Show how the theodicies of Iranaeous and Augustine account for natural evil.

Essay by nimrod_121High School, 12th grade April 2004

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The problem of evil was first conversed by the Greek philosopher Epicurus 371-270. From then, many philosophers and theologians have struggled with the problem of evil, against Gods existence, causing some such as the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre 1905-1980 to state that God does not exist. Theodicy is a branch of theology concerned with defending Gods qualities against objections which the existence of natural and moral evil propose. The Theodicies of Augustine and Iraneous try to do so by justifying natural evil. There are two main types of evil, natural and moral and are entirely different from each other. Natural evil is disasters which occur all over the world due to a malfunction of nature. They do not have an outright or human cause and is described by John Hick in the 'Evil and God of love' as being 'the evil that originates independently of human actions'. therefore, many people believe that God is a cause of these disasters.

Therefore their belief in God is questioned, as it makes them believe God is with limits. An example of a particularly influential natural evil is the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. Many churches were destroyed, with the people inside being killed. Soon after the earthquake, killing one fifth of the population, a sea wave destroyed one half of the housing in Lisbon. Whereas natural evil happens due to a natural failure, moral evil is caused by our inhumanity to others. Events such as the terrorist attacks on the twin towers in America, killing 3400 people is an example of moral evil at its worst. Richard Swinburne in 'Is there a God?' describes moral evil as being 'all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do'

One of the major problems with belief in a God is merging...