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Evaluating Augustine’s Theodicy

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

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Evaluating Augustine’s Theodicy

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  1. 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.

  2. 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?

  3. 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

  4. 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…??!)

  5. 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?

  6. 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?

  7. 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?

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