of the Creation and the Fall in Genesis. His influential theodicy rests upon
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The purpose of this paper is to understand how Augustine’s reflections in the Free Choice of the Will on the theodicy problem are Socratic (Book 1). Theodicy is a branch of philosophy dealing with the issue of evil considering the existence of God. The theodicy problem arises from the notion that if God is an omnipotent and just being‚ then why is there evil in the world? Could it be that God is the creator of the evil within the world? Augustine reflects on these topics not only in a Socratic manner
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To specify God’s reason for permitting evil or for creating a world that contained evil‚ this is sometimes called a theodicy‚ when perhaps evil is necessary‚ in some way‚ to the existence of good. God has created a world containing evil and has a good reason for doing so. Augustine tries to tell us what God’s reason is for permitting evil. He says‚ it’s that God can create a more perfect universe by permitting evil. The better universe need more mercy‚ moral standards and free. But the universe with
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t Augustine 354-430 CE‚ developed a theodicy in order to tackle the ‘Problem of Evil’‚ the seeming contradiction between God being omnipotent‚ omnibenevolent and there still being evil in the world. As a Christian‚ he believed that God had made everything that exists‚ and that at the moment of creation‚ everything was perfect‚ because ‘God saw all that he had made‚ and it was very good’ Genesis 1: 31. He therefore concluded that ‘evil is not a substance’; it is merely ‘Privatio Boni’ or privation
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directed at the abandonment of God‚ and it can only be stopped when the Jews recover their true faith in God. The final Jewish apocalypse author who attempts to create a theodicy for the Jewish people is the author of Daniel 8 and 9. In Daniel 8‚ Daniel has a vision of a battling goat and ram. The ram by the river represents the Persian Empire‚ while the goat in the west with one horn represents the Greek Empire. The two empires battle‚ and the goat becomes the victor. Then‚ from the single horn
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Explain the theodicy of Irenaeus The Irenaean theodicy is a theory used to help justify the problem of evil. The problem of evil raises questions as to whether there is a God as he is supposed to be omnibenevolent‚ omnipotent‚ and omniscient. If God was all loving‚ all powerful and all knowing then why is there evil and suffering in the world? Irenaeus argues that it is necessary for there to be evil and suffering in the world; it is a necessary part of life as it will develop us morally and
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