John Hick

• How does Hick describe the world?

  As a vale of soul making
• What is meant by vale of soul making?

  Concept by John Keats that suggests that challenges and suffering in life are necessary for the development and perfection of the soul.
• Developed Irenaeus' theodicy so it would appeal to the 20th century mind.
• Rejected Augustine's theodicy
• Argued that evil and suffering are not an unfortunate accident, but are intentional, and that God made a world where we would have the ebst circumstances to choose a free and loving relationship with him
• Hardships and struggles in life also known as epistemic distance
• What does epistemic distance mean?

  A distance in knowledge, in Hick's view God chooses to remain partially hidden from humanity so that we can make a genuinely free choice
• For the world to be fully uncertain about God it has to contain both good and evil.
• Hick's view requires a belief in life after death. Present things in life are justified by the promise of better things to come after death
• Hick does not use the argument to prove the existence of life after death but instead recognises that the theodicy does not work without that belief