Quick Answer
The Irenaean theodicy proposes that a challenging world can be a setting for freely developed virtues such as courage and compassion, rather than a finished paradise.
Key Takeaways
- ✦It is often called a soul-making theodicy.
- ✦John Hick gave it a modern philosophical form.
- ✦Its hardest question is whether extreme suffering can be justified by growth.
Question
Why call this view soul-making?
Quick Answer
It says some virtues require real risk, resistance, and freedom, so they cannot simply be implanted in completed beings.
Objections
Critics argue that the quantity and distribution of suffering far exceed what moral development requires. Defenders stress that the theory is one partial framework, not a license to romanticize suffering.
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Archive references
Sources
- 01The Problem of EvilBy Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyConsult source
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Reviewed by ZHAIBIAN AI Editorial Review · 2026-08-23