Good and Evil Part 3

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Good and Evil
Various Responses to the Theodicy Question
Theodicy=defense of God
God is all powerful
?
Evil exists
God is Good
Who are we going to study?
St. Augustine Martin Luther John Hick
St. Augustine
Born in 354 in what is now Algeria At 17 went to Carthage and studied rhetoric Lived a licentious life Converted to Christianity Became Bishop of Hippo Wrote City of God, Confessions, and De Trinitate
God is all powerful
?
God is good Evil exists-well sort of
Augustine¶s Theodicy
God is absolute goodness and perfection God¶s original plan for creation was perfect harmony where the creatures would desire God Adam perverted the will and turned away from God in an attempt to govern himself We have inherited this sin We still desire good, BUT we can¶t discern perfectly what it is Evil is the loss of our capacity to desire only good Evil is a deprivation of good God uses evil to accomplish God¶s will No separate evil force
Martin Luther
Born in 1483 in Eisenben Germany While he studied to become a lawyer, he eventually became a monk. Argued that salvation comes through faith not works Anti indulgences Began Protestant Reformation
Good and Evil are going at it but not equally
?
God is good Evil Exists
Luther¶s Thoughts
Luther has a notion of two worlds: The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Evil Satan is the Prince of the Kingdom of Evil which is the world we live in Two kingdoms contest against each other HOWEVER, Satan is a created being who is not equal to God Satan cannot destroy God¶s creation or order BUT is able to sow evil in it Luther¶s inkwell
It is the policy of the Devil to convince us there is no Devil
Richard Greenham²English Puritan
M. Scott Peck
Popular Psychologist ³People of the Lie´ Peck refers to a diabolic dualism Evil is not of God¶s creation but a cancer beyond his control Evil is a disease which can be cured
John Hick
Born in 1922 in England Professor who taught at Cornell, Princeton, and Cambridge VP of the World Congress of Faith In debate with Pope Benedict According to Benedict-heretic
God is all powerful
? God is good
Evil exists and teaches me
Hick¶s ideas are based on St. Irenaeus
Irenaeus was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (Lyons) Humans were not created perfectly by God hence there could be no Fall. However, humans were created in the image of God As we go through life we try to move from imperfection to a likeness of God Do so by discerning good from evil Evil teaches us and allows us to become closer to God. Avoid evil that we encounter hence we grow in our likeness of God
So««««««
Hick starts by dismissing what he calls Christian myth (those things which have no scientific proof) such as the Devil or the Fall. Hick then talks about the workings of Irenaeus where a human moves from a imperfect state to a likeness of God As the individual lives he or she acts and reacts to life. These things teach us about life and about good and evil and these lessons move us closer to a likeness of God So evil is a tool which teaches us and according to Hick moves us closer to God
Questions?????
Thanks