Aguilar, Joanne N.
PHILOSOPHY- Report
BSA-IV
THEODICY
Theodicy is a specific branch of theology and
philosophy, which attempts to solve The Problem of
Evil—the problem that arises when trying to
reconcile the observed existence of evil in the world
with the assumption of the existence of a God who
is fully good (or benevolent) and who is also all-
powerful (omnipotent).
Origin of the term
The term theodicy comes from the Greek θεός
(theós, "god") and δίκη (díkē, "justice"), meaning
literally "the justice of God."
Three major traditional theodicies
The three major types of traditional theodicies are:
1) Finitism, which denies or qualifies the
omnipotence of God in the context of dualism;
2) Despotism, which denies or qualifies the
goodness of God, because of its belief that God's
absolute sovereignty lets him do evil things in the
eyes of humans; and
3) A third kind, denying or qualifying the reality
of evil.
Finitism: God is not omnipotent
Finitism denies or qualifies the omnipotence of God
and says that the finite God cannot avoid evil. It
takes various forms of dualism.
Despotism: God is not fully good
This type of theodicy can be seen in staunch
Calvinism, and it presupposes the absolute
sovereignty of God. God is so sovereign that
although he may be a good God in principle, he
does not look fully good in actuality.
Evil is not real
Evil as "non-being"
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The non-being theme of evil started from St.
Augustine, who as a Neoplatonic Christian regarded
all being as good, thus referring to evil as non-
being. Critiquing the Manichean dualism, which he
used to adhere to, he asserted that the universe,
including matter and its unique creator, God, are
unambiguously good. Evil, therefore, is non-being
(non esse).
There are other ways of saying that evil is non-
existent. According to Spinoza's pantheism, there is
no evil in the world which is divine. Mary Baker
Eddy, founder of Christian Science, regarded evil
simply as illusion, echoing Hinduism and
Buddhism. Using relational logic and not theology,
Canadian Baha’i mathematician William Hatcher
has argued that evil is not absolute but simply "less
good" than good.
Aesthetic conception of evil
Augustine additionally held to what we can call the
aesthetic conception of evil, and it can be still
another important way of saying that evil is not real.
This was held less philosophically by many
believers and theologians, such as John Calvin, who
asserted that all events are part of God's righteous
plan, and therefore although they may involve evil
in themselves, they are intended by God for morally
justified purposes.
Theodicies on a different horizon
Thinkers who do not want to stay with the logical
level of removing the contradiction of the three
basic statements, have attempted to find a solution
at a different level. To them, the logical
contradiction does not matter. They do not even see
it. On a different horizon, they seem to be able to
better understand the nature of God and seem to be
able to better explain how evil is eventually
removed.
The Book of Job: Evil as a mystery of faith
The theodicy of the Book of Job is a good start
because it suggests that the apparent contradiction
between evil and an omnipotent and good God
should not be handled logically but faithfully.
John Hick: The world as vale of "soul-making"
The British philosopher of religion John Hick is not
interested in any logical solution of the
contradiction between evil and an omnipotent and
good God. Instead, his starting point is his deeper
understanding and conviction of God's love of
agape expressed in the life and work of Jesus Christ.
Religion (1779). According to him, the reality of
evil is undeniable because in the world, one can see
"four circumstances" on which evil depends:
1) That pain motivates creatures to action;
2) that laws of nature cause collision, drowning,
burning, and so on;
3) that humankind is so fragile for perseverance;
and

Alvin Plantinga: The free will defense 4) that rain, wind, heat, and so on, in nature are
excessive.
According to the American philosopher Alvin
Plantinga, it has never been shown logically Theodicy has a predetermined goal
impossible that God allows evil for a good purpose.
Some have argued that the predetermined goal of
So, there is no contradiction between evil and an
theodicy (that of justifying the existence of God
omnipotent and good God. Plantinga thus accepts
with the existence of evil) tarnishes any aspirations
the omnipotence of God in his treatment of the
it might have to be a serious philosophical
problem of evil.
discipline.
Richard Kropf: Evil within an evolutionary
Theodicy is immoral
natural order
One argument that has been raised against theodicy
Somewhat similar to Hick's position is the
is that if theodicy were true, it would completely
American Roman Catholic priest Richard Kropf's
nullify morality. If theodicy were true, then all evil
treatment of evil in the context of evolution,
events, including human actions, can be somehow
although Kropf adds at least two more things in the
rationalized as permitted or affected by God, and
discussion: the suffering of God during the process
therefore there can no longer be such a thing as
of growth in the world and the eventual redemption
"evil".
of non-human parts of the world as well as humans.
Kropf specifically criticizes the traditional
theodicies, by saying that they failed because they
"simplified the problem" by trying to only address
the logical contradiction between evil and an
omnipotent and good God.
Kenneth Surin: The "practical" approach
The British theologian Kenneth Surin is still another
"God's power is limited by his own character of
thinker to stay away from the traditional theodicies
righteousness, truth and love"
that merely "theoretically" explain away evil
without being able to make "practical" efforts to
remove it. The traditional theodicies are usually
based on their adherence to classical theism, and Despite opposition to theodicy, there are arguments
they use it to theoretically justify God in face of for the resolution of its core challenge. Humans are
evil. endowed with the free will required for the arising
of genuine creativity and genuine love. This
Oppositions to theodicy
condition for an infinite horizon of joy has the
Antitheism: God does not exist shadow of "wrong choice" possibility. The prospect
of "redemption" and full self-realization
David Hume shows his celebrated antitheistic (sanctification) recreates the arising of freedom and
response in his Dialogues Concerning Natural
joy. There are systems that reasonably envision an
end to evil.