Irenaeus flow chart
God is all good creator
Development - universe developed (evolution)
Humans imperfect - made in image and grow in likeness
Soul making - natural evil helps us grow
Epistemic distance - try to have a relationship with God and shorten gap
theodicy
an argument for the existence of God in the presence of evil
opinion on freewill
Valuable
So were not robots, can choose wither good or evil
So god must sustain a world where moral/natural evil can occur
How did god create humans and proof
Imperfect
so we can grow into his likeness
(imagio dei - genesis 1:27)
How do we know God wants us to grow into his likeness
Jonah and the whale
even though he got eat by the whale he didn’t die
God allowed him to learn and grow closer to him so this must be what he wants for us too
what’s recapitulation
- growing closer to God and into his likeness
- we must mature
- as adam and eve were immature
according to Hick - which analogy is used to explain gods interference
Knife analogy
- knife is sharp and used to cut things
- if you turn it on yourself it will stab you
- if god intervenes and makes it soft then we know that as this isn’t humanly possible so the only person to do this is God
- this would meant god would have to constantly act in situations and he would be the cause of everything
- this forces us to recognise God and we would have no choice in the relationship
- loose free will and can’t grow in his likeness.
Hicks explanation as to why we grow in Gods likeness
he says theres an evident contrast between good and evil
- god allows a world with evil so people can grow and shorten/lessen the epistemic distance
- god created this epistemic distance (gap of knowledge) that permits us to come to our own conclusions
What did John Hick do?
mainly developed irenaeus theory and adds to it
Main difference between Hick and Irenaueus
- Hick says we can go on soul making while in purgatory and we all receive salvation
- Irenaus - only some people will get to salvation, soul making continues in next life but those who reject god are damned.
Analogy to describe growing in Gods likeness
Analogy of the arrow
If the arrow (us) is shot, it can’t get back to the archer (god) without the archers (god) help.
Hicks theodicy
- Human image - imagio dei
- likeness - grow in likeness (choosing god and good)
- soul making - develop our virtues (charitable and kindness)
- natural disasters help us grow, for our good
- Eschatology - if we aren’t perfect before we die we will continue to grow in purgatory - salvation for all.
CRITICISMS of hick
- plausibility - rejected augustine but people question if Hick can be believed
- Injustice - salvation for all doesn’t seem fair - even Hitler?
- existence of suffering - God is responsible for creating a world with natural evil - loving god?
- Ends justify the means - Flew - god could have found another way if he was omnipotent
- D.Z. Philips - holocaust example - no one can justify evil
- Swinburne - evil might be necessary to achieve higher virtues like justice. But its like god made a half - finished world.
who was irenaeus
monk
preacher - then bishop
believed the garden of eden was a historical place
where does he base beliefs on
gen 1;26
‘let us make mankind in our image and in our likness’
