evidential/ Hick's soul-making theodicy

• Evidential poe

  Mill

  • the natural world is full of evidence of evil - people and animals suffer
  • rejects a posteriori arguments in support of the existence of God because the evidence points to a malevolent and sadistic creator (if if points to a creator at all) that behaves in the ways that we would condemn in a human criminal
  • this goes against teleological arguments like Paley who look to the world to conclude that it must have been made by the power/ intelligence of God who cares about us
• Irenaeus' theodicy 


  influenced Hick's soul-making theodicy

  • God allows evil and suffering to happen/ to have a place in the world
  • the world was created deliberately with a mixture of good and evil so we can grow and develop as mature humans with a relationship with God
  • evil exists so we can appreciate the good and also so that we can develop our own free moral decisions
  • we grow as individuals by tackling problems, making mistakes, persevering and being patient
• Irenaeus 


  • we have free will because we are made in God's image - otherwise we would be puppets
  • God made us in his image and we have to grow in his likeness
  • we can only act morally if we have freedom of choice
  • to become the likeness of God we have to develop and mature to reach our potential by overcoming challenges and resist the temptation to do wrong
  • part of being good is an effort of will - seeing the bad options and choosing to pick the good one
  • if God intervened every time someone was going to do something wrong then he would be removing our free choice
• Irenaeus 


  example of a mother and a newborn child: the mother could give her newborn solids but the child is not able to eat it at that point

  humans = infant and God = mother

  God couldn't make us perfect because we were not mature enough

  • we only become the likeness of God after death
  • everyone will eventually complete their spiritual development to become the likeness of God
• Hick 


  • God deliberately left humans imperfect so they can complete the process of creation themselves - developing virtues and becoming the likeness of God
  • God = epistemic distance - we are at sufficient (cognitive) distance to have awareness but not certainty of God
  • humans are not born with the innate knowledge of God’s existence but have to seek it through faith
  • evil creates a vale of soul-making - helps humans to become the likeness of God - the world= deliberately designed for this to happen
• Hick 


  Moral Evil and soul making:

  • A consequence of soul making – free will = important so it's inevitable that moral evil will arise when man is in its immature state
  • Necessary for soul making – certain virtues are only possible if an ‘evil’ is present eg courage (Irenaeus’: evil is character building)

  
  

  
  

  Natural evils and soul-making :

  • the world contains natural evil to allow us to overcome it and develop moral character.
• Hick 


  • doesn't use his theodicy as an argument life after death and acknowledges that his theodicy works only if you are prepared to believe in the afterlife

  eschatological fulfilment - people continue their journey of development and maturation after death until eventually everyone is saved - pluralist

  • Temporary evil is justified due to the glory of Heaven where the soul making process continues
• Hick's soul-making theodicy

  
  

  Strengths

  • personal/human experience would show that suffering does develop certain virtues - courage, perseverance and integrity.
  • Goodness earned is better than goodness given.
  • no Biblical basis - The Fall is regarded as myth, not history.
  • Eschatological fulfilment, heaven is a goal that everyone can achieve.
• Hick - Weakness

  • Do all examples of evil offer a chance for development? Do they sometimes hinder it? - some made worse by their suffering
  • The concept of eschatological fulfilment for everyone is unjust

  Mackie: God could have created ‘morally superior beings’ who always choose good

  Dostovesky: The suffering of an innocent child can never be justified - protest atheism

  Rowe: Is the intensity and randomness of suffering necessary for human development? - fawn in the forest fire

  DZ Phillips: you would never hurt people as an act of love - God planned for evil to be in the world.