![]() There are none of the approach/avoidance conflicts seen in monotheism. As a consequence, the believer's experience is less ambivalent. The benevolent deity can be experienced as the main or sole source of blessing and the malevolent deity can be experienced as the source of evil and woe. ![]() In contrast to monotheism, ditheistic faiths present a neater scheme, emotionally speaking. I illustrated the Isaiah 45 dynamic in the following slide: Our engagement with God, then, is characterized by a mix of positive and negative emotions, something I called in the presentation "monotheistic lament": The startling mixture of praise and complaint, the dynamic seen in the lament psalms. God is the source of both good and evil, weal and woe. Obviously, in a strict monotheistic faith the theodic burden is acute. I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. What I call the "emotional burden of montheism" is simple enough to explain. ![]() The presentation walked through my research concerning Satan and theodicy, something I have blogged about before. This week at school I was privileged to share some of my research with the faculty. ![]()
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