Ordets hydda i Babel, Alexandria, Hippo och Lissabon. Om teodicén som hermeneutisk metod

Abstract

We are constantly reminded of the problem of evil. There are a number of models attempting to cope with theodicy, but the problem with most of them is that in different ways they tend to legitimate evil and accuse the victims. In this article it is suggested that theodicy may serve as a hermeneutical key when reading often marginalised or misunderstood texts belonging to the Jewish and Christian traditions. This approach is applied to three different textual corpora: Rabbinic literature, so-called Gnostic texts, and the writings of Augustine. Read in this way, these texts offer us an insight into the authors’ theological priorities. All of them repudiate simplistic explanations which accuse those who have been suffering from misfortune.