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Religious Studies: Philosophy > 1B: Augustinian Type Theodicy > Flashcards

1B: Augustinian Type Theodicy Flashcards

1
Q

What is a theodicy?

A

an attempt to justify the goodness and power of god in spite of the existence of evil and suffering

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2
Q

What does John Hick believe about theodicies?

A

they help Christians to understand evil because it is central to other aspects of faith

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3
Q

What does Bertrand Russell believe about the universe?

A

it needs no explanation- it’s just the way it is

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4
Q

What biblical idea is Augustine’s theodicy based on?

A

God created a world that is perfect

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5
Q

What is evil according to Augustine?

A

there is no such thing as evil, since everything was created to be perfect. it’s the absence of good

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6
Q

What is Augustine’s ‘principle of plentitude’?

A

without the contrasts, god couldn’t express his creativity fully. Gods creations are overly divine

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7
Q

What is Augustine’s aesthetic theme?

A

all events occur in a harmonious order

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8
Q

How did evil and corruption enter the world according to Augustine?

A

when angels and humans etc turned away from god and chose evil (original sin)

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9
Q

According to the biblical story of the fall, what were the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience?

A

every single person born today comes from Adam, he passed his guilt on to the entire human population

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10
Q

What is the Original Sin?

A

the first sin committed by the first human beings. it broke human nature and the nature of the universe and welcomed in evil

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11
Q

What is atonement?

A

God giving us salvation

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12
Q

What is a soul deciding theodicy?

A

God’s gift of free will allows us to choose between right and wrong - either obeying god and entering heaven or disobeying god and being being eternally punished in hell
- God loved us enough to save us from punishment but chooses who he saves/damns

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13
Q

How does Augustine clear God of any blame for the existence of evil in the world?

A

he argues evil stems from the misuse of free will

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14
Q

Why did Schleiermacher think Augustine’s theodicy contained a logical error?

A
  • if god is omnipotent he could have prevented falling from grace
  • how could perfect creatures make perfect choices if they are perfect? if they choose imperfection, they aren’t
  • there is a problem calling evil a lack of good, suffering feels real
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15
Q

In what ways has the theodicy been challenged by modern scientific thought?

A
  • Darwin’s theory of evolution: we start basic and get better, contradicts Augustine who says we start perfect and get worse
  • natural evil has existed long before human life: natural evil 65 million years before human existence
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16
Q

What is the moral error contained in Augustine’s idea of humanity being ‘seminally present’ in the loins of Adam?

A

Augustine says we were all punished, but is it fair for us to be punished for something we didn’t do? god is punishing the wrong people

17
Q

What does John Hick refer to hell as?

A

“a blot of creation”

18
Q

According to the film what is the most serious criticism of Augustine’s theodicy?

A
  • the existence of hell and being eternally punished
  • God has created a place of eternal suffering as part of the system
  • no good ever comes out of hell - eternal evil
19
Q

Does Augustine’s theodicy solve the problem of evil? (consider moral/natural evil, immense suffering, premature deaths)

A

no
- even if evil is caused by misuse of free will, it still doesn’t explain natural evil: how can tsunamis be caused by misuse of free will?
- natural evil existed long before humans: 65 million years before, when the asteroid hit the world
- surely if god has the omni qualities, he would stop all the evil and suffering from happening even if the evil was caused by misuse of free will

20
Q

Quote from Genesis 1:31 about Gods creation?

A

“god saw all that he had made, and it was very good”

21
Q

Who was Augustine influenced by?

A

Plato

22
Q

To Plato, what was imperfection?

A

a feature of the physical world

23
Q

What was Augustine’s theodicy?

A
  • if god made the world and it was ‘good’ there is no possibility that evil exists in the world because god made it
  • evil is not a real, positive quality, it is PRIVATIO BONI (privation of good)
  • variety is a part of the goodness and perfection of the world
  • it’s inevitable the constituent parts of the world would be different, but god could still create perfect forms of these parts
  • difference is a good thing, the necessary result of difference is that some creatures will be more limited than others
24
Q

How did Augustine believe evil came into the world?

A

the fall of the angels
- the angels were created perfect, but some received less grace than others (part of the variety of things)
- they fell away from God as a direct result of their misuse of free will: trying to become ‘lord of their own being’
- since we were all seminally present, we are responsible for this evil: a result of turning away from God

25
Q

Why did Augustine maintain it is vital for humans to have free will?

A

because they can not live well without it

26
Q

What two reasons does Augustine give to state that physical punishment is secondary to the punishment of being separated from God?

A
  1. only those who choose to follow God will be forgiven and be able to avoid hell
  2. Adam and Eve’s choice to sin affected our free will, left humans unable to resist sin
27
Q

How did Augustine maintain humans can be saved from sin?

A

if they choose to receive grace

28
Q

What did Aquinas state will happen to people who have sinned but choose to receive God’s grace?

A

they will still go to hell for a time to purge them of their sin; then they go to heaven

29
Q

What is the criticism of the validity of biblical accounts?

A
  • Augustine’s theodicy heavily relies on accounts of the creation and the fall
  • literalists believe the accounts are plausible
  • humankind’s place in the created order and the suffering it faces is accounted for genesis
  • how can one couple create the whole of humanity?
  • example: Genesis chapters 1-3
30
Q

What is the criticism of the validity of scientific error?

A
  • Augustine’s theodicy is a biological impossibility
  • modern science states the idea of one persons sin being transferred to all of human is impossible, along with the idea that all of humanity originated with one pair of humans in the first place
  • Augustine says humans started as perfect and got basic, evolution says we started as basic and got better
31
Q

What is the criticism of the moral contradictions of omnibenevolent God and existence of hell?

A
  • how is it possible there was knowledge of good and evil if it was a perfect world?
  • this implies evil already existed and it can only be the responsibility of god
  • hell is a part of created order, which suggests that God knew angels would rebel and humans would fall and be prepared a place of punishment for them
  • why would an omnibenevolant god do this?
32
Q

What is the criticism of the logical contradiction of perfect creation being susceptible to change?

A
  • if humans began by being perfect, then even though they’re free to sin they do not need to
  • if they do, they were not perfect to start with
  • God chose to create a being who he could forsee doing evil
33
Q

What is Schleiermacher’s criticism?

A
  • there is a logical contradiction that a perfectly created world has gone wrong: this would mean evil has created itself out of nothing
  • even if evil is s a privation, it’s still a real feature of the world along with the suffering it produced
  • evil has to be attributed to god, either the world wasn’t perfect to begin with or god let it go wrong
  • how could there be freedom to obey/disobey in a perfect world with no knowledge of good and evil, since good and evil would be unknown
  • the fact God’s creature chose to disobey him suggests there was already prior knowledge of good and evil, which could have come from God
34
Q

What are some strengths of the Augustinian theodicy and what are the criticisms of them?

A
  1. free will defence: free will is really important, without it would human life be worth living? (CR: we could have free will but always do the right thing - Mackie: compatibilism)
  2. based on the bible (CR: only a strength for christians. we question bibles authority)
  3. many humans have a tendency towards doing the wrong thing (original sin). children need to be taught was is right. (CR: the idea we inherited sin from an ancestor is not biologically possible)
  4. support for the idea of privatio boni. evil occurs where there should be good, but there isn’t. disease is the privation of good health. murder is the privation of life (CR: this view understates some people’s experiences of evil and suffering as a very real force in itself eg holocaust survivors)
  5. shows how god is just (CR: what about God’s benevolence?)
35
Q

What are some weaknesses of the Augustinian theodicy and what are the criticisms of them?

A
  1. Logical Errors (Schleiermacher): how could a perfect world go wrong? in a perfect world how could Adam and Eve choose to do the wrong thing? (CR: an omnipotent God can do what he likes, even the logically impossible)
  2. The Problem Of Hell: God’s creation isn’t perfect and good with hell in it. god must have known things were going to go wrong if he made hell, so why didn’t he change creation so there would be no need for hell? (CR: an omnipotent God can do what he likes, even the logically impossible)
  3. Moral Errors: would an omnibenevolent god punish people for adam and eves sin? would an omnibenevolent God allow sinners to suffer eternally in hell? (CR: god is just/fair)
  4. Scientific errors: challenge from evolution, Augustine says we move from perfection to imperfection. evolution says we are improving. we cant inherit sin and we weren’t seminally present in the loins of Adam. (CR: we inherit a lot from our parents, there might be a criminal gene. humans have a tendency to break rules, push boundaries, and be driven by desire (what augustine describes))
  5. God is ultimately responsible for humans missing their free will because he created them with free will (CR: the only thing an all loving god could do is create humans with free will, otherwise there would’ve been no point)
  6. why couldn’t god create us with free will but make us always choose the right things? (Mackie) (CR: impossible because free will is not compatible with being predestined to do something (Plantinga))
36
Q

Overall judgement on Augustine’s theodicy?

A
  • weak because it contains moral, scientific and logical errors
  • relies heavily on Biblical evidence
  • clutches at impossible possibilities especially with the ‘seminal presence’
  • strongest argument is rooted in the problem of hell

Religious Studies: Philosophy (25 decks)

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