) Explain the theodicies of Irenaeus and Augustine ?

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Q 1_a) Explain the theodicies of Irenaeus and Augustine ?

A theodicy is a response to the evidential problem of evil, the challenge that the occurrence of evil in the world counts as evidence against an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God, thus leaving Gods existence questionable. Theodicies attempt to justify the righteousness of God as well as his existence in light of evil.

Irenaeus (c130-202) lived around 200 years before Augustine. Just as Augustine had done, Irenaeus began his argument from a position of belief in God and acceptance in the book of Genesis. The Irenaean theodicy is 'soul making', his theodicy was focused mainly upon the creation story in Genesis one, particularly upon the quotation “Then God said: And now we will make human beings, they will be like us and resemble us.” From this he draws the conclusion that humans were created in the image and likeness of God, with the potential for moral perfection. Irenaeus believed that we were given free will from god so that we can choose between good and bad, God and evil. This would therefore mean that evil must exist in order for us exercise our choice. It is obvious from his writings that Irenaeus believed   s that God did not make us perfect, but with the ability to advance towards perfection. This is done through making our own mistakes in life and suffering because them, so that we obtain them from making the same mistakes in the future. To Irenaeus, suffering is a necessary part of Gods created universe. As it is through suffering that our human souls are made noble. Adam and Eve suffered when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, due to the fact that they were immature and needed time to develop. Just like them we are ‘human animals’ and need to develop to become ‘children of God’. Irenaeus believed that the only way for us to undergo development would be to struggle in life and from our experiences. This would mean that God brings in suffering for the benefit of humanity.

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Although Augustine did not have a fully developed theodicy, he did approach the issue from a variety of angles. He argued that since God is the creator and omnibenevolent, he cannot be responsible for the existence of evil in the world. Augustine rejected idea that evil it’s self exists, instead he regarded it as a corruption of goodness, a privation instead of a substance. Augustine believed that God is perfect and that the world he created reflects that perfection. However when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the apple, their disobedience brought about ‘disharmony’ in both humanity and creation, ...

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