problem of evil - the Irenaean theodicy

creation of man and book of genesis

‘let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’

first humans are made in the image of god - share characteristics with god.

human must grow or develop into the likeness of god - developing our moral natures to be like god.

morality has been developed through hard work is more valuable than pre-programmed robotic morality.

humans are not made perfect

genuine moral development is only possible a world where pain and suffering are real.

in a world with no pain, our actions have no moral consequences

Richard Swinburne

compassion, generosity and selflessness are only possible in a world with pain poverty and corruption.

the value of these virtues are in equal proportion to the suffering

John hick

‘soul making’ describes the process of moral growth.

if god invented this would undermine human freedom

god created us with an epistemic distance - distance of knowledge

god deliberately makes his existence uncertain - if there was no doubt in Gods existence we would behave out of fear and not virtue

universal salvation

god allows suffering in order to lead to the higher goal of moral development

however suffering can lead some people to moral degradation

in order for suffering to be morally justified, everyone must attain perfection,

so everyone must make it to heaven

criticisms

• do the end justify the means - not acceptable to do something bad to achieve something food, then why is it ok for God to deliberately create an imperfect world for a higher goal?

• does all suffering result in moral growth? some people do not morally develop as a result of suffering, but instead morally degrade. can indiscriminate suffering lead to moral growth.

• is suffering the only way to create moral growth? are there other ways that moral growth could be encourages without the need for suffering? could preparing for exams or playing in a team sport create the challenges and problems to overcome that would lead to moral growth?

• is universal salvation fair? if everyone makes it to heaven, what is the motivation to be moral? do my actions really have any consequence.