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The Irenaean theodicy offers a fundamentally different approach to the problem of evil from the Augustinian tradition. Rather than looking backwards to a lost paradise and a primordial fall, the Irenaean theodicy looks forwards to the spiritual development and ultimate perfection of humanity. Evil and suffering are not punishments for past sin but necessary conditions for the moral and spiritual growth of human beings. This “soul-making” approach, rooted in the thought of St Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 130–202 CE) and developed extensively by John Hick (1922–2012), is one of the most influential modern theodicies and a central topic in the AQA A-Level specification.
Irenaeus, an early Church Father and Bishop of Lyon, drew a crucial distinction between two aspects of human creation based on Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
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