Evaluating Augustine’s Theodicy

Drawing conclusions & formulating arguments

Use this discussion to identify different points of view & clarify your own opinion to use in an essay.

Is evil a price worth paying for freewill?

• Augustine – YES. Necessary for loving relationship• Necessary for moral responsibility• Ivan – NO. Better no world than a world where

children suffer• Is the extent of evil necessary?• Could I be free without the potential to be as bad I

could be?

Augustine’s theodicy traces natural evil back to human action – is there a link?

• Global warming? Increasingly erratic weather systems incl hurricanes etc

• Heart diseases, cancer , stroke etc linked to poor lifestyle choices

• Unequal division of world resources causing worlds poorest to inhabit vulnerable areas – Maldives, Bangladesh etc

• Wrong place, wrong time? Volcanoes & Tsunamis only evil when they affect humans

Is evil really a privation of good?

• Regardless, the suffering that it causes is real.• Is the fact that God foresaw evil and permits the

possibility of it just as bad?• Is it any consolation? (you’re not starving, you

have a privation of food…??!)

Is there a logical contradiction, as Schleiermacher suggests?

• Is it possible for something perfect to have the potential to go wrong?

• Manichean influence – anything made of matter is liable to change & corruption.

• Does the definition of perfect implies that it won’t ever go wrong?!!

• Or does perfect imply that it is ideally suited to its purpose – in which case, what is the purpose of creation?

Does freedom necessitate a prior knowledge of good / evil?

• Can blindly obeying rules be classed as being free?

• In order to be held responsible do I need to understand the implications of my actions?

• Did Eve do the wrong thing, or has she been unjustly blamed all this time?

Does Divine Election demonstrate God’s omnibenevolence & mercy?

• God saves a few despite us thoroughly deserving punishment in hell.

• Is an eternity in hell fitting punishment for sins committed in a human lifetime?

• Is this an arbitrary act by God? • Does it impact on our moral responsibility?