Overview

Theodicy (Greek theos “god” + dike “justice”) attempts to answer the hardest question in religion: “If God is good and powerful, why do bad things happen?”

Core Idea

The core idea is Reconciliation. It tries to show that the existence of evil is logically compatible with the existence of a perfect God.

Formal Definition

A specific branch of theology and philosophy that attempts to solve the Problem of Evil:

  1. God is Omnipotent.
  2. God is Omnibenevolent.
  3. Evil exists. (Logically, it seems you must drop one).

Intuition

  • The Parent and the Surgeon: A parent allows a surgeon to cut their child. It looks like harm, but it’s for a greater good (healing). Theodicy argues God is the parent.
  • The Grandmaster: God plays a chess game we don’t understand. A sacrificed pawn looks like a mistake until you see the checkmate.

Examples

  • Free Will Defense: God gave us free will because love must be chosen. Evil is the cost of that freedom. (Plantinga).
  • Soul-Making Theodicy: The world is a “vale of soul-making.” Suffering builds character and virtue. (Irenaeus, John Hick).
  • Skeptical Theism: We are too small to understand God’s reasons. (The ant doesn’t understand the highway).

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: It explains why your specific tragedy happened.
    • Correction: Theodicy is abstract. It defends God’s possibility, but it rarely comforts the grieving.
  • Misconception: It denies evil.
    • Correction: Most theodicies admit evil is real and terrible; they just argue it’s necessary or permitted for a reason.
  • Theism: Theodicy is only a problem for theists.
  • Atheism: The Problem of Evil is the #1 argument for atheism.

Applications

  • Pastoral Care: Helping people process suffering (though logic is often a poor bandage).
  • Philosophy of Religion: Debating the logical consistency of God.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Horrendous Evils: Does free will really justify the Holocaust? Some evils seem to have no “soul-making” value; they just crush people.

Further Reading

  • God, Freedom, and Evil by Alvin Plantinga
  • Evil and the God of Love by John Hick