Challenge to Augustinian type theodicies

What does John Hick, writing in Evil and the God of Love, say that the existence of hell is?

'remains forever a blot upon God's creation'.

What scientific theory reduces the plausibility of the creation story as a historical fact?

Evolutionary theory of the development of humans as a result of a process of natural selection, random mutation and evolution is well supported by objectively agreed upon evidence.

What is the logical contradiction found in Augustine's theodicy?

God created a perfect world and it was only after the intervention of moral agents like the fallen angels or Adam and Eve that the order of the natural world was shattered and God's perfect creation became fatally flawed. There seems to be a contradiction in this assertion since that which is created perfect cannot, by definition, degenerate into something imperfect or chaotic. So if God's world contained flaws from the outset then God must bear some responsibility for evil.

What does God's omniscience mean?

He would have known in advance that Angels would rebel and humans would fall - therefore he has to bear responsibility for the existence of evil as a result of the lack of good in creation.

What is the moral contradiction of an omnibenevolent God and existence of Hell?

Hell is apart of the created order suggesting God already knew that that angels would rebel and human beings would fall but he had also prepared a place of punishment for them. The existence of a place of eternal punishment beyond return is not consistent with an omnibenevolent God.

What does Augustine's theodicy relies heavily on?

His interpretation of the accounts of the Creation and the Fall as depicted in the biblical book of Genesis, chapters 1 - 3.

What does the theory of polytheism undermine?

Humans cannot have 'inherited' the 'sin of Adam' since we could not all have been 'seminally present' in the loins of Adam. Therefore the idea that all human beings deserve to be punished because they are descended from Adam fails because it is a biological impossibility. Not only does this suggest that we are not in fact guilty for Adam's sin but also that God is not just in allowing us to suffer for someone else's sin.

How does Augustine suggest that the Biblical text should not be interpreted literally if it contradicts what we know from science and our God-given reason?

In his 'The Literal Interpretation of Genesis' he writes that 'it is quite disgraceful and disastrous' that Christians deny science and fact because of what is said in the Bible.

How does Darwin's theory of evolution challenges Augustine's theodicy?

It maintains that humans evolved into complex beings over millions of years, rather than starting perfect only to fall and become imperfect as Augustine claims.

How does Plato definition of perfection suggest that if God's creation was perfect then it should have been impossible for Angels to rebel against God and humans to choose sin?

Plato argued that to be perfect is to be unchanging and self-sufficient. It is therefore impossible for such a perfect being to be affected or changed by anything outside itself. Therefore if God's creation was perfect then it should have been impossible for Angels to rebel against God and humans to choose sin. However Augustine's claim that they did implies that God creation was not flawless to start off with and therefore God must share the responsibility for the fall.

How is the doctrine of original sin, requiring a single original ancestor individual or couple, suggested to be a biological impossibility?

Polygenism, a widely accepted theory within the scientific community, says that the human race descended from a pool of early human couples, indeterminate in number implying that scientific impossibility that we are descended from one original couple.

What do geological scientific records suggest?

The world was initially an unstable and inhospitable place of chaos that, over time, became a place suitable for habitation and life.

If Genesis, chapters 1 - 3 is viewed as non-literal and mythological, then what does this lead to?

any claim of historicity relating to the accounts of creation and fall become suspect and hence Augustine's theodicy is not historically valid and is not consistent or relevant to our experience of evil