The Problem of Theodicy

So I recently wrote a paper on theodicy for my Contemporary Religious Thought class.  We read a book written by the professor called Beyond Theodicy and a novel by Elie Wiesel called The Town Beyond the Wall, and we had to respond.  I thought I might share some thoughts I have about theodicy. :-)

 

the·od·i·cy    (  P  )  Pronunciation Key  (th-d-s)
n. pl. the·od·i·cies

A vindication of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil.

(dictionary.com)

 

 

So Christians have been trying to defend God's goodness in the face of evil and suffering for centuries.  Augustine blamed evil on man's depraved nature, arguing that evil exists because we disobey/disobeyed God.  Aquinas and Descartes attempted to prove the existence of the Christian God, who is good, by using science and reason, respectively.  They figured that if they could prove the good Christian God existed, then they would know that evil was not caused by Him.

 

Of course there have always been those philosophers who reject the existence of a good god based on the presence of evil and suffering in the world, most notably Voltaire, who rejected God following the immensity of the desctruction caused by an earthquake in Lisbon.

 

While I do believe that a good God exists, I don't attempt to prove it.  Such a proof would, I believe, negate faith. What I do argue is that any theodicy attempts are immoral.  Here's why:

 

1) any attempts to justify God to an individual who is suffering is insensitive and lacking empathy.  How can any person claim to understand what another person is going through or dare to tell someone that it is "all part of God's plan?"  This certainly didn't work for Job, and I agree.  It is immoral to claim to understand what anyone else has been through. (thank you Gabriel Marcel..)

 

and more importantly...

 

2) to justify God is to confine Him to our realm of thinking.  It is to reduce God to our own methods of reason and to reduce Him to our own proportions.  It is to remove the mystery from God in an attempt to fit Him into the walls of our own understanding.  To do so is degrading to a God who is infinite, immortal, and sovereign.  It is to make man God--for it is, within such a system, man who explain, justifies, and essentially creates God.  Such a notion is, to me, repulsive (this is why I hate Descartes' proofs!)

 

So yeah.  Questions, comments, concerns over such a view...leave a comment.  Now.

 

Until next time, grace and peace...

 

Mike