Theodicy of Irenaeus

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The Theodicy of Irenaeus has many weaknesses. For example, the Theodicy states that God deliberately created an imperfect world where evil exists to achieve a higher goal (a world where humans can morally develop), however if it is not acceptable to do something bad to achieve something good, then why is it acceptable for God to do this? Another point to consider is that not all suffering leads to moral growth. Some people do not develop as a result of suffering, but instead morally degrade. This contradicts Irenaeus’ Theodicy because it states that moral development is achieved through the experience of pain and suffering. Surely there are other ways to create moral development other than suffering. For example, preparing for exams or playing a sport creates challenges and problems to overcome which would result in growth. The idea of universal salvation is also questionable. If everyone makes it to heaven, what is the motivation to be moral? Do any of someone’s moral actions have any consequence if everyone just goes to heaven anyway? However, Irenaean’s Theodicy also has much strength. Many people these days believe that the evidence of evolution and the contradictions that modern science have with the existence of God, disproves God. Yet, the Irenaean Theodicy is compatible with both the theory of evolution and modern science. The Theodicy also does not deny the existence of evil, which is good because I think it would be wrong to say that evil does not exist when so many people suffer from it on a daily basis. I agree that it is better for humans to have free will and choose to do good than to be programmed to do good things like robots because otherwise we would have no virtue as we would be doing the only thing we could do. The Theodicy also states that humans can’t show true compassion and generosity if there was no such thing as true suffering. This must

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