[asa] Ireneaus and "Good"

Following is a clip from a letter in the current "Science and Christian
Belief." Does anyone know where to find this reference to Ireneaus?

However, there is a Christian tradition which goes back to Ireneaus in the
late second century AD (well before modern science)
that sees in Genesis 1-3 evidence that God did not intend the Garden of
Eden, let alone the world as a whole, to be a paradise for pampered pets,
but rather a training ground for the development of moral and spiritual
beings. In this context the traditional 'freewill defence' argument in
theodicy, which also goes back before the modern scientific understanding of
the origin of the world, has been able to see a place for such things as
earthquakes and disease in God's purpose.

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Received on Thu Sep 6 11:32:26 2007