Is Hick a materialist?
John Hick was a materialist who attempted to help supporters of materialism who believed that the soul and body where one, but at the same time unlike Dawkins and Aquinas still wanted the premise of the afterlife.
How does Irenaeus explain natural evil?
Irenaeus stated that God made humans imperfect and is therefore partly responsible for the existence of evil. To make humans perfect would take away their freedom to live in accordance with God’s will.
What is Hick’s theodicy?
Hick’s theodicy is based on the same one as Irenaeus. However, Hick further developed the theory, called the ‘vale of soul-making. ‘ Hick agreed that humans were created as imperfect from the start, so that they could grow and develop into the “likeness” of God.
What does Hick say about the problem of evil?
Hick asserts that God had to create people with the ability to do evil, for otherwise, people would not be able to participate in “soul-making” which is what serves to bring men closer to God.
Did Irenaeus believe in free will?
Irenaeus argued that for humans to have free will, God must be at an epistemic distance (or intellectual distance) from humans, far enough that belief in God remains a free choice. As Irenaeus said, “there is no coercion with God, but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually”.
What is vale of soul making?
Hick’s argument is known as the vale of soul making theodicy. Central Features of Hick’s Theodicy. Instead of creating humans as morally perfect beings from the outset, God deliberately left them imperfect or “unfinished” to enable them to complete the process of creation themselves.
What does epistemic distance mean?
Simply put, epistemic distance can be taken to mean as a distance in knowledge or awareness. In this religious hypothesis, the world would remain “religiously ambiguous”, that is, there is no conclusive evidence for or against the existence of God. People are left with a choice.
How does John Hick address the problem of evil?
Abstract: Hick argues that moral evil is a result of the mystery of free will. He believes the occurrence of nonmoral evil in the world is a necessary condition for the ethics of choice and the process of soul-making.