The deal at the dawn of time
(2025) In Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion p.1-16- Abstract
- Being deeply embedded in the mythological framework of old-school Christian angelology, the theodicy presented in this article outlines a thoroughgoing and unexpectedly simple solution to the problem of evil. Unlike other Satan-oriented theodicies, whose central idea is that natural evil is reducible to moral evil by taking the malevolent actions of demons into consideration, it accounts for both natural and moral evil in perfectly familiar deal-making terms. Of particular interest is that it makes no appeal to the overriding importance of free will nor to the inscrutability of God’s ways. Instead it envisions a primordial agreement on which everything depends. If it stands up to scrutiny, it offers an intriguing explanation for why God... (More)
- Being deeply embedded in the mythological framework of old-school Christian angelology, the theodicy presented in this article outlines a thoroughgoing and unexpectedly simple solution to the problem of evil. Unlike other Satan-oriented theodicies, whose central idea is that natural evil is reducible to moral evil by taking the malevolent actions of demons into consideration, it accounts for both natural and moral evil in perfectly familiar deal-making terms. Of particular interest is that it makes no appeal to the overriding importance of free will nor to the inscrutability of God’s ways. Instead it envisions a primordial agreement on which everything depends. If it stands up to scrutiny, it offers an intriguing explanation for why God permits such an awful lot of badness. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Being deeply embedded in the mythological framework of old-school Christian angelology, the theodicy presented in this article outlines a thoroughgoing and unexpectedly simple solution to the problem of evil. Unlike other Satan-oriented theodicies, whose central idea is that natural evil is reducible to moral evil by taking the malevolent actions of demons into consideration, it accounts for both natural and moral evil in perfectly familiar deal-making terms. Of particular interest is that it makes no appeal to the overriding importance of free will nor to the inscrutability of God’s ways. Instead it envisions a primordial agreement on which everything depends. If it stands up to scrutiny, it offers an intriguing explanation for why God... (More)
- Being deeply embedded in the mythological framework of old-school Christian angelology, the theodicy presented in this article outlines a thoroughgoing and unexpectedly simple solution to the problem of evil. Unlike other Satan-oriented theodicies, whose central idea is that natural evil is reducible to moral evil by taking the malevolent actions of demons into consideration, it accounts for both natural and moral evil in perfectly familiar deal-making terms. Of particular interest is that it makes no appeal to the overriding importance of free will nor to the inscrutability of God’s ways. Instead it envisions a primordial agreement on which everything depends. If it stands up to scrutiny, it offers an intriguing explanation for why God permits such an awful lot of badness. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/0fd310b6-4cf7-4bee-a152-f19f9c8f9666
- author
- Lembke, Martin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-03-17
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- problem of evil, theodicy, deal-making, angels, Satan, problem of evil, theodicy, deal-making, angels, Satan
- in
- Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion
- pages
- 16 pages
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105000255834
- ISSN
- 0034-4125
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0034412525000174
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0fd310b6-4cf7-4bee-a152-f19f9c8f9666
- date added to LUP
- 2025-03-27 14:37:54
- date last changed
- 2025-04-24 04:01:17
@article{0fd310b6-4cf7-4bee-a152-f19f9c8f9666,
abstract = {{Being deeply embedded in the mythological framework of old-school Christian angelology, the theodicy presented in this article outlines a thoroughgoing and unexpectedly simple solution to the problem of evil. Unlike other Satan-oriented theodicies, whose central idea is that natural evil is reducible to moral evil by taking the malevolent actions of demons into consideration, it accounts for both natural and moral evil in perfectly familiar deal-making terms. Of particular interest is that it makes no appeal to the overriding importance of free will nor to the inscrutability of God’s ways. Instead it envisions a primordial agreement on which everything depends. If it stands up to scrutiny, it offers an intriguing explanation for why God permits such an awful lot of badness.}},
author = {{Lembke, Martin}},
issn = {{0034-4125}},
keywords = {{problem of evil, theodicy, deal-making, angels, Satan; problem of evil; theodicy; deal-making; angels; Satan}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
pages = {{1--16}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion}},
title = {{The deal at the dawn of time}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0034412525000174}},
doi = {{10.1017/S0034412525000174}},
year = {{2025}},
}