ABSTRACT
John Hick's name has been virtually synonymous with "soul-making" theodicy since his landmark book Evil and the God of Love was originally published in 1966. Hick situates soul-making theodicy in contrast to the prevailing Augustinian theodicy built on a creation-fall-redemption framework. To set the stage for Hick's Irenaean theodicy, one must first rehearse Hick's appraisal of Augustinian theodicy. Hick cites a distinction sometimes made in classical Christian theology between persons being created in the "image of God" but destined to be transformed into the "likeness of God." Hick argues that, in order for human free will to be significant and nontrivial, it must have a wide range of choices, which makes possible great moral and spiritual achievement as well as utterly sinister and destructive behaviour. Another discussion relates to Hick's concept of epistemic distance, which is foreshadowed but not labelled as such in his earlier Faith and Knowledge.
