Theodicy

Gottfried Leibniz coined the term "theodicy" to justify God's existence in light of the apparent imperfections of the world.

In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (/θˈɒdɪsi/; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός theos, "god" and δίκη dikē, "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience are all simultaneously ascribed to God.[1] Unlike a defence, which merely tries to demonstrate that the coexistence of God and evil is logically possible, a theodicy additionally provides a framework wherein God's existence is considered plausible.[2] The German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz coined the term "theodicy" in 1710 in his work Théodicée, though numerous attempts to resolve the problem of evil had previously been proposed. The British philosopher John Hick traced the history of moral theodicy in his 1966 work Evil and the God of Love, identifying three major traditions:

  1. the Plotinian theodicy, named after Plotinus
  2. the Augustinian theodicy, which Hick based on the writings of Augustine of Hippo
  3. the Irenaean theodicy, which Hick developed, based on the thinking of St. Irenaeus

The problem of evil has also been analyzed by theologians and philosophers throughout the history of Christianity.

A defence has been proposed by the American philosopher Alvin Plantinga, which is focused on showing the logical possibility of God's existence. Plantinga's version of the free-will defence argued that the coexistence of God and evil is not logically impossible, and that free will further explains the existence of evil without contradicting the existence of God.[3]

Similar to a theodicy, a cosmodicy attempts to justify the fundamental goodness of the universe, and an anthropodicy attempts to justify the goodness of humanity.

  1. ^ Pecorino, Philip A. (2000). "Chapter 3: 'Philosophy of Religion', Section 11: Problem of Evil". An Introduction to Philosophy: An Online Textbook. Queensborough Community College. Archived from the original on Sep 6, 2023.
  2. ^ A defence is "an effort to show that there is no formal contradiction between the existence of God... and the existence of evil." Michael Rea and Louis B. Pojman, eds., Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology (Cengage Learning, 2015, 7th ed.), 229.
  3. ^ "Theodicy, Natural Evil and Simulation Theory". The Global Architect Institute. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-06-08.