theodicy – מילון אנגלי-אנגלי
theodicy
n.
philosophic science of God
Theodicy
Theodicy , in its most common form, attempts to answer the question why a good
God permits the manifestation of
evil. Theodicy addresses the
evidential problem of evil by attempting “to make the existence of an
All-knowing,
All-powerful and
All-good or omnibenevolent God consistent with the existence of evil” or suffering in the world. Unlike a defence, which tries to demonstrate that God's existence is logically possible in the light of evil, a theodicy provides a framework which claims to make God's existence probable. The German mathematician and philosopher
Gottfried Leibniz coined the term "theodicy" in 1710 in his work
Théodicée, though various responses to the problem of evil had been previously proposed. The British philosopher
John Hick traced the history of moral theodicy in his 1966 work,
Evil and the God of Love, identifying three major traditions:
- the Plotinian theodicy, named after Plotinus
- the Augustinian theodicy, which Hick based on the writings of Augustine of Hippo
- the Irenaean theodicy, which Hick developed, based on the thinking of St. Irenaeus
theodicy
Noun
1. the branch of theology that defends God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil
(hypernym) theology, divinity
Theodicy
(n.)
That department of philosophy which treats of the being, perfections, and government of God, and the immortality of the soul.
(n.)
A vindication of the justice of God in ordaining or permitting natural and moral evil.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
Theodice
Theodice, Theodicy [coined from Greek theos god + dike justice] A vindication of divine justice; a system or method of intellectual theorizing about the nature of so-called divine justice, having in view vindication of the justice and holiness of God, in connection with evil. Ancient philosophers all taught that the heart of things was divine harmony and that whatever evil, distortion, and obliquity might exist in the world is ultimately traceable back to the imperfect intelligence of evolving beings, who by their manifold conflicts of thought and will thus produce disharmony, relative confusion, and hence evil, in the scheme of things. This view was replaced during Christian ages by the attempt of many writers to rescue the reputation of the Christian God, who on the one hand is said to be the creator of everything and who yet is supposed to be the fountain of love, mercy, harmony, and goodness. In view of the evils and suffering in the world, such Christian attempts have been futile, for it is obvious that if God is the creator of all that is, He must have been either directly or indirectly the creator of all the disharmony, wickedness, and misery in the world, as was indeed alleged by many Jewish rabbis, following statements in the Hebrew scriptures. But this thought has been denied by Christians who refuse to accept their God of love and justice as the creator of evil, and thus they had recourse to the Devil, who himself must have been created by their omniscient God.
