Editing Theodicy (section)

===Irenaean theodicy===
{{Main|Irenaean theodicy}}
[[Irenaeus]] (died {{c.|202}}), born in the early 2nd century, expressed ideas that explained the existence of evil as necessary for human development. Irenaeus argued that human creation consists of two parts: humans are made first in the image and then in the likeness of God. The image of God consists of having the potential to achieve moral perfection, whereas the likeness of God is the achievement of that perfection. To attain moral perfection, Irenaeus suggested that humans must have free will. To achieve such free will, humans must experience suffering, and God must be at an [[epistemology|epistemic distance]] (a distance of knowledge) from humanity. Therefore, evil exists to allow humans to develop as moral agents.<ref name="Encountering evil">
Davis 2001, pp. 40–42</ref> In the 20th century, [[John Hick]] collated the ideas of Irenaeus into a distinct theodicy. He argued that the world exists as a "vale of soul-making" (a phrase that he drew from [[John Keats]]) and that suffering and evil must therefore occur. He argued that human goodness develops through the experience of evil and suffering.<ref>Stump 1999, pp. 222–227</ref>