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Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 1:31 pm
by sardith
“How could a holy and loving God who is in control of all things allow evil to exist?” :?

I’ve heard this question many times, but never knew there was a word which covered it, until now.

A theodicy is “a theological construct whose purpose is to answer this question. The word is a combination of Greek and Latin terms meaning ‘God’ and ‘Right’.

Now that I know there IS a word, I’d love to see Dr. Goodword’s take on it, so please add theodicy to the Word-of-the-Day queue.

Sardith
:mrgreen:

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:38 pm
by Slava
I'm fairly positive that both parts of theodicy are from Greek.

Theo (theos) - god + dicy (diké) - justice.

Latin god is deus.

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:12 pm
by Philip Hudson
Leibnitz, who defined this as the best of all possible worlds, coined this word. Theodicy has always been a "hot topic" of Christian and anti-Christian theology. My simple theology is that even God can't do self-contradictory things. Hence, He cannot make people with free will and also a world free from the consequences of people's free will actions. As for why should God bother, I sometimes wonder that myself.

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:18 pm
by Slava
By the by, couldn't one take this as a misspelling of one of Homer's works? Didn't he write both the Iliad and Theodicy? :)

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:13 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Another oddity lurks. In light of the Zimmerman trial, half the country thinks justice is indeed dicy.

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:18 pm
by gailr
^^Good joke, Slava.

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:19 pm
by Slava
Another oddity lurks. In light of the Zimmerman trial, half the country thinks justice is indeed dicy.
Wow, I wish I'd come up with that one. Kudos! 8)

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:53 pm
by sardith
Slava,

I understand what you are saying about the Greek-Greek, but why does the Merriam-Webster say:


Origin of THEODICY
modification of French théodicée, from théo- the- (from Latin theo-) + Greek dikē judgment, right — more at diction
First Known Use: 1797


Thanks,
Sardith :mrgreen:

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:29 pm
by Perry Lassiter
I think Latin borrowed theus from the Greek, though deus was the normal term. I'm among those who think Rome only conquered Greece on the battle field, while the Greek culture manhandled the Latinate. Note the New Testament was written in Greek because it was more universally known than Latin, even though Rome "ruled the world."

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:46 pm
by Slava
It seems we have a conflict in our sources.
1799, from French théodicée, title of a work by Leibniz, from Greek theos "god" (see Thea) + dike "judgment, justice, usage, custom" (cognate with Latin dicere "to show, tell;"
Wiktionary even uses the Greek: from the Ancient Greek θεός (theos, “god”) + δίκη (dikē, “justice”).

I have found a couple of sources that start off saying it's from New Latin, but then they say that that comes from Greek.

Merriam-Webster is the only site that makes a Latin claim.

Also, would someone writing in the early 18th century have made up a two-language word?

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 3:01 pm
by sardith
I am not disputing you, Slava, but merely asking how this contradiction might have occurred. :?

If you're saying that Merriam-Webster just had a screw loose on this one, I can accept that, knowing that even sources can be dicy every once in a while. :oops:

Sorry about that,
Sardith
:mrgreen:

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 7:25 pm
by Slava
Sorry about that, too. I didn't mean to imply that I was questioning you. I meant only that our sources were at odds.

E-mail and Internet talk sure can be tricky, eh?

Re: Theodicy

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:06 pm
by sardith
Oh Slava, no worries. :D