1. Augustinian Theodicy Learning Objectives
Know biblical teachings on the origin of evil
Explain where Christians believe evil comes from
Explain the Augustinian Theodicy

2. A Theodicy:
Is, a philosophical theory that aims to justify the existence of God despite evil in the world.
e.g. Suggesting evil and suffering are necessary.
Read page 11 and the next slide
Write a paragraph that explains the term theodicy and what a theodicy needs

3. Theodicies
A theodicy is an attempt to justify God in spite of the existence of evil and suffering.
Some theologians, like Anders Nygren have argued that it is wrong for religious believers to attempt a theodicy because it is irreligious to imagine that fallible human minds can understand God.
Others, like John Hick, believe that Christians have to try to understand evil, because it is central to other aspects of faith; such as sin, redemption and Christ as the saviour.
Evil presents a particular problem for people who believe God to be both loving and omnipotent. For some, such as Bertrand Russell, the universe needs no explanation; it is just the way it is, including evil and suffering – which just happen.

4. The Augustinian Theodicy Start of a mind map
He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), located in Numidia (Roman province of Africa).
St Augustine of Hippo
13 November 354 – 28 August 430)

5. Activities
Read the account of creation and the Fall in the Bible Genesis 1-3
Now write your own description and explanation of these events the summary table on pages of booklet 1.
Add a brief summary of the Fall to your mind map
Make sure you have read up to page 5 in the booklet
Extension – read pages 5 and 6

6. Read, listen and add key points to your mind map
Augustine was influenced by Manichaeism - see diagram on next slide
Read, listen and add key points to your mind map
According to Manichaeism the world was in a struggle between the substance of light and the substance of darkness.
Augustine's theodicy is based on the Bible’s accounts of the Creation and the Fall
Where, man abused God’s gift of freewill, which led to the existence of evil

7. Manichaeism
Good
Evil

8. 1.God is perfect and created a perfect world
The world was created perfect and ‘good’
There was a garden where humanity spent time with God
God also created angels and humans with capacity for freewill

9. 2. Fallen Angels
Fallen angels are those who were cast out of heaven because they turned against God (e.g. Satan)
This is because they were granted freewill
They rebelled, doubted Gods plan and motives and rejected the system of heaven
They then went on to tempt Adam and Eve in the garden

10. 3. Humanities freewill … Humanity abused God’s gift of freedom
Evil came about through humanity having freedom / freewill and choosing to turn away from God

11. God is good and created a perfect world Genesis
Augustine’s argument – complete the table using pages 13 and 14 of the booklet and Jordan Watch the following summary
God is good and created a perfect world Genesis
Evil comes from angels and humans who turned away from God –Free will
God cannot be blamed for creating evil as it is a privation/deprivation – privatio boni
Seminally present
Cross overcomes evil
Soul deciding
This theodicy is ‘soul deciding’ because God gave humans free will and each human decides their own eternal fate by either obeying God’s will or ignoring it.

12. God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for humanity.
Many Christians refer to the Fall as felix culpa – happy mistake, because if it had not happened God would not have sent Jesus into the world to save us from sin.
Those who freely choose Jesus will be redeemed and spend eternity in heaven with God – this demonstrates God’s mercy
So, humanities fate is decided on the basis of Adam’s sin and the individuals response to God’s offer of salvation in Christ

13. Could there be a reason for God allowing evil to exist?
Review and recap
Could there be a reason for God allowing evil to exist?
Might there even be a beneficial consequence of evil?
Think about the earlier statements:
“The world was created perfect and good”
And, Augustine’s proposal that “evil came from the world, not God”
Do you see any controversies in these TWO ideas

14. The notion of freewill plays a key role in Augustine’s theodicy
A summary of Augustine’s theodicy
The notion of freewill plays a key role in Augustine’s theodicy
FREEWILL
EVIL

15. Explain the role of freewill in the Augustine Theodicy

16. Schleiermacher’s critique
Schleiermacher ( ) argued that there is a logical contradiction in holding that a perfectly created world has gone wrong, since this would mean that evil has created itself out of nothing, which is logically impossible.
Even if evil is a privation, it is still a real feature of the world, as is the suffering it produces. As such, evil has to be attributed to God. Either the world was not perfect to begin with or God enabled it to go wrong.
Schleiermacher also thought it was difficult to understand how, in a perfect world where there is no knowledge of good and evil, there could possibly be freedom to obey or disobey God, since good and evil would be unknown. The fact that God’s creature chose to disobey Him suggests there was already knowledge of good and evil, which could only have come from God.
Important Point
Think back to Aquinas’ cosmological argument, where he argued that ex nihilo, nihil fit – nothing can come from nothing. Evil exists as a feature of the world, and therefore must have come from somewhere.