Explain how the theodicy of Irenaeus differs from that of Augustine and Evil cannot be fully explained by the theodicies, discuss.

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Philosophy and Ethics

Chris Hadden

26/4/09

Explain how the theodicy of Irenaeus differs from that of Augustine. (25 marks)

The problem of evil and suffering can be the major obstacle between non believers and faith. For these people it is impossible to contemplate a God who chooses to inflict the pain and misery onto the world that is easily apparent. Philosophers have therefore looked for explanations for why an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God would do such things. This question is summed up in Augustine’s creation, the inconsistent triad. Augustine summarised that an omnipotent and good God and evil in the world point to a contradiction, only two of the three points can ever exist harmoniously. Yet Augustine strived to prove this idea wrong.

Augustine theorised that in the beginning (in his opinion Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) that the world was in fact perfect. There was no evil or suffering and the world was a perfect place to exist in. Augustine claims that it was the choice of Eve to eat from the forbidden tree that lowered human’s perfection and created evil and suffering. As we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, we all carry the burden of that crime with us to this day. So for Augustine this would explain the inconsistent triad, originally there was no evil in the triad, but the actions of humans, benefitting from free will, created that evil. The other key concept of Augustine’s theory is that evil is not existent, and is simply the definition of the absence of goodness. Wherever good is lost the remainder is called evil. This again creates a logical explanation to the triad, because if evil isn’t existent then how could God have power over it. Augustine compares the fall of the angels chiefly Satan, to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. In summary God didn’t create evil, humans did through the misuse of free will, and evil is merely the definition given when goodness is absent.

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Irenaeus another philosopher of the first half millennia of AD created a separate explanation for evil and suffering. He didn’t attempt to explain away the existence of evil but thought of an explanation that acknowledged its existence and allowed it to fit into the inconsistent triad. In contrast to Augustine’s theory, Irenaeus doesn’t begin his theory with the Garden of Eden. Augustine believed that the garden of Eden constituted the peak of human perfection whereas Irenaeus would argue that as humans we develop closer to perfection all the time, we become more civilised and loving through each generation. Augustine ...

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