A good and all-powerful God cannot exist at the same time as evil.
theodicy
A justification of God in the face of evil – an attempt to reconcile the Omnipotence and Omnibenevolence of God with the existence of evil in the world.
creationism
The acceptance of the literal truth of the account of the beginning of the world found in Genesis in the Bible.
omnipotent
All powerful
omnibenevolent
All-good or all-loving.
omniscient
All knowing
free will
The ability to make one’s own decisions and choose freely between different possible courses of action.
the fall
The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, their disobeying of God, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
original sin
A reference to the first sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden and its effects.
epistemic distance
The phrase used by Hick to express the idea that God’s existence is not obvious and thus human beings are not overwhelmed by God’s presence into believing in God.
eschatological
Reference to what will happen at the end of time or in the last days of the universe – or in the afterlife.
