{"title":"Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus on the Role of the Devil in Problems of Evil and Suffering","authors":"Gabrielle Thomas","doi":"10.1111/ijst.12694","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The aim of this essay is to reconsider the way scholarship conceives the role of the devil in early Christian approaches to evil and suffering, using as a case study theological reflection on this theme by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. Through a close reading of three texts concerned with the origins of evil, suffering, and the continued presence of the devil on earth after Christ's victory, I propose the devil's existence contributes to the mystery of evil for Basil and Gregory. Put simply, the devil does not serve as a strategy to solve problems of evil and suffering. The devil himself is a problem.</p>","PeriodicalId":43284,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Systematic Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Systematic Theology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijst.12694","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The aim of this essay is to reconsider the way scholarship conceives the role of the devil in early Christian approaches to evil and suffering, using as a case study theological reflection on this theme by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. Through a close reading of three texts concerned with the origins of evil, suffering, and the continued presence of the devil on earth after Christ's victory, I propose the devil's existence contributes to the mystery of evil for Basil and Gregory. Put simply, the devil does not serve as a strategy to solve problems of evil and suffering. The devil himself is a problem.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Systematic Theology has acquired a world-wide reputation for publishing high-quality academic articles on systematic theology and for substantial reviews of major new works of scholarship. Systematic theology, which is concerned with the systematic articulation of the meaning, coherence and implications of Christian doctrine, is at the leading edge of contemporary academic theology. The discipline has undergone a remarkable transformation in the last three decades, and is now firmly established as a central area of academic teaching and research.