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SOUL MAKING THEODICY [HICK] - Coggle Diagram
SOUL MAKING THEODICY [HICK]
HICK
Inspired by St Ireneaus who argues humans are created imperfect, but then have to 'rise to perfection' and work towards achieving the 'likeness' of God during their lives on earth
The world is a place of SOUL MAKING- therefore has to contain a full range of moral and natural evil so humans can develop virtues such as courage, sympathy empathy & compassion
These second order virtues are the qualities by which we become the 'children of god' Our suffering and response to it makes us virtuous & christ-like
ST AUGUSTINE
All humans are born sinful(original sin) because they inherit sin from Adam and Eve who ate from tree.
This explains the cause of evil & suffering we depend on Gods grace to be saved from our sin, not everyone is saved
ST IRENEUS
humans didn't 'fall' from perfection, God inteltionally created us imperfect
This is because throughput our lives, we will grow into perfect beings who are capable of entering heaven If we follow Jesus' example
we develop and grow through soul-making into 'children of God'
Hick emphasises the idea of God as a father- a father cannot force his children to love him
instead children love their parents as a free response to their parents care
parents develop their children character by teaching them how to live responsibly within the world
God set an epistemic distance between himself and humanity - so human cannot know for sure there is a God
-This means having a relationship with God is a choice, reflecting the fact a loving relationship is only authentic and valuable when freely chosen
STRENGTHS
Epistemic distance can justify any kind of evil by saying its beyond our understanding
distance between God & humanity means our knowledge is limited
heaven for all justifies the means
Its consistent with St Irenaeus' ideas about the purpose of evil ( it has Christian roots)
he believed the purpose of god creating this world was soul-making for rational moral agents
we are not created perfectly but in a state of imperfection- humans are a work in progress
Consistent with evolution and the idea humanity develops over time
Darwins theory teaches us that humans physically developed over time
similarly hicks theodicy teaches us that our should develop over time
it makes sense humans are a 'work in progress'
idea of universal salvation is compatible with beliefs about Gods omnibenevolence
Hicks theodicy teaches us that we all ultimately achieve Gods likeness and the perfection necessary to enter heaven
this is known as 'universalism'- the idea that everybody ultimately will be saved
this is arguably more benevolent than Augustines soul-deciding theodicy where only few will be saved
HOWEVER: is it really worth it? why do some people have to face so much suffering than others if we are all going to the same place afterwards anyway?
WEAKNESSES
This theory doesn't justify pointless suffering in the world
whilst some may actually help us to grow, there is some suffering that appears completely pointless e.g animal suffering
HICKS RESPONSE: EPSITEMIC DISTANCE- pontless suffering is needed to maintain epistemic distance between humanity and god
DZ PHILLIPS: theory doesnt justify the quantity of evil in the world
does the end really justify the means? you cannot see evil and suffering as instrumental for a greater good
we shouldn't use other peoples suffering as a means to an end
we cant justify the existence of horrendous evils by simply stating we need to grow deeply in responding to them
HICKS RESPONSE: all evils are a matter of degree- if we remove evils like the Holocaust then the next-to-worst evils will seem the very worst
if humans were made imago dei surely they were made fully perfected rather than simply with this potential
HICKS RESPONSE: Genesis says we were made in the image and likeness of God
we were made with this image and then grow into his likeness over time
were created with potential rather than completion
The idea of universalism is rejected by some christians-this arguably undermines Hicks theodicy
According to hicks theodicy, everyone will ultimately be saved.
This raises questions with some christians: what's the point of Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection if everybody can become worthy of salvation on their own
What dies this mean for traditional doctrines of election and judgement- will people who cause suffering be saved?
what does his mean for the 'sola Christus' principle if were all saved anyway, why go through so much suffering?