Hick's soul-making theodicy presupposes that moral and spiritual development requires exposure to natural suffering, but empirical evidence shows extreme suffering more often destroys character than builds it.

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Empirical evidence(as a source of justification for knowledge): Information or proof based on real-world observation and experience, rather than just theory or reasoning alone.
Hick(refers to the philosopher whose theory is being discussed): John Hick was a 20th-century philosopher of religion who developed an influential theory about why suffering exists in the world.
Presupposes(as describing what Plantinga's argument takes for granted): Assumes something to be true without proving it—like how an argument might presuppose that logic works, without first arguing that logic is valid.
Soul-making theodicy(the specific theory being critiqued in the statement): A philosophical explanation for why suffering exists that argues God allows pain and hardship because going through difficulties helps people develop morally and spiritually—like how muscles grow stronger through exercise.
character(Semantic theory of indexical expressions; terminology due to Kaplan (1989)): A rule which determines the content of an expression given a context of utterance; formally, a function (or something that determines a function) from contexts to contents.
theodicy(Central concern of Plutarch's era): The philosophical problem of reconciling the existence of evil and unpunished wrongdoing with the existence and goodness of divine providence.

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