Introduction
John Hick, the British Philosopher was born in 1922 in the United Kingdom. Hick is credited as a profound religious epistemologist, philosophical theologian, and religious pluralist (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). Hick contributed largely to the world of theology, writing one of his more famous works, Evil and the God of Love, where the chapter Soul-Making Theodicy is included (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015).
The attempt to explain the presence of evil, pain, and suffering has been asked and investigated throughout the centuries by philosophers, theologian, and layman alike. The modern world is raw, yet pure, full of evil, yet full of beauty. The western belief in a God as an all-knowing, omnipotent, and …show more content…
Hick hits many points within the piece, some of which I have come to recognize and accept in belief. The fundamental Augustinian school of theology no longer supports the complex modern society in which we live. Hick introduces an alternative idea, including the frequent misuse of the Free Will Defense and the common idea of “the fall” of morality and righteousness. The idea that we have fallen from grace is a longstanding misconception perpetuated by western Christian theologians, however Hick provides a more rational defense for man’s inability to be in God’s likeness, our immaturity. After the reading, I have chosen to side with Hick’s assessment that “our fall” is more so an evolutionary process, one that develops man’s moral maturity. Man, as a moral and ethical being, in a hostile and uncivil world is contradictory and leaves us with little resources in the way of making morally “right” decisions. Hicks adds that we should not consider righteousness and grace as a far-gone conclusion, but the potential for an unrealized future of
John Hick, the British Philosopher was born in 1922 in the United Kingdom. Hick is credited as a profound religious epistemologist, philosophical theologian, and religious pluralist (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015). Hick contributed largely to the world of theology, writing one of his more famous works, Evil and the God of Love, where the chapter Soul-Making Theodicy is included (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015).
The attempt to explain the presence of evil, pain, and suffering has been asked and investigated throughout the centuries by philosophers, theologian, and layman alike. The modern world is raw, yet pure, full of evil, yet full of beauty. The western belief in a God as an all-knowing, omnipotent, and …show more content…
Hick hits many points within the piece, some of which I have come to recognize and accept in belief. The fundamental Augustinian school of theology no longer supports the complex modern society in which we live. Hick introduces an alternative idea, including the frequent misuse of the Free Will Defense and the common idea of “the fall” of morality and righteousness. The idea that we have fallen from grace is a longstanding misconception perpetuated by western Christian theologians, however Hick provides a more rational defense for man’s inability to be in God’s likeness, our immaturity. After the reading, I have chosen to side with Hick’s assessment that “our fall” is more so an evolutionary process, one that develops man’s moral maturity. Man, as a moral and ethical being, in a hostile and uncivil world is contradictory and leaves us with little resources in the way of making morally “right” decisions. Hicks adds that we should not consider righteousness and grace as a far-gone conclusion, but the potential for an unrealized future of