The Theodicy of Irenaeus

Summary For Irenaeus, evil and suffering in the world are not just mistakes which happened even though God planned things a different way; they are part of the whole design, part of God’s original intention. Evil and suffering are put in the world by God, for a reason, to enable us to exercise our freedom and develop us as humans.

Watch the clip from “The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off”

Lance Armstrong: It’s not about the bike -Born in 1971, Lance became a top professional cyclist before being diagnosed with testicular cancer in The cancer had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain, and he was given a very slim chance of survival -He returned to cycling in 1998 and between he achieved a record seven Tour de France wins. Livestrong The Lance Armstrong foundation raises money to help people with cancer You may have seen these yellow wristbands. Lance Armstrong’s story is inspirational. Although he is not religious, some of his comments on his recovery from cancer may sound similar to the ideas of Irenaeus.

Key quotes “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” “The truth is, if you asked me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son and a father.” Discuss: What do these quotes suggest about the value of suffering?

Interview with Irenaeus (transcript) INTERVIEWER: Tonight we are delighted to have Irenaeus, the second century bishop of Lyons. He is here to reply to the theodicy of Augustine and to give us a few ideas of his own. A very warm welcome to you. IRENAEUS: Thank you, but I must correct you, I am not replying to Augustine. If you look at church history, you will find that I lived first by almost 200 years INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry IRENAEUS: It’s OK, a common mistake! INTERVIEWER: Firstly, I was wondering if you think that it is possible to justify God’s action in permitting evil to be present in the world? IRENAEUS: Of course, I have a theodicy which aims to suggest how God’s goodness can be shown in spite of evil. INTERVIEWER: Great, so let’s start at the beginning! God creates a perfect world, what goes wrong? IRENAEUS: I must stop you there. God’s creation is not perfect in the way that we may think. Perfection cannot be ready made. INTERVIEWER: That’s quite a difference from Augustine isn’t it? IRENAEUS: Yes, but we agree that freewill is important to the origin of evil. INTERVIEWER: Did God have to create people with freewill? IRENAEUS: Perhaps not, but freewill is such a valuable thing. Without it, you are like a robot and you will never truly be able to develop and grow. INTERVIEWER: Tell me why do you think that is? IRENAEUS: Well, our character grows as we experience different situations. It is better if we freely choose to be good rather than having a goodness that is pre-programmed. Also we are able to use our freewill to love and serve God INTERVIEWER: That sounds wonderful, but how did it go wrong? IRENAEUS: It’s the other side of the freewill coin I’m afraid. Just as we are free to genuinely do good, this leads to the risk that we can do appalling evil. INTERVIEWER: Presumably this took God by surprise? IRENAEUS: Of course not, he is omniscient! However he must know that the creation is ultimately worthwhile and that a greater good will be produced. INTERVIEWER: Bishop Irenaeus, thank you.