Ireneaus's theodicy

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The Irenaean Theodicy
- The story of the fall is interpreted literally by Irenaeus.
  - He understands it as a situation in which human beings go astray from God.
- Ireanaeus places the blame for Adam and Eve's fall firmly on the serpent, although Adam and Eve aren't blameless.
  - Irenaeus argued that if God did not save humanity then the serpent would have triumphed over God and humanity would have been abandoned by God
- Adam and Eve were like children in the Garden of Eden.
  - They went astray because they had not yet developed enough wisdom to do what is right.
    - While children can be difficult it does not mean that their parent abandons their child.
- For Irenaeus, the whole of history is overseen by God, and although the world is a hard place in which people experience suffering, it is necessary so that human beings can come to know God.
- The word Recapitulation is often applied to the ideas of Irenaeus concerning the problem of evil. Recapitulation literally means to bring something back or to summarise something. Irenaeus's theory is about bringing people back into relationship with God and is therefore called a theory of recapitulation.
Ireanaeus places the blame for Adam and Eve's fall firmly on the serpent, although Adam and Eve aren't blameless.
- Irenaeus argued that if God did not save humanity then the serpent would have triumphed over God and humanity would have been abandoned by God

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