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Augustine’s Theodicy

Augustine’s Theodicy. L/O - I will be able to explain the key features of Augustine’s theodicy. What makes a good theodicy?…. It must make sense. It must be done within the context of natural theology (philosophical standpoint), not revealed theology (not to rely on belief).

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Augustine’s Theodicy

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  1. Augustine’s Theodicy L/O - I will be able to explain the key features of Augustine’s theodicy

  2. What makes a good theodicy?… • It must make sense. • It must be done within the context of natural theology (philosophical standpoint), not revealed theology (not to rely on belief). • It must cohere with other theology (so a believer is probably not want to deny God’s goodness). • It must be personally convincing and give us reason to believe that God is more likely to exist than not alongside evil’s apparent existence.

  3. “If the theist does not have a satisfactory answer to it (evil), then his belief in God is less than rational, and there is no reason the atheist should share it.” Swinburne

  4. Augustine of Hippo 354-430 AD • Augustine’s theodicy is the classical biblical answer to the problem of evil. • Augustine starts from a metaphysical standpoint. The world was created wholly good. We know this because…

  5. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1.31 Taken singly all things are good, but taken together they are very good. Augustine, Confessions

  6. In the beginning… • The world is a perfect place. • Humans are created physically and morally good, but not perfect. • There is no natural evil. Everything is vegetarian and lives in harmony…

  7. Evil then, is the result of man’s/angel’s misuse of their freewill resulting from eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. • Misuse of freewill causes the downfall from perfection… 1) Moral evil is a result of misuse of freewill. 2) Natural Evil comes as a result of this misuse… it is the corruption of the order and harmony within nature. Mankind is directly responsible for the imperfections within the world

  8. Evil is privatio boni(a privation of good) • To explain what evil is Augustine draws on Aristotle who explained darkness as an absence of light. • For Augustine, evil is an absence of good. → The important thing to note here is that it is not a force in itself, but an absence – a privation. Give 3 more examples of ‘things’ which could described as an absence of something else…

  9. So Augustine is rejecting a cosmic dualism – not two opposing forces in the world, Good/Evil, Light/Darkness, Life/Death, etc. (Manichean position) Why would he want to do this?...

  10. Natural Evil is a loss of order following the expulsion from Eden. – Evil is nature corrupted. • Natural and Moral Evil can be seen as a punishment from God, both were ‘seminally present in Adam’. → So for Augustine, this is a justification for the fact that God does not put an end to suffering.

  11. Salvation from suffering? • Salvation is possible owing to the sacrifice of Christ and if we follow Christ then all this apparent suffering will pale in comparison to the glory of heaven/ or one will go to hell. • Humanity’s fate is decided by the offer of salvation as a result of Adam’s Sin.

  12. Activities • Draw a flow diagram illustrating Augustine’s view of evil. 2) Why do you think that Augustine’s theodicy is still important today seeing as most Christians don’t take Genesis 2-3 literally? Extension: Do you think that freewill is worth the price? Would you like to live in a world of well behaved robots?

  13. Essay plan • Augustine: General Info – rough date, brief formulation of problem of evil, believed Adam and Eve story literally, classical biblical theodicy, starts from metaphysical standpoint. 2)In the beginning – God created world, perfect, ‘lion lay with lamb’, no natural evil. 3)Freewill – man/angels, misused, tree, freewill is worth price or we would be robots, ‘image of God’. 4) Evil as result of misuse – moral and natural, disharmony, punishment from God but we also are given the possibility of salvation in Christ. 5) Nature of evil – privation of good (another example of privation to show understanding – blindness is a good one used by Augustine), not force in itself, rejection of Manichean view.

  14. How does Augustine solve the problem then? God is omnipotent God is Evil Omni-benevolent Exists

  15. Homework • Detailed notes on Augustine and Iraneaus/Hick

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